Browsing by Author "Blom, Kristin"

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Om sättet att tillhopa gå, en kvalitativ studie om ungdomars tankar kring sex och relationer
(2008-05-27T06:56:26Z) Blom, Kristin; Nolgren, Anna; Wallberg, Lina; Göteborg University/Department of Social Work; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för socialt arbete
Young people of today have a much wider access to information on sex and relationships, and they receive this information from a variety of different sources. This information can sometimes paint a diverse and inconsistent picture. School constitutes one of these sources, and one of the few places were young people can discuss and reflect on these issues together with their peers as well as adults. The purpose of this essay is to gain insight on what adolescents between the age of 15 to 18 think about sex and relationships and their thoughts about sex education in school. It’s a qualitative study based on discussions with adolescents divided in four focus groups, two groups of girls and two groups of boys. This method yielded a body of empirical material that was later analyzed from a sociological starting point and gender perspective. We used John Gagnon and William Simon’s theories regarding sexual scripts, in which society’s views on sexuality and what kind of sexual behavior is accepted, is discussed. We also used Zygmunt Bauman’s theories on ”the liquid society”. Bauman discusses issues regarding the modern consumer society and sexuality, and states that even relationships are an article of consumption. The essay will show that the participants consider sex and relationships to be important and interesting matters, and believe that the amount of education in school regarding these issues isn’t enough. Past positive experiences in their contact with adults have given some a sense of confidence when talking openly about sex, but they were ambivalent in their views on relationships. Sex without love is relatively accepted but the final goal is still a lifelong, monogamous relationship. Also, the accepted sexual behavior is different for girls and boys. A majority of the results in our study are in accordance with previous research.
Den sexuella gråzonen En studie om sexuella berättelser från ett gränsland utan språk
(2012-05-25) Blom, Kristin; Göteborg University/Department of Social Work; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för socialt arbete
Hur kan man tala om erfarenheter från ett gränsland som inte riktigt har ett språk? Det under-söker jag i denna uppsats som är baserad på 53 berättelser som publicerats på internetsajten Prata om det. Majoriteten av berättelserna handlar om händelser som utspelade sig när berättarna var ungdomar, varför ungdomstiden är i fokus även i min uppsats. Syftet är att undersöka gråzonen mellan en negativ sexuell upplevelse och våldtäkt. Om det är möjligt att förstå detta område utifrån identitet och relationer, föreställningar kring kön samt sexuella skript har avhandlats. Det är också de begrepp som analysen baseras på. Resultaten visar att det finns ett stort behov av att berätta om sina negativa sexuella erfarenheter och att det behövs ett språk med mer nyanser när det gäller dessa. Föreställningar om relationer, identitet och kontexter inverkar på förståelsen av en sexuell situation, oavsett om det leder till att man har sex eller inte. Detta ger konsekvenser, inte nödvändigtvis positiva sådana bara för att man säger nej till sex när man inte vill. Diskurser står ofta i konflikt med varandra vilket kan skapa oförståelse inför en sexuell situation och berättarens upplevelse och tolkning av den. De sexuella skript som präglar vår samtid, enligt berättelserna, är att det inte finns några restriktioner kring sexuella kontakter utanför ett förhållande. Något som dessutom framkommer är att de sexuella skript som råder när man är vuxen kan se annorlunda ut när man är ung. Detta kan också påverka tolkningen av den sexuella situationen, och den kan upplevas mer smärtsam i efterhand än vad den i realiteten var. Behov av bekräftelse, närhet, ömsesidighet, att få känna sig sedd, åtråvärd, värdefull och att slippa vara ensam framkommer som motiv till sexuella kontakter. Detta kan ibland stå i motsats till ett mer individuellt sexuellt skript, baserat på individens rätt till lust och njutning. Detta kan bli en framtida utmaning för vår sexuella praktik.
Sexuellt samtycke bland unga - mellan ideal och praktik
(2025-03-28) Blom, Kristin
In 2018, Sweden implemented a revised sexual offence law based on voluntariness (SFS 2022:1043), and the year prior the #MeToo movement shed light on the power dynamics between men and women, emphasising the importance of consent. These changes have led to discussions about sexual boundaries, violence, gendered power relations and, not least, sexual consent. Politicians have advocated for a culture of consent, and several initiatives have been presented to promote this, including a change introduced to the school curricula that requires young people to learn about consent. In this sense, consent is framed as a solution to problems related to sexuality, which makes it important to explore it as a concept in itself, as well as how it is understood and practised by young adults. Therefore, this study aims to understand young adults’ narratives about the presence and absence of sexual consent in various situations, as well as potential ambiguities they might perceive. It also aims to highlight and provide an understanding of young adults’ narratives on sexual consent as a concept and in practice. The empirical material consists of 31 qualitative interviews with young adults between 16 and 21 years old, 13 female, four male, one nonbinary and one gender fluid. The interviews were conducted during 2020–2022. The theoretical framework consists mainly of interactionist theories, such as symbolic interactionism, sexual scripts, interaction rituals, concepts from the sociology of emotions and gender theories. This dissertation contributes to a broad and nuanced image of sexual consent. The results show that the young adults are highly informed about consent, but their understandings of consent are not always consistent with their narratives of how sexual consent works in practice. Analysis shows that different ideals affect how the young adults navigate and understand their sexual experiences. These ideals are connected to prevailing discourses about consent, narratives pertaining to sexual self-awareness and competence in sexual communication and, for boys, behavioural expectations about being ‘nice’ and gender equal. Other ideals identified in the analysis related to sexual competence and sexual experience. Girls were expected to be considerate, affirmative, sexy and desirable, as well as respectable. Boys on the other hand, were expected to be active, dominant and initiate sex and to have an insatiable sexual desire. The analysis shows that the young adults in the study try to live up to these different ideals – even though they can be both contradictive and utopian. They also reflect upon and try to reconcile the discrepancy between these ideals and practice. The results show the importance of creating room for young adults to reflect upon and question different ideals related to sex and sexual consent.