Abstract
Drawing on data from a recent study of young people’s (16–25) understandings and experiences of “good sex” and sexual pleasure, this chapter critically examines the concept of “sexual wellbeing” in the UK context. The chapter begins by outlining how concepts of “sexual wellbeing” have been taken up in English and UK health and education policies and explores some of the benefits and limitations of current policy approaches. The chapter then examines how research findings from the study complicate debates around health and education policy and raise questions about how to operationalize concepts of sexual wellbeing and “good sex” in youth, education and health institutional settings. The research suggests that there is a range of sexual experiences that young people consider to be “good” that may not necessarily enhance their “wellbeing” or promote safer sexual practices. This raises questions about how practitioners working with young people can manage the sometimes uncomfortable mismatch between young people’s understandings of “good sex” and a policy agenda for promoting sexual wellbeing.
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McGeeney, E. (2015). Young People, Sexual Pleasure and Sexual Health Services: What Happens When “Good Sex” Is Bad for Your Health?. In: Wright, K., McLeod, J. (eds) Rethinking Youth Wellbeing. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-188-6_6
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