Double Sexual Standards: Sexuality and People with Intellectual Disabilities Who Require Intensive Support.
More than four decades after the onset of deinstitutionalization in the Nordic countries, people with intellectual disabilities in Iceland are still being prevented from engaging in intimate and sexual relationships. There are changing attitudes towards sexuality based on people's rights to live fre...
| Published in: | Sexuality & Disability Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 421 - 439 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
Sep2020
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=144920394&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 144920394 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 01461044 42X jtl: Sexuality & Disability issn: 01461044 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2020 vid: 38 iid: 3 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature place: New York, New York artinfo: ui: 144920394 144442078 10.1007/s11195-020-09643-2 144920394 ppf: 421 ppct: 18 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Double Sexual Standards: Sexuality and People with Intellectual Disabilities Who Require Intensive Support. aug: au: Björnsdóttir, Kristín Stefánsdóttir, Guðrún V. affil: Department of Education and Diversity, School of Education, University of Iceland, v/Stakkahlíð, 105, Reykjavík, Iceland sug: subj: Intellectual Disability Support, Psychosocial Sexuality Iceland Masturbation Privacy and Confidentiality Quality of Life Cultural Deprivation Sexism Attitude to Disability Attitude to Sexuality Decision Making Professional-Client Relations Communication Barriers ab: More than four decades after the onset of deinstitutionalization in the Nordic countries, people with intellectual disabilities in Iceland are still being prevented from engaging in intimate and sexual relationships. There are changing attitudes towards sexuality based on people's rights to live free sexual rights. However, because people with intellectual disabilities often require daily support, they commonly lack opportunities for privacy and safe sexual expression and relationships. In this article, we present findings from qualitative research about the sexuality of Icelandic people with intellectual disabilities who require intensive support and communicate with non-spoken language. The aim is to demonstrate how the sexuality of people with intellectual disabilities who require intensive support is shaped by socio-cultural sexual scripts and the support they receive in every-day lives. Participant observations were carried out in the homes and daily lives of 25 individuals, demonstrating their reduced opportunity to make decisions. This can affect how they communicate their identity or the image of masculinity or femininity. As a group, they have limited access to education, work, and leisure and thus few resources to draw upon when forming their own sexual scripts. Therefore, they commonly rely on other people's sexual scripts, for example those of staff and family. We discuss the pathologization of sexual behaviors and how the sexual expressions of women with intellectual disabilities have remained hidden. The findings also describe the inabilities of social and legal systems in dealing with sexual abuse among people with intellectual disabilities who require intensive support. We suggest that people with intellectual disabilities who require intensive support are seldom consulted about issues relating their personal lives, such as menstruation suppression or who assists them with personal care. We conclude by arguing that it is of vital importance to respect people's self-determination and language. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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