Sex and College Students

Brent Mullins
Dr. Lageman
Research Paper
March 27,2008
Sex and College Students

      The purpose of this paper is to identify the circumstances associated with casual sex encounters. I found that casual sex is

 a common occurrence related to early sexual transition, engaging in first sex with a casual sex partner, drug use, and alcohol consumption. Casual sex occurred more often between "friends" than with strangers. 

 The transition to adulthood is a time of exploration and experimentation, and behavior patterns that will impact their emotional functioning and health as adults. The journey to adulthood often includes experimentation with sexual behaviors: the majority of adolescents first engage in intercourse before they graduate high school. I found that first intercourse experiences occurred in a romance for the majority of young people. Those who begin having intercourse at younger ages are more likely to engage in sexual intercourse with casual partners. 70% of college students report having engaged in intercourse with people they did not find romantic.

 Casual sexual relationships or encounters are referred to by a variety of names in research literature. In research these relations have been referred to as "chance encounters", "one-night stands" and "casual sex." Casual sexual relationships can be sexual interludes with strangers or they can be sex with a friend. They can be brief or long in duration. 

Regardless of terminology, all are describing sexual relationships in which the partners do not define the relationship as romantic or their partner as a boyfriend or girlfriend. These meetings are often superficial, based on sexual desire or physical

 attraction, spontaneous, and often impulsive, and they frequently involve drugs or alcohol. Broadening research to examine the

 context and full spectrum of sex behaviors of adolescents is important to the development of effective education programs and clinical interventions, 

as some... [continues]

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