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Whittington, Elsie.Pdf A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details Understanding Sexual Consent A Participatory Approach with Young People Elsie Whittington Thesis submitted for PhD examination at the University of Sussex August 2018 [1] Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature: .................................................................................... [2] Summary Understanding Sexual Consent: A participatory approach with young people This research aims to co-produce an account of consent that is congruent with young people’s everyday lives and which will enhance educational agendas for consent education. By combining participatory research with feminist youth work and informal education methods the research has generated data across seven different educational settings with diverse groups of young people and practitioners with different professional backgrounds. In line with participatory action research principals the research questions, methods and outputs have been developed in collaboration with educators and young people. A total of 103 young people age 13-25 contributed directly to the research by taking part in group work, interactive activities and creative research processes. This study finds that young people speak about sexual consent and violation along a spectrum; avoiding labelling things ‘rape’ unless there was overt violence or if overt rejection was expressed. The research also confirms previous research (Holland et al. 1998; Carmody, 2015) on the persistence of heteronormative and gendered double standards and stereotyping in what young people expect from, and how they judge, sexual encounters. Age and experience are important in shaping how young people engage with some of the more complex elements of sexual negotiation. The personal and professional background of educators is also central to how they approach the challenge of teaching sexual consent as are the settings in which education takes place. Confirming the findings of other recent studies (Coy et al. 2013, Brady et al. 2017) the study shows consent to be a complex concept with a range of different and sometimes unhelpful meanings - yet goes further in offering an alternative model of teaching and talking about sexual negotiation. Framing consent as a binary that involves getting and giving a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ is not sufficient for teaching young people about the situated realties of sexual negotiation in different contexts. Talking and teaching about the grey areas may seem a difficult task, but this research argues that this is essential. The overall argument of the thesis is that exposing awkwardness, embracing ambiguity, and acknowledging ambivalence, are key components for enabling [3] conversations and learning about sexual negotiation in a way that might nurture a shift in sexual cultures of communication. The thesis concludes with a set of recommendations for practice including the use of specialist educators, moving beyond a focus on legality and binary notions of consent to explore sexual negotiation and communication and the necessity of addressing gendered norms of sexual agency and pleasure. The doctoral research was co-funded by Brook (The UK’s largest sexual health and wellbeing charity for young people) and the Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth at the University of Sussex. [4] Acknowledgments First and foremost, I’d like to thank the young people and practitioners who took part in this research. Without their participation and willingness to collaborate and figure things out as we went along I would not have anything very interesting to say about consent at all. It was a pleasure working with and alongside so many of you and I hope that the work presented fairly reflects our time together. To my fellow doctoral friends and colleagues, I am truly grateful for your time and camaraderie as we’ve gone on this journey - starting and finishing at different times but never the less ‘in it together’. To Gill, David, Marias, Sarah, Perpetua, Louise, Fawzia, Emily, Jess, Marta, Emma, Tracey, Rosa, Lambros and Rebecca (even though you were a fully-fledged Dr. when I began), thank you all for the cups of tea, the lunchtime debriefs, the shoulders to cry on, the dinners and the beers. Big thanks also to those of you who have proofread chapters and checked that my full stops are in the right place! Particularly to Maria Emilia in Mexico and Rowan in Cardiff. On that note, I would like to acknowledge the support of my Dyslexia tutor Judith. My confidence as a reader, writer and teacher have grown with her regular care and compassionate provision. My gratitude also has to be extended to the Sociology department here at Sussex. Having taken Sociology undergraduate and been ‘brought up’ by academics in this department has certainly made me feel at home at Sussex and able to pursue the work I am doing. In particular, I’d like to thank Catherine Will for her support (academic and otherwise) and friendship over the last 8 years, if she hadn’t sent me the CIRCY studentship application, amongst other things, I wouldn’t be here now. To Ben ‘am I lecturer or am I a comedian’ Fincham, thanks for consistently being on team Elsie. You won’t remember but you did my open day at Sussex about 9 years ago and you’ve managed to keep me engaged in Sociology ever since. Thanks for reminding me when to take a step back and stop stressing and for encouraging me when I needed it. And to Rachel, thank you for steering me in the right direction, hooking me up with opportunities, pushing me and generally seeing something in me that suggested I might be able to do a PhD. It’s been tough, it’s been real, but I have truly felt the care and commitment you have had for me and my work over the last four years. Thank you for bringing me into CIRCY and ESW and enabling me to build networks and relationships that I hope will last beyond Sussex. [5] This Doctoral research would not have been possible without funding and support from Brook, and the Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth (CIRCY). My thanks to Rachel Thomson and Simon Blake for securing the collaborative studentship and enabling me to work with such a well-respected organisation. Thanks to Janet and the rest of the CIRCY community also. The opportunity to work with and learn from so many scholars working in childhood and youth across the university has certainly shaped my approach to research and the way in which I understand the potential for research to have (real, not REF) impact in the world. I would also like to thank the William Gunn's Charity for awarding me a grant towards the inevitable fourth unfunded year of study. Finally, to Mum, for always being at the end of a phone, and for helping me pull it, and myself, together at the very end. Thanks to the rest of my family for being there and providing a refuge and space for writing retreats when necessary. And to Andrew for consistently being patient and supportive, letting the PhD take over the flat, and dictate our holidays. He could write a thesis about the writing phase of the PhD with photographic data that suggests it’s all about sitting in front of a screen with a look of sincerity - I think he’ll probably steer clear of doctoral researchers from now on… Elsie at work. By Endre Herczeg Frankly this whole thing has been a team effort and if it wasn’t for a fabulous network of friends and family to keep me grounded I don’t think I’d have pulled it off. [6] Contents Declaration ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... 4 Contents ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Table of figures ............................................................................................................................10 Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................................12 1.1 How this thesis came about: 10 years in sex education ....................................................12 1.2 Thesis summary .................................................................................................................15 1.3 Talking about/researching sex and bodies ........................................................................20 1.3.1 From discourse to practice: an overview of analytical terms and tools ..............21 1.4 The thesis structure ...........................................................................................................23
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