性行為的發展

性行為的發展阶段

青春期（adolescence）是青少年（puberty）與成年之間的生命時期。在過去的數個世紀裏，這個時期已經變得相當地長了，可是縱觀人類歷史的大多數時期，青春期相對要短。的確，甚至當今時代，在世界上不同的地方的一些傳統的前工業化文化體系裏，並沒有我們當代觀念裏公認的青春期。與之不同的是，那時的人們利用所謂的成人典禮，給剛剛達到青少年期的孩子授予成人的身份。在西方國家，一些古代的典禮遺存下來了，但是已經喪失了

最初的許多涵義：例如，猶太教成人禮和基督教堅信禮是現在最具象徵意義的儀式。它們由教會（用來）重申宗教信仰和突顯對信仰的承諾，但是，這些儀式並沒有其它重要的社會價值。年輕人依舊是青少年，仍然服從於所有類型的約束，並沒有成人的權力。甚至，他們在“成家立業”之前，可能要花費許多年的時間來完成學業，找到自己的住宅和在經濟上自立。換一句話說，青少年期常常開始於一個人十多歲的早期和終止於數年之後；青春期隨青少年期而始，並且在當今有非常充分的理由持續上十年或更久。

青少年期是發育出次級性徵和發展成有生殖能力的生理成熟的過程。與之大不相同的是，青春期被解釋成一個通向公民身份的心理與社會成熟的過程。青少年期的性行為發展是一種生物現象，而青春期的性行為發展是一種文化現象。

還需要補充一點，這種延續的人生髮展期也是性別角色行為和性欲行為繼續發展的時候；同時，此期還是生殖行為可能成為另一個非常重要主題的時候。以下將詳細討論這個內容。

成人儀式符號（從左至右）：1.非洲部落成人儀式佩戴的面具。2.古埃及青年男性的包皮環切術。3.猶太教成人禮（Jewish bar mitzvah）。4.基督教堅信禮。                                                                              

Symbols of Initiation (from the left) : 1. Mask worn during a tribal initiation ceremony in Africa.2. Circumcision of a male youth in ancient Egypt 3. Jewish bar mitzvah 4. Christian confirmation.

Stages of Development

Adolescence

Adolescence (lat. adolescere: to grow up) is the period of life between puberty and adulthood. In the last several centuries, this period has become rather extended, but throughout most of human history it was relatively short. Indeed, even today some traditional, pre-industrial cultures in various parts of the world do not recognize an adolescence in our modern sense. Instead, they use so-called initiation rites to confer the status of adults on their children as soon as they reach puberty. Some of these ancient rites have survived in modern Western countries, but have lost much of their original meaning: The Jewish bar mitzvah and the Christian confirmation, for example, are now mostly symbolic ceremonies. They reaffirm the faith and signalize acceptance by the community, but they have no other important social consequences. The young people remain adolescents, subject to all sorts of restrictions and without the rights of adults. Indeed, it may take many years before they can “stand on their own two feet”, complete their studies, find their own living quarters, and become financially self-supporting. In other words: Puberty normally begins in a person's early teens and ends a few years later. Adolescence begins with puberty and today may very well last a decade or more.
Puberty is a process of physical maturation which produces the secondary sexual characteristics and leads to fertility. In contrast, adolescence is better described as a process of psychological and social maturation which leads to full citizenship. Puberty is a biological phenomenon, adolescence a cultural one.
Still, this extended period is also a time when gender role behavior and erotic behavior continue to develop and when reproductive behavior may become another very important issue. The following sections will discuss this in detail.