Abstract
Sexuality permeates the very fabric of our existence on this journey that we call life, from masturbation and alternative sex practices of fetishes and BDSM (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism) to polyamorous relationships. Our clients are sexual beings, and the expression of this sexuality has a profound impact on who we are as people. Unfortunately, if you are anything like this reviewer, the topic of sex was gleamed over with a bead of sweat running down their forehead, with a quick question of sexual orientation. Sex is a taboo subject, something not to be talked about; even within social work ideals of expanding diversity and inclusion, we as social workers shy away from this pivotal discussion. Sex-Positive Social Work is the answer to this desert of knowledge within the field of social work and a wake-up call for practitioners. SJ Dodd, an Associate Professor at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, USA, seeks to provide practitioners with a crash course in human sexuality in this ambitious book. Sex-positive social work argues that social work is lacking in addressing the topic of human sexuality and aims to fill in this gap in literature and education by providing an overview of major topics of sexuality. The work excels at providing a generalist overview of relevant topics covering anatomy, arousal, taking a sexual history, and sex across the lifespan. The limitations only come in the form of having to balance space to write a text that inspires change in practice with creating an exhaustive encyclopedia of human sexuality, which would be welcomed.
Sex-positive social work covers many significant topics, with the most influential chapters on anatomy, physiology and arousal, taking a sexual history, communicating love and intimacy, and sex across the life span. The author begins with what one might have believed was our physiological makeup, but we would be wrong to assume this. This book points out we make assumptions based on our own understanding of sexuality to acknowledge the variety of sexual organs in human physiology. The value of this chapter comes from recognizing anatomical terminology as well as giving multiple models of human arousal. SJ Dodd's following chapter seeks to expand our biopsychosocial assessments to include a detailed sexual history. The text excels in this topic, providing both structured and unstructured assessment questions to help new and seasoned clinicians with a guide to collect a sexual history.
The author transitions their text by discussing intimacy in relationships and how key it is to develop a comfortable environment for couples to communicate with one another about their sex life. Sex-positive social work also strives to give the reader an understanding of the early stages of a relationship and how we need to form better communication styles as the relationship progresses in order to continue to maintain passion, intimacy, and commitment. Finally, SJ Dodd provides an overview of sex across the lifespan and how we can address issues as well as be supportive of our clients as they seek help in their own sexual journey. The importance of this chapter highlights how we as the social worker must not assume that sexuality ends when we transition to late adulthood but becomes more secure and vital to address when trying to assess the whole person.
It is difficult not to like this book and how it fills the void of social work knowledge on human sexuality and spurs the field to continue to expand on this area of practice. There are areas of growth for this book as it provides only a brief introduction to human sexuality, and it may be useful if seeking to expand this area in our field to write a more comprehensive text such that we see in other fields of study. As it is, this book should be an essential read and should occupy any social worker's bookcase as a reference to human sexuality. It signals to your clients that you are open to having discussions about sexuality. If you have ever wondered how to broach the subject of your seventy-year-old client's sex life with a sex-positive approach, then this book is the primer. Sex-positive social work plants the seed and implores you to seek out and expand the topic of human sexuality in social work programs and practice around the world.