<< Pre-Adolescent Sex Play >>

It has been assumed that the development of sexual attitudes and the first overt sexual activities occur in the early history of the infant, but there have been few specific data available. Recently we have begun the accumulation of information through conferences with quite young children and with their parents; and in addition we now have material obtained by some of our subjects through the direct observation of infants and of older preadolescents. These histories emphasize the early development of the attitudes which largely determine the subsequent patterns of adult sexual behavior; but this material must be analyzed in a later volume, after we have accumulated a great many more specific data. For the time being we can report only on the specifically genital play and overt socio-sexual behavior which occurs before adolescence.

We are not in a position to discuss the developing child’s more generalized sensory responses which may be sexual, but which are not so specific as genital activities are. Freud and the psychoanalysts contend that all tactile stimulation and response are basically sexual, and there seems considerable justification for this thesis, in view of the tactile origin of so much of the mammalian stimulation. This, however, involves a considerable extension of both the everyday and scientific meanings of the term sexual, and we are not now concerned with recording every occasion on which a babe brings two parts of its body into juxtaposition, every time it scratches its ear or its genitalia, nor every occasion on which it sucks its thumb. If all such acts are to be interpreted as masturbatory, it is, of course, a simple matter to conclude that masturbation and early sexual activity are universal phenomena; but it is still to be shown that these elemental tactile experiences have anything to do with the development of the sexual behavior of the adult. There is now a fair list of significant and in many cases observational studies of this “pre-genital” level of reaction among infants and young children (Bell 1902, Blanton 1917, Hattendorf 1932, Isaacs 1933, Dudycha 1933, Halverson 1938, 1940, Campbell 1939, Conn 1939, 1940, Levy 1940. See Sears 1943 for a summary).

Adult behavior is more obviously a product of the specifically genital play which is found among children, and on which we can now provide a statistical record. Our own interviews with children younger than five, and observations made by parents and others who have been subjects in this study, indicate that hugging and kissing are usual in the activity of the very young child, and that self manipulation of genitalia, the exhibition of genitalia, the exploration of the genitalia of other children, and some manual and occasionally oral manipulation of the genitalia of other children occur in the two- to five-year olds more frequently than older persons ordinarily remember from their own histories. Much of this earliest sex play appears to be purely exploratory, animated by curiosity, and as devoid of erotic content as boxing, or wrestling, or other non-sexual physical contacts among older persons. Nevertheless, at a very early age the child learns that there are social values attached to these activities, and his emotional excitation while engaged in such play must involve reactions to the mysterious, to the forbidden, and to the socially dangerous performance, as often as it involves true erotic response (Sears 1943). Some of the play in the younger boy occurs without erection, but some of it brings erection and may culminate in true orgasm.

In pre-adolescent and early adolescent boys, erection and orgasm are easily induced. They are more easily induced than in older males. Erection may occur immediately after birth and, as many observant mothers (and few scientists) know, it is practically a daily matter for all small boys, from earliest infancy and up in age (Halverson 1940). Slight physical stimulation of the genitalia, general body tensions, and generalized emotional situations bring immediate erection, even when there is no specifically sexual situation involved. The very generalized nature of the response becomes evident when one accumulates a list of the apparently non-sexual stimuli which bring erection. Ramsey (1943) has published such a list gathered from a group of 291 younger boys which he had interviewed, and his histories provide part of the data which we have used in the present volume. A complete tabulation, based on the total sample now available on all cases, is as follows:
 

Non-Sexual Sources of Erotic Response
Among Pre-Adolescent and Younger Adolescent Boys

                              Chiefly Physical
Sitting in class
Friction with clothing
Taking a shower
Punishment
Accidents
Electric shock
Fast elevator rides
Carnival rides, Ferris wheel
Fast sled riding
Fast bicycle riding
Fast car driving
Skiing
Airplane rides
A sudden change in environment
Sitting in church
Motion of car or bus
A skidding car
Sitting in warm sand
Urinating
Boxing and wrestling
High dives
Riding horseback
Swimming
                              Chiefly Emotional
Being scared
Fear of a house intruder
Near accidents
Being late to school
Reciting before a class
Asked to go front in class    
Tests at school
Seeing a policeman
Cops chasing him
Getting home late
Receiving grade card
Big fires
Harsh words
Fear of punishment
Being yelled at
Being alone at night
Fear of a big boy
Detective stories
Losing balance on heights
Looking over edge of building
Falling from garage, etc.
Long flight of stairs
Setting a field afire
Hearing revolver shot
Anger
Watching exciting games
Playing in exciting games
Marching soldiers
War motion pictures
Other movies
Band music
Hearing “extra paper” called
Chiefly Emotional {Cont'd)
Adventure stories
National anthem
Watching a stunting airplane
Finding money
Seeing name in print
Playing musical solo
Running away from home
Entering an empty house
Nocturnal dreams of fighting, accidents,
     wild animals, falling from high places,
     giants, being chased, or frightened

Among these younger boys, it is difficult to say what is an erotic response and what is a simple physical, or a generalized emotional situation.

Specifically sexual situations to which the younger boys respond before adolescence include the following:
 

Sexual Sources of Erotic Response Among
212 Pre-Adolescent Boys

Seeing females
Thinking about females
Sex jokes
Sex pictures
Pictures of females
Females in moving pictures
Seeing self nude in mirror

107
104
104
89
76
55
47

Physical contact with females
Love stories in books
Seeing genitalia of other males
Burlesque shows
Seeing animals in coitus
Dancing with females

34
32
29
23
21
13


The above table is based on the histories of 212 boys who were preadolescent at the time of interview. Since the questions were not systematically put in all the pre-adolescent cases, the figures represent frequencies of answers in particular boys, and should not be taken as incidence figures for the population as a whole.

The record suggests that the physiologic mechanism of any emotional response (anger, fright, pain, etc.) may be the basic mechanism of sexual response. Originally the pre-adolescent boy erects indiscriminately to the whole array of emotional situations, whether they be sexual or non-sexual in nature. By his late teens the male has been so conditioned that he rarely responds to anything except a direct physical stimulation of genitalia, or to psychic situations that are specifically sexual. In the still older male even physical stimulation is rarely effective unless accompanied by such a psychologic atmosphere. The picture is that of the psychosexual emerging from a much more generalized and basic physiologic capacity which becomes sexual, as an adult knows it, through experience and conditioning.

The most specific activities among younger boys involve genital exhibition and genital contacts with other children. Something more than a half (57%) of the older boys and adults recall some sort of pre-adolescent sex play. This figure is much higher than some other students have found (e.g., Hamilton 1929); but it is probably still too low, for 70 per cent of the pre-adolescent boys who have contributed to the present study have admitted such experience, and there is no doubt that even they forget many of their earlier activities. It is not improbable that nearly all boys have some pre-adolescent genital play with other boys or with girls. Only about one-fifth as many of the girls have such play.


Tables 24, 14f. Ages involved in pre-adolescent sex play
Age Pre-adolescent Males
Total Population, U.S. Correction  Educ. Level 0-8 1 Educ. Level 9-12 2 Educ. Level 13+ 3
Cas-
es
Any
Sex
Play
%
Het-
ero-
sex-
ual
%
Co-
itus
%
Ho-
mo-
sex-
ual
%
Cas-
es
Any
Sex
Play
%
Het-
ero-
sex-
ual
%
Co-
itus
%
Ho-
mo-
sex-
ual
%
Cas-
es
Any
Sex
Play
%
Het-
ero-
sex-
ual
%
Co-
itus
%
Ho-
mo-
sex-
ual
%
Cas-
es
Any
Sex
Play
%
Het-
ero-
sex-
ual
%
Co-
itus
%
Ho-
mo-
sex-
ual
%
 

5

4321

9.8

6.5

2.6

5.7

822

7.9

4.7

2.8

5.7

637

9.7

6.6

2.8

5.2

2862

14.0

10.2

1.5

7.3

6

4321

15.6

10.1

4.4

10.0

821

13.4

7.8

4.8

10.4

637

16.5

11.0

4.6

9.9

2863

16.5

11.3

2.4

9.8

7

4320

20.0

13.2

6.7

13.5

819

17.6

11.2

7.4

14.0

638

21.8

14.7

7.4

13.6

2863

18.5

11.7

2.8

11.8

8

4316

26.9

17.0

8.7

18.4

820

25.7

16.0

10.9

20.1

637

28.1

18.2

8.8

17.7

2859

24.8

14.8

3.5

17.1

9

4302

28.5

16.7

8.7

21.4

817

28.4

17.0

11.5

22.9

634

29.5

17.4

8.4

21.3

2851

24.6

13.2

3.5

18.2

10

4216

36.6

20.8

11.2

27.5

812

36.3

21.4

15.0

28.6

623

38.2

21.8

10.9

27.8

2781

31.4

15.7

4.2

24.2

11

3933

37.4

22.0

12.3

27.9

784

36.7

21.7

15.2

29.0

593

39.6

24.5

13.0

28.2

2556

30.2

13.3

3.7

24.5

12

2975

38.8

22.7

12.8

29.4

677

37.4

21.9

14.9

29.8

467

41.5

25.9

14.1

30.0

1831

31.4

12.3

3.2

26.3

13

1610

35.0

20.2

12.9

26.5

491

33.4

18.1

13.2

26.7

270

38.5

24.1

15.2

27.8

849

25.3

10.0

3.5

21.4

14

424

33.6

17.8

9.3

27.6

181

36.5

16.6

11.6

29.8

59

35.6

22.0

10.2

28.8

184

19.6

4.3

1.1

18.5

15

112

24.1

16.0

5.0

19.9

40

17.5

7.5

5.0

15.0

                   
Age Pre-adolescent Females
Total Population, U.S. Correction  Educ. Level 0-8 1 Educ. Level 9-12 2 Educ. Level 13-16 4 Educ. Level 17+ 5
Cas-
es
Any
Sex
Play
%
Het-
ero-
sex-
ual
%
Co-
itus
%
Ho-
mo-
sex-
ual
%
Cas-
es
Any
Sex
Play
%
Het-
ero-
sex-
ual
%
Co-
itus
%
Ho-
mo-
sex-
ual
%
Cas-
es
Any
Sex
Play
%
Het-
ero-
sex-
ual
%
Co-
itus
%
Ho-
mo-
sex-
ual
%
Cas-
es
Any
Sex
Play
%
Het-
ero-
sex-
ual
%
Co-
itus
%
Ho-
mo-
sex-
ual
%
Cas-
es
Any
Sex
Play
%
Het-
ero-
sex-
ual
%
Co-
itus
%
Ho-
mo-
sex-
ual
%
5 5895 13 8 1 6 178 2 2 1 1 1013 10 7 1 5 3300 12 9 1 6 1150 18 14 2 8
7 5842 13 8 1 7 179 7 7 3 2 1013 11 7 2 6 3299 13 8 1 8 1150 15 9 2 8
9 5791 14 7 2 9 179 9 7 4 5 1007 13 8 2 8 3281 13 6 1 9 1141 16 9 2 10
11 4597 11 4 1 8 149 8 5 3 5 844 12 5 2 9 2543 11 4 1 8 931 11 5 2 8
12 2908 10 4 1 8 120 8 4 3 7 573 13 5 3 10 1535 10 3 1 8 601 9 3 2 7
13 1154 7 3 1 5 73 8 4 3 5 286 9 3 2 8 523 6 3 1 4 244 5 2 2 4

1 “Educ. level 0-8” are those who had never gone beyond grade school.
2 “9-12” are those who had gone into high school, but never beyond.
3 “13+” are those who will ultimately go to college.
4 “13-16” are those who had gone into college, but had not had more than four years of college.
5 “17+” are those who had gone beyond college into post-graduate or professional training.

Figures 25, 6f. Percent of males and females involved in sex play at each pre-adolescent age

Data all corrected for U.S. Census distribution.


Most of this pre-adolescent sex play occurs between the ages of eight and thirteen (Table 24, Figure 25), although some of it occurs at every age from earliest childhood to adolescence. For a quarter of the boys who have such play, the activity is limited to a single year (24.3%) or two (17.9%) or three (10.4%) in pre-adolescence (Table 25). For many of them there is only a single experience. A third of the active males (36.2%) continue the play for five years or more. That the activity does not extend further is clearly a product of cultural restraints, for pre-adolescent sex play in the other anthropoids is abundant and continues into adult performance (Bingham 1928). Most of the play takes place with companions close to the subject’s own age. On the other hand, the boy’s initial experience is often (although not invariably) with a slightly older boy or girl. Older persons are the teachers of younger people in all matters, including the sexual. The record includes some cases of pre-adolescent boys involved in sexual contacts with adult females, and still more cases of pre-adolescent boys involved with adult males. Data on this point were not systematically gathered from all histories, and consequently the frequency of contacts with adults cannot be calculated with precision.
Tables 25, 15f. Number of years involved, pre-adolescent sex play
No. of
Years
Involved
Duration of Pre-adolescent Sex Play
Percent of active sample
Females Males
Total Population
U.S. Correction
Total Population
U.S. Correction
Educ. Level
0-8
Educ. Level
9-12
Educ. Level
13+
Cumu-
lated
%
% Cumu-
lated
%
% Cumu-
lated
%
% Cumu-
lated
%
% Cumu-
lated
%
Any Sex Play
1 54 24.3 100.0 18.6 100.0 24.0 100.0 37.9 100.0
2 19 17.9 75.7 11.8 81.4 20.1 76.0 22.8 62.1
3 10 10.4 57.8 10.3 69.6 10.2 55.9 11.1 39.3
4 6 11.2 47.4 11.5 59.3 11.6 45.7 8.8 28.2
5 4 11.0 36.2 14.3 47.8 10.4 34.1 6.1 19.4
6 3 9.5 25.2 12.0 33.5 9.2 23.7 5.3 13.3
7 2 7.2 15.7 10.8 21.5 5.9 14.5 4.3 8.0
8 1 5.7 8.5 8.2 10.7 5.2 8.6 2.3 3.7
9+ 1 2.8 2.8 2.5 2.5 3.4 3.4 1.4 1.4
Cases 2789 2749 426 404 1919
Mean
Median
2.1 years
1.4 years
3.72 years
2.82 years
4.32 years
3.83 years
3.63 years
2.60 years
2.76 years
1.53 years
Any Heterosexual Play

1

67

36.3

100.0

25.6

100.0

37.6

100.0

54.0

100.0

2

15

15.8

63.7

12.2

74.4

17.1

62.4

18.6

46.0

3

7

9.4

47.9

8.5

62.2

10.1

45.3

8.7

27.4

4

4

10.2

38.5

11.5

53.7

10.4

35.2

6.4

18.7

5

3

7.4

28.3

9.6

42.2

7.1

24.8

3.9

12.3

6

2

7.3

20.9

10.4

32.6

6.7

17.7

3.0

8.4

7

1

7.7

13.6

13.7

22.2

5.7

11.0

2.7

5.4

8

1

3.3

5.9

5.9

8.5

2.3

5.3

1.6

2.7

9+

 

2.6

2.6

2.6

2.6

3.0

3.0

1.1

1.1

Cases

1805 1850

270

298

1282

Mean
Median

1.8 years
1.2 years
3.23 years
2.11 years

4.00 years
3.34 years

3.06 years
1.74 years

2.22 years
0.93 years

Heterosexual Coitus

1

61

39.2

100.0

32.7

100.0

38.3

100.0

56.3

100.0

2

13

13.6

60.8

9.0

67.3

15.6

61.7

15.7

43.7

3

9

10.2

47.2

6.0

58.3

13.0

46.1

8.8

28.0

4

8

10.2

37.0

15.1

52.3

8.5

33.1

6.0

19.2

5

2

7.1

26.8

9.6

37.2

6.5

24.6

4.1

13.2

6

3

7.4

19.7

7.0

27.6

8.4

18.1

4.7

9.1

7

3

9.2

12.3

14.6

20.6

7.8

9.7

2.8

4.4

8

1

1.6

3.1

3.5

6.0

0.6

1.9

1.3

1.6

9+

 

1.5

1.5

2.5

2.5

1.3

1.3

0.3

0.3

Cases

312 671

199

154

318

Mean
Median

2.0 years
1.3 years
3.09 years
2.07 years

3.72 years
3.17 years

2.97 years
1.77 years

2.19 years
0.89 years

Homosexual Play

1

61

27.1

100.0

20.0

100.0

26.9

100.0

43.2

100.0

2

17

17.8

72.9

11.2

80.0

20.9

73.1

19.8

56.8

3

9

10.0

55.1

11.2

68.8

9.1

52.2

11.1

37.0

4

5

10.8

45.1

8.8

57.6

12.8

43.1

7.7

25.9

5

3

11.5

34.3

14.7

48.8

11.1

30.3

6.0

18.2

6

2

8.8

22.8

12.9

34.1

7.4

19.2

5.1

12.2

7

2

6.7

14.0

10.9

21.2

5.1

11.8

3.8

7.1

8

1

5.2

7.3

8.2

10.3

4.4

6.7

2.1

3.3

9+

 

2.1

2.1

2.1

2.1

2.3

2.3

1.2

1.2

Cases

1927 2096

340

297

1459

Mean
Median

1.9 years
1.3 years
3.54 years
2.63 years

4.24 years
3.88 years

3.39 years
2.26 years

2.63 years
1.35 years

“Educ. level 0-8” are the males who never go beyond grade school.
“Educ. level 9-12” are the males who enter high school but never go beyond.
“Educ. level 13+” are the males who will ultimately go to college.

For both the females and males in the sample, the earliest sexual contacts with other individuals, either of their own or of the opposite sex, appear to have been the incidental outcome of other play activities, or the imitation of sexual behavior which they had observed among other children or even among adults. The anthropologic record indicates that there is a good deal of this imitative play among children of primitive groups where adult coitus is not as carefully guarded from observation as in our own culture.
For anthropologic data on the female's pre-adolescent sex play, including coitus, see, for example: Malinowski 1929:55-59 (Trobriand Islanders, Melanesia). Powdermaker 1933:85 (Lesu, Melanesia; adults condone and approve). Devereux 1936:32 (Mohave, Calif.). Gorer 1938:310 (Lepcha, Northern India; adults encourage such activity and are amused). Landes 1938:21 (Ojibway, Ontario, Canada). Du Bois 1944:69-70 (Alor, Melanesia; condoned for young children). Elwin 1947:436-437 (Muria, India; children live in separate establishment until they eventually marry). Henry in Hoch and Zubin 1949:95-98 (Pilaga, Brazil; extremely free sex play permitted). Ford and Beach 1951:188-192 (summarizes various anthropologic studies).

More of the sex play among children in this country represents the perpetuation of age-old games commonly referred to as "mama and papa,'’ and "doctor.” These games were current in the generation which included our oldest subjects, and they still appear under these names in the youngest generation represented in the sample. The specifically sexual nature of these games is not always understood by the child; and even when the small boy lies on top of the small girl and makes what may resemble copulatory movements, there is often no realization that genital contacts might be made, or that there might be an erotic reward in such activity. However, in some communities, and in families where there are several children, it sometimes happens that an older child or some adult may give the girl or boy more extended information, or may even direct the physical contacts so they become specifically sexual.

A considerable portion of the child’s pre-adolescent sex play, both with its own and with the opposite sex, is a product of curiosity concerning the playmate’s anatomy.
Hamilton 1929:454, 457 found 33 of 100 females curious to see male genitalia before age 12, 39 no curiosity at any age, 13 peeping before age 11. Dillon 1934:171-172 observed mutual genital inspection between a boy and girl in nursery school while fully dressed, although they were naked together during a daily 15 minute dressing period. Our own data include several more or less similar instances.

Table 11f. Accumulative Incidence among Females: Pre-Adolescent Socio-Sexual Experience
By Educational Level
Age
Females
Percent Cases
Total
Sample
Educ. level Total
Sample
Educ. level
9-12 13-16 17+ 9-12 13-16 17+
Any Sex Play
3 1 1 2 5882 1013 3291 1146
5 13 1012 18 5849 1013 3291 1146
7 27 2127 36 5829 1013 3291 1146
9 39 3339 50 5775 1009 3276 1139
11 46 4146 57 4579 844 2536 928
13 44 4046 54 1145 286 518 244
Heterosexual Play
3 1 1 5895 1014 3296 1147
5 8 79 14 5860 1014 3296 1147
7 18 1519 26 5838 1014 3296 1147
9 25 2326 36 5784 1010 3281 1140
11 29 2628 39 4586 845 2540 929
13 28 2430 36 1148 286 521 244
Homosexual Play
3 0 1 5903 1013 3292 1149
5 6 56 8 5861 1013 3292 1149
7 15 1115 19 5836 1013 3292 1149
9 25 2025 30 5779 1009 3277 1142
11 32 2931 38 4584 844 2538 931
13 30 2931 36 1145 286 518 244

“Educ. level 0-8” are those who had never gone beyond grade school.
“9-12” are those who had gone into high school, but never beyond.
“13+” are those who will ultimately go to college.
“13-16” are those who had gone into college, but had not had more than four years of college.
“17+” are those who had gone beyond college into post-graduate or professional training.

Figure 5f. Accumulative incidence: pre-adolescent socio-sexual experience among females

Each dot indicates percent of sample with experience by the indicated age.


Although 30 per cent of the females in the sample recalled preadolescent heterosexual play, and 33 per cent recalled pre-adolescent homosexual play, only 48 per cent recalled any sort of socio-sexual play before adolescence (Table 11f, Figure 5f). This means that 15 per cent had had sex play only with boys, 18 per cent had had it only with girls, and another 15 per cent had had it with both boys and girls.
Among the few previously published data on the incidences of pre-adolescent sex play, see: Davis 1929:56-58 (in 25 per cent of 1000 married females). Landis et al. 1940:278 (36 per cent of 109 single females and 20 per cent of 44 married females). Individual cases describing pre-adolescent experience are in: Moll 1899:557; 1909:156, 245; 1912:174, 269. Liepmann 1922:250. Krafft-Ebing 1924:484. Robie 1925:62. Müller 1929:467-477 ( 5 girls under 12). Bühler 1931: 637-638 (6 cases observed by Culp, ages 4 to 11).

Our data on the incidence and frequency of sex play among pre-adolescent children are drawn in part from the studies we have made of children of very young ages, but they depend largely upon the recall of the adults who have contributed to the present study. It has been apparent, however, that the adults have recalled only a portion of their pre-adolescent experience, for even children forget a high proportion of their experience within a matter of weeks or months. This is due sometimes to the incidental nature of the sex play, and in some instances to the fact that the child was emotionally disturbed by the experience and blocked psychologically in recalling a taboo activity. But even though the child may not be able to recall its experience, it is possible that it has acquired information and attitudes which will affect its subsequent patterns of behavior. While the records show that 48 per cent of the adult females in the sample had recalled some sort of pre-adolescent sex play (Table 11f, Figure 5f), we are inclined to believe, for the above reasons, that a much higher percentage must have had sexual contacts as young children.

About equal numbers of the females recalled contacts with girls and with boys. There is no evidence that their interest in their own sex (the homosexual interest) had developed either before or after their interest in the opposite sex (the heterosexual interest). Freudian hypotheses of psychosexual development proceeding, as a rule, from narcissistic (masturbatory) interests and activities to interests in other individuals whose bodies are similar (the homosexual interests), and finally to interests in individuals who are physically different (the heterosexual interests), are not substantiated by the pre-adolescent or adolescent histories of either the females or the males in the sample.
Freud's theory of the stages of psychosexual development may be found in: Freud 1910:59-86; 1938:604-629. Fenichel 1945:40, 110-113.

Because of the restrictions which parents and our total social organization place upon the free intermingling of even small children of the opposite sex, it is not surprising to find that 52 per cent of the females in the sample had had more girls than boys as childhood companions, and that another 33 per cent had had boys and girls in about equal numbers as childhood companions. Only about 15 per cent had had. more boys than girls as companions. This lesser significance of boys as the pre-adolescent companions of girls makes it all the more notable that the pre-adolescent sexual activities of the females in the sample were had with boys about as often as with girls. This had undoubtedly depended upon the fact that small boys are usually more aggressive than girls in their physical activities, and even at that age boys are more likely to initiate the sexual activities.

The data indicate that the percentage of children engaging in any kind of pre-adolescent sex play had increased in the course of three of the decades represented in the sample. In comparison with the females born before 1900, some 10 per cent more of those born between 1910 and 1919 recalled pre-adolescent sex play (Table 12).

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