Investigating the Process of Sex Education for Iranian Adolescents: A Grounded Theory Study

Adolescence is a transitional period in life when one's rapid physical growth and development and sexual maturation can lead to their physical capability to reproduce. Based on the definition provided by WHO, adolescents are young people between the ages of 10 and 19 years. Since adolescents and young adults are going through the growth stage, their health can be affected either positively or negatively by their interactions with the environment, their friends and peers, their parents and family members, people in the society, and social rules. In the course of sexual maturation, adolescents undergo fundamental changes and face with different questions and ambiguities and if they do not receive right answers to their questions, they may refer to their peers or media such as satellite TV, the Internet, and cyberspace to find answers. However, they often do not find proper answers. This may also lead to further problems in the future. Considering this, sex education is a necessity for adolescents that must not be overlooked. It is a fundamental right of adolescents and should be provided by both parents and society. Due to its characteristics, sex education is accompanied by a number of challenges in all countries and cultures and unique ethical considerations are associated with it. In many Islamic countries such as Iran, sexual intercourse out of marriage is prohibited both culturally and religiously. In such countries, sex education is insufficient and restricted, and is not often provided by teachers since they do not feel right talking about sextual issues. Furthermore, there is currently no coherent policy on sex education in countries such as Iran. Therefore, the present study was an attempt to describe the processes of sex education of Iranian adolescents through developing a theoretical model. The governing paradigm of this study were a qualitative one. The present researchers further benefitted from a grounded theory research method in carryiong out this study. Accordingly, school conditions and opinions of sex education specialists, teachers, counselors, health educators and parents were considered in this study. Regarding the study participants, 20 specialists in the field of sexual education, curriculum planning, educational psychology, parents and teachers with scientific expertise or practical experience were selected by using theoretical sampling procedure. Then, a number of semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants and the process of data collection continued until data saturartion was reached. The collected data was next analyzed using the paradigm model (the Strauss and Corbin). After analyzing the data, the researcher obtained 169 basic conceptual propositions in the form of 59 open codes, 18 central codes, and 6 selected codes. The findings were further depicted in the form of a model indicating causal factors, namely the need for accurate adolescent recognition, cross-sectoral cooperation and recognition of necessities, the main phenomenon, namely effective sex education, interventionist conditions, namely religious-belief, socio-cultural, and Educational-organizational barriers, contextual factors, namely lack of clear policies, inefficiency of parents and unreliable information resources, strategies, namely overcoming cultural barriers, socio-cultural considerations, capacity building in the educational system, educational strategies and principles of education, and consequences, namely individual and social consequences. The model reflected the pattern of adolescent sex education process. According to the proposed model, necessity and need, education, and sociocultural structures can affect the core component of effective sex education of Iranian adolescents. The main objective of this study was to propse a theoretical model for studying the process of sex education of Iranian adolescents through using a grounded theory method. Based on the findings of this study, 169 basic conceptual propositions were identified in the form of 59 open codes, 18 central codes, and 6 selected codes. Accordingly, it can be suggested that Iranian society can solve its sex-related problems through an effective educational system which pays enough attention to sex education while taking into account the country's Islamic-Iranian culture. Obviously, the absence of a proper sex education system can predispose adolescents to a variety of abusive and high-risk behaviors. Adolescence is one of the most sensitive and traumatic stages of development. Concerning the aforementioned findings, it is recommended that the country's education authorities pay enough attention to sex education and provide the necessary grounds for designing and implementing effective curriculums in this regard. Finally, parents are advised to take a realistic look at sexual-related issues and problems of adolescents, to improve their own sexual education literacy, and to pay attention to the mental and personality conditions of their teenage children.