Social development theory is aimed at exploring the changes in structure and way of society’s functioning to enable it to define its goals and objectives. According to this theory, development of the society is the result of its capacity to manage the resources to overcome challenges and use opportunities. Asset-based social development is related to the tenets of empowerment. It suggests that the key to finding solutions to the problems faced by the society lies in the already existing community assets.
The survey methodology appears to be the most appropriate for this research, as it gives an opportunity to collect a broad range of data and gives extensive flexibility in data analysis due to the unlimited number of questions that can be asked (Gideon, 2012).
The first hypothesis in the study will propose that students coming from Latino families had a lack of effective communication about sex with their parents when they were teenagers. Effective communication in this sense is viewed as a trustful discussion of issues vital to the formation of certain attitudes to sexuality. The second hypothesis will test whether the source of information received by a teenager about sex within a family affects his sexual behaviour in the future.
The study will also aid as a stepping stone for further research in the social work tackling the sexual behaviour of teenagers based on the activities aimed at promoting the parents’ awareness of the importance of building an effective communication about sex issues with the children.
This chapter brings out the research topic and the examination of the impact of the quality of communication between parents and children about sex on the sexual behaviour of teenagers and the behavioural patterns related to informing the children about sexual issues typical for Latino families.
The chapter also demonstrates the significance of the purpose of the study to contribute to the understanding of the relation between home sexual education and sexual behavioural patterns.
In addition, this chapter will help guide the literature review about studies exploring the importance of sexual education within a family and its influence on the sexual behaviours of teenagers.
Assets and Social Development. Social development theory can help to reveal the roots of such phenomenon related to the topic of the research as teen pregnancy and unsafe sex among teenagers. As this theory focuses on identification of factors guiding certain social changes, it is useful for determining the causes of different social phenomena, as showed by studies by Siau and Long (2006).
The usage of social development theory can be applied to the issue of family sexual education as well. The assets-based approach helps to suggest the potential steps necessary for overcoming teen pregnancies and unsafe sex with the help of already existing social asset – family units.
Sanders, Lankenau, and Jackson-Bloom (2010) reveal the methodology of conducting surveys aimed at revealing the roots of the risky sexual behaviour of Latino youth and contributing to the effectiveness of interventions addressing this phenomenon.
Cultural beliefs include those stereotypes and widely-accepted behavioral patterns that are affected by traditional and religious views of the Latino population.
Though this concept has some positive features within romantic relationships, it has deleterious features, including dominance and sexual prowess, within a framework of sexual behavior (Kassab et al., 2014).
Machismo defines masculinity as an ability to seduce a woman, and therefore, praises frequent sexual relations with different partners (Raffaelli & Iturbide, 2009).
While the cultural background of Latino youth creates the stereotypes promoting the inclination of male adolescents to have many sexual relations, the religious background related to the positions of Catholic Church contributes to the popularity of stereotype considering protected sexual relations inappropriate.
Young, Turner, Danny, and Young (2004) also concluded that poverty resulting in the lower educational level of the parents is one of the factors typical for the population experiencing teen pregnancy. Low income appears to have a significant influence on the risk of having unsafe sexual relationships leading to teen pregnancy.
Mehra, Kyagaba, Ostergren, and Agardh (2014) conducted a study that revealed the significant association between poor academic performance and inconsistent condom use.
The analysis of relevant literature related to the investigated issue reveals that more research is needed to determine the roots of the risky sexual behaviour of Latino youth resulting in teen pregnancies and develop an effective scheme of reducing such negative tendencies.
The Questionnaires presented in this chapter, and the description of the procedure related to their usage will help to understand the main issues of sexual education addressed during the research and the methods of analysis of the results.
The instruments used in the study include several questionnaires aimed at revealing the participants’ attitudes and experience related to sexual education.
The first part is borrowed from a previous research and consists of 17 issues that need to be analyzed in terms of the source of the information about them (mother, father, friends, media, school sexual education, and religious institution). The second part is also borrowed from the previous research and includes 60 statements that need to be rated according to the source of receiving such messages (parents, friends, media, school, religion).
The third part is created by the author of the study and includes two open-ended questions with the variants of answers. The fourth part is created by the author of the study and includes four open-ended questions with the variants of answers. The fifth part is created by the author and includes four topics that need to be rated based on the involvement of parents in the discussion. The sixth part is borrowed from the previous research and includes eight questions related to the demographic information.
References
Gideon, L. (2012). Handbook of survey methodology for social sciences, New York: Springer Science.
Kassab, V. A., Acevedo-Polakovich, I., Grzybowskil, M., Stout, S., Richards, A., Barnett, M.,…Saxena, S. (2014). Views on sex and sex education among gang-involved Latino youth in the United States. Qualitative Health Research, 24(5), 654-664. Web.
Mehra, D., Kyagaba, E., Ostergren, P.-O., & Agardh, A. (2014). Association between self-reported academic performance and risky sexual behaviour among Ugandan University students- A cross sectional study. Global Journal of Health Science6(4), 183-195. Web.
Raffaelli, M., & Iturbide, M.I. (2009). Sexuality and sexual risk behaviors among Latino adolescents and young adults. In F. A. Villarruel, G. Carlo, J. M. Grau, M. Azmitia, N. J. Cabrera, & T. J. Chahin (Eds.), Handbook of U.S. Latino psychology: Developmental and community-based perspectives (pp. 399–414). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Sanders, B., Lankenau, S., & Jackson-Bloom, J. (2010). Putting in work: Qualitative research on substance use and other risk behaviours among gang youth in Los Angeles. Substance Use & Misuse, 45, 736-753. Web.
Siau, K., & Long, Y. (2006). Using social development lenses to understand e-government development. Journal of Global Information Management, 14(1), 47-62. Web.
Young, T., Turner, J., Danny, G., & Young, M. (2004). Examining external and internal poverty as antecedents of teen pregnancy. American Journal of Health Behaviour, 28(4), 361-373. Web.