Peering through stained glass windows: how religion colors U.S. adolescents' sexuality.

Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers By Mark Regnerus. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007, 290 pages. Hardcover, $25.00.

Not since the release of Jeffrey Moran's Teaching Sex (Moran, 2000), and Janice Irvine's Talk about Sex (Irvine, 2002), has such a comprehensive treatment of adolescent sexuality--as we see in Forbidden Fruit--been offered to the public, in language that so clearly translates scientific findings into meaningful and practical accounts. Forbidden Fruit distinguishes itself from these publications, however, on two accounts. Not only does it sidestep one of researchers' and educators' favorite topics regarding adolescent sexuality--sex education--but also it tackles, instead, the subject-matter social science researchers cherish the least: if and how religion might influence or shape adolescent sexual attitudes or behaviors. Forbidden Fruit also distinguishes itself by its language, as it employs a nearly narrative writing style. Regnerus's text, despite the heavy dose of social science, engages more than just readers' intellects. It appeals equally to readers' emotions and personal experiences growing up. To accomplish such evocative tone, Regnerus employs two important strategies: First, he transcribes, verbatim, adolescents' retelling of their own life stories. For instance, an 18-year-old, non-church-attending Black Protestant from New York recalls his first sexual experience:

   When it really happens, it's not all that important. 'Cause you're
   like, man, like, it's, like, it's, I'm not saying it's bad or
   nothing. I'm just saying that it's like, let me see. It's like ...
   the NBA finals. Like, oh yeah, it's gonna be a real important
   thing. And then the Lakers come through and sweep everybody and
   it's not really that important. That's basically how it is. (p.
   130)

Second, Regnerus anticipates the readers' most pressing concerns at every turn of the text, by consistently asking and answering the questions, "So what?" "What does it all mean?" Given such unique communication ability, Regnerus's hope that the book might prove "enlightening and useful" for parents, youth workers, and educators, is certainly realistic, which is more than one can say about most books written by social scientists and published through academic presses! We found Regnerus's ability to craft his text--as meticulously and precisely as an artisan solders myriad tiny glass pieces into a beautiful mosaic--simply put, masterful!

In part, this mastery consists of Regnerus's sensitivity to anticipate readers' potential discomfort with, and questions about, the topic of religion and sexuality. Thus, he begins the text by asking, "So why ruin a good social scientific study of adolescent sexual behavior by focusing on religion?" (p. 5). His answers build a picture, piece by piece, argument by argument, of why religious variables may, indeed, positively contribute to sexual health. In a nutshell, he offers three arguments. First, sex and religion are elemental life pursuits ("not mere window dressings but close to the heart of what it means to be human," p. 6). Second, religion is not merely an "epiphenomenon" as many social scientists would prefer to characterize it, but "remains a primary socialization agent of children and adolescents" (p. 6). Third, human sexuality enjoys--as a social and human phenomenon--more religious relevance "than many other topics" (p. 7).

Once the rationale for focusing on religion and sex is in place, Regenerus presents the purpose of the book in several iterations in the introduction chapter. The best rendition of a purpose statement is this one, capturing the essential themes he addresses throughout the text:

   There are numerous ways in which religion might affect adolescent
   sexuality and its practice.... Yet how religion contributes to
   sexual values and behaviors in reality is not well understood. We
   should not presume that religion shapes how adolescents understand
   and express their sexuality simply by observing that some youth are
   religious. In other words, I want to know how consequential
   religion is among them.... Does religion matter when adolescents
   make sexual decisions and take actions? How so? If not, why not?
   (p. 5)

To answer these questions, Regnerus relies heavily on representative data from the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR; a project Regnerus coordinates) and from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), while occasionally making use of information from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, and Monitoring the Future. The reader will find plenty of statistical descriptions of the samples in these surveys, along with occasional statistical modeling of the data (e.g., Appendix A is exclusively dedicated to regression models). Yet, while the most technical aspects of the studies are left to the appendices, Regnerus threads verbatim segments of interviews with adolescents throughout the main text, making not only the author's main points come to life, but also rendering teens' perspectives even more valid.

Because most adolescents in Regnerus's samples belong to a Christian (Protestant or Catholic) religious tradition, he introduces the reader to the historical relationship between these traditions and sex/sexuality, in Chapter 1. In this chapter he also acquaints the reader with six teenagers and their personal stories. The text, then, focuses on social scientists' current understanding of how religion affects human behavior, especially adolescent sexual behavior (in Chapter 2). Chapter 3 centers on discussions of sexuality education and how adolescents learn about it. In Chapter 4, Regnerus takes on the development of heterosexual ethics and norms, while in Chapters 5 and 6 he brings the discussion to sexual behavior per se. Chapter 7 recaptures the large themes highlighted in the book, and it presents Regnerus's own efforts at theory building, proposing a new typology for the types of influence religion might be expected to have on adolescent sexuality.

The final answers to the author's initial questions are diverse and complex. But to help the reader keep perspective of the "big picture" emerging from these findings, Regnerus summarizes the accumulation of results into 11 central themes in the conclusions chapter (presented below in the author's own words as much as possible). It is mainly here, when all themes come together, that we are able to truly appreciate the complexity of the topic:

1. Religiosity--not religious affiliation--almost always makes a difference, but it does not, necessarily, motivate adolescents' sexual decision making (p. 203).

2. More devoutly religious parents tend to talk less often to their adolescent children about sex and birth control, and most often about sexual morality. African-American parents talk more about sex and birth control, and with greater ease (p. 204).

3. Religion affects adolescents' sexual attitudes and motivations more than their actions (p. 204).

4. "Emotional readiness," a key barometer of contemporary sexual preparedness, is a slippery term. It displays few connections to religion, and some adolescents note that it can only be understood in hindsight: if they regret their first sexual experience, then they weren't ready (p. 204).

5. The success of abstinence pledging is mixed. The majority of pledgers do break their vows, but they significantly delay their experience of first intercourse (p. 205).

6. American teenagers are far from oversexed. Mass media perceptions and teenagers' reported reality differ considerably (p. 205).

7. Evangelical Protestant youth may hold less sexually permissive attitudes than most other religious youth, but they are not the last to lose their virginity (p. 205).

8. Contraceptive use enjoys wide approval, but sexually active American teenagers are inconsistent in actual use (p. 206).

9. There is little evidence of adolescents practicing oral sex without vaginal intercourse for the purpose of maintaining a sense of purity (p. 206).

10. There is evidence that the practice of anal sex is beginning to increase among heterosexual American teenagers, but the practice is not religiously motivated by a pursuit of "technical" virginity (p. 206).

11. Few adolescents articulate a deep, nuanced sexual ethic. The only sexual message most religious youth are getting is, "Don't do it until you're married." "And this message doesn't go far at all toward shaping sexual decision making" (p. 207).

Finally, as if peeling an onion, the reader encounters, after presentation of findings, another valuable layer of information. In Chapter 7, Regnerus offers a typology of religious influence as an attempt to address his own (and perhaps his readers') dissatisfaction with mere descriptions of data (p. 183). The typology he proposes, therefore, is an attempt at theory building, and such attempts are found only among the best scholarly projects in social science. The typology comprises six types of religious influence, relevant for the study of adolescent sexuality, but not only: "The typology should work for adults as well and for a variety of other actions that are subject to religious teachings and normative expectations" (p. 184). For a detailed treatment of the six types of influence, the reader must refer to the text itself. Briefly listed, they include the following: (1) intentional religion; (2) instrumental religion; (3) invisible religion; (4) inconsistent religion; (5) irrelevant religion; and (6) irreligion.

In this review it is difficult for readers to miss our enthusiasm for the careful and thorough craftsmanship Regnerus's text reveals: from the accuracy and propriety of the statistical and theoretical analyses, to the nearly interpretivist "tone" of the writing and attempts at innovative theoretical thinking about religious influences on human behavior (God knows--no pun intended--how much social science needs contemporary theoretical approaches to the study of both religion and adolescent sexuality!). Yet we would be remiss if we did not alert the reader to potential weaknesses of the text.

First, the focus on Christianity (as a function of the study samples) left us wanting more information on adolescents who are embedded within other religious structures, even if these represent minority groups within the United States. Reading the book gave us a desire to learn about these other groups, with the same level of detail and care Forbidden Fruit employed in composing the "big picture" for Christian teens. Second, even though Regnerus addresses homosexuality, bisexuality and transgender issues, he does so quite briefly, and once again the reader is left with a longing for more detailed, in-depth information and analyses. Finally, although the text provides some incisive and perceptive critiques of both the religious and sexuality education communities, we believe the author could have taken the opportunity both to explore his criticism and to emphasize his arguments more forcefully. Recognizing that contributions to adolescents' sexual health can come from religious communities and from sexuality education, Regnerus's insights and accusations are to the point, logical, and too insightful to be freely ignored, although the reader would certainly be more satisfied if they had been dealt with more extensively.

References

Irvine, J. M. (2002). Talk about sex: The battles over sex education in the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Moran, J. P. (2000). Teaching sex: The shaping of adolescence in the 20th century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Reviewed by Patricia Goodson, Ph.D., and Jing Zhang, M.S., Texas A&M University, Department of Health & Kinesiology, 4243 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4243. E-mail: [e-mail].