Navigating Youth Sexuality: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis - Essay Sample

Introduction

In most cases, parents and guardians downplay the sexuality and sexual health issues among young people, which subjects them to the adverse effects of the negative consequences of not paying attention to their affairs (Bennett & Harden, 2019). Moreover, young people have limited knowledge about sexuality and sexual health matters which exposes them to sexually transmitted diseases and stigma since they do not dare to share information about their sexual health status with the people in their environment, thereby hurting themselves without notice (Bennett & Harden, 2019). Additionally, young people lack the moral code to conduct themselves since their parents and guardians have downplayed their significance in sexual behavioral development, which is crucial in enabling them to have the right skills and knowledge to relate to the subject. Some young people fail to acquire medical services due to the feeling of shame they anticipate from their social circle and how they will handle themselves when they become victims of sexual issues (Bennett & Harden, 2019). Accordingly, research has indicated the study of sexuality and sexual health among youth helps inform the youth on issues concerning reproduction, which a majority of youths fear to confront. The study of the subject helps to impart knowledge to the youths about sexually transmitted infections (STIs), develop their attitudes towards addressing sex and sexuality issues, and be responsive to the social influence they experience from the ecosystem (Bennett & Harden, 2019). Further, the subjects' study enables the youths to be vocal about the sexuality and sexual health plan, which offers prevention stigma among young people. Therefore, this paper will demonstrate the significance of interpretative phenomenological analysis of sexuality and sexual health among the youth.

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The General Characteristics of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)

Interpretative Phenomenological analysis (IPA) is a critical approach in qualitative research that is significant in studying sexuality and sexual health among the youth (Bennett & Harden, 2019). The analysis involves an idiographic focus that aims to give an insightful understanding of how sexuality and sexual behavior influence the youths' lives and how they are dealing with the issues. It provides a sense of how the youths contextualize the phenomenon (Bennett & Harden, 2019). The application of IPA relates to sex and sexuality affairs and how the youths respond to the stimuli. It offers an in-depth understanding of how the youth associates with the subject and the general feedback.

IPA enables the research to obtain the real-life events on how the youths grow to deal with sex and sexuality affairs by understanding their psychological inclination and how they process the issue to understand how the young people can help navigate the consequences that arise from the sexual behavior (Bennett & Harden, 2019). Further, Understanding the theoretical origins of sexuality and sexual health among the youth, using the IPS approach, the research investigates the sociocultural influence the youth experience informing how they deal with sex and sexuality. The combination of psychological and interpretative ideography compliments how the youth experience will enable the study to have the relevant facts to explain the phenomenon (Bennett & Harden, 2019). IPA facilitates the youths' examination to get the primary facts, which are necessary since this approach does not rely on any background information. Still, it's a building block to the existing documentation about the subject.

The approach employs a small sample, which represents the entire youth population on the various issues that affect them. The small sample population gives a nearly perfect outcome since the analysis depends on the psychological interpretation of the youth process, which is nearly linear in all the young people and their responsiveness to the environment.

Consequently, the small sample size offers meaningful insight into the youth's plight regarding issues of sex and sexuality. This research population is homogeneous since they are people of the same age bracket undergoing various faces of life and experiencing a different impact on the issues of sex and sexuality (Bennett & Harden, 2019). The heterogeneity that exists is the gender difference, which exposes the male and female youth to varied experiences in their environment (Bennett & Harden, 2019). Therefore, IPS enables the research to be detailed by capturing the most significant facts about sexuality and sexual health among the youth which a majority are not ready to reveal the actual impact they experience by withholding what affects them and not shared to people in their circle to enable them an external opinion which might be more effective in enabling the youth to overcome the plight.

To understand the parents' and guardians' role in the sex and sexual behaviors, IPA provides them with the actual information obtained from the youth population to facilitate their initiatives to formulate programs to assist the youth in sitting well with the issue (Bennett & Harden, 2019). When the issues are addressed, the youth find a breakthrough to have the mental capacity to deal with sexual affairs without the intrinsic fear of rejection from their environment.

Topic Overview

The research is about interpretative phenomenological analysis of sexuality and sexual health among the youth. The research will examine the psychological orientation of the youth concerning the issues of sex and sexuality (Bennett & Harden, 2019). Additionally, the research will cover how the youth deal with sexually transmitted illnesses and the actual remedies and prevention measures the youth employ to ensure that they are healthy and not susceptible to contracting the diseases. Other related issues that the paper will cover are affairs to do with reproduction among the youth, especially premarital pregnancies, and how to contain an outbreak of teenage pregnancies. Attitudes towards sex and sexuality among the youth are also a point of consideration when understanding the psychological response of the issue, which influences the socio-cultural background of the people originate (Bennett & Harden, 2019). Therefore, the research will cover the following key subtopics:

1. The socio-cultural influence that the youth receive from the environment of their existence regarding the issues of sexuality and sexual health.
2. The roles that parents and guardians play in the development of youth behavior towards sexuality and sexual health.
3. The key recommendations in helping the youths address sexuality and sexual health problems without the limitation of fear of the public perception
4. Helping the audience understand the importance of interpretative phenomenological analysis on sexuality and sexual health among the youth.

Literature Review

Many IPAs exist in scholarly literature addressing various topics relating to sexuality and sexual behavior. Some literature addresses the subject in a more specific context while others generalize the subject, including the entire population as a case study. The specific analysis relates to either women or men exclusively. A good example is investigating sexuality as taboo from the cultural set using IPA and a Foucauldian lens to understand fathers’ behaviors in communicating to their children concerning puberty, relationships, and reproduction which informs their sexuality and sexual health well-being (Bennett & Harden, 2019). The study explores how the parental guidance conducted by fathers influences the behavioral characteristics of the youth on sex and sexuality. The study is founded on the fact that men in the youth’s life form a special bond with fathering them which molds them to the outlook they adapt to relate to the environment they are in existence. However, Bennett and Harden (2019) investigate the genealogical concept in informing the character traits of the youth in responding to the issues concerning sexuality and sexual behavior in the young population. In most cases, the youth will act according to how their fathers treated them when they were children and their love for their mothers (Bennett & Harden, 2019). It enables the youth to uphold the possibility of being open on their relationship affairs which helps the parents and guardians to offer them the counsel needed to navigate the sex and sexuality experiences in life. Further, the youth respond to family ties and kinship in a special way by forming positive social relationships with people who are around them. It offers the youth the incentive to be free to express themselves and highlight the sex and sexual issues that are affecting them without being subject to the plight of fear (Bennett & Harden, 2019). Moreover, fathers facilitate the integration of youth into society since most young people view their parents as a source of security. The presence of their fathers in their development enhances their strengths to respond effectively to the sex and sexuality stimuli they experience from the ecosystem.

Consequently, the methodology of the study by Bennett and Harden (2019) focuses on the prevalence of discipline among the youth. The impact of the investment the parents put in enabling the youth to develop into responsible people who can handle the issues of sex and sexuality with the care that keeps them safe from sexually transmitted infections a majority of young people become its victims (Bennett & Harden, 2019). Further, the sociocultural traits were variables considered in the methodology. Family, kinship, and cultural knowledge were assessed on how they impact the sex and sexuality of youth (Bennett & Harden, 2019). The authors used IPA as a methodology to establish the link between the sociocultural behaviors experienced by the youths in their environment that inform their response to sexuality and sexual health phenomena. The sample included fifteen youth and their respective parents to understand the cognitive behavior that the population had with respect to their family relationships (Bennett & Harden, 2019).

The findings of the study found that the father’s presence in the lives of young people is significant in modeling their behavior to respond to sex and sexuality issues (Bennett & Harden, 2019). The absence of cries subjects young people to have a void in their lives which makes them lack the people to address the insecurities they obtain from their external environment (Bennett & Harden, 2019). As a result, the youth curiosity exposes the young people to adversities they would not experience in the presence of their fathers who would have offered them the required counsel. Further, the authors found out that the scientific truths of a youth's behavior are anchored on the truthful lives the father exposed them to. It enables the youth to have the ease of confronting their fears without being scared of any public backlash (Bennett & Harden, 2019). The conclusion the authors made was that fathers conversing with their children about puberty, relationships, and reproduction issues enables the youth to have enough knowledge to navigate social life without being a victim of the negative consequences of sex and sexuality agenda.