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5 - The Dynamic Expression of Sexual-Minority and Gender-Minority Experience during Childhood and Adolescence

from Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

By
Lisa M. Diamond
Edited by
Sharon Lamb  and
Jen Gilbert
Sharon Lamb
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Boston
Jen Gilbert
Affiliation:
York University, Toronto
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Summary

This chapter asserts that to understand sexual and gender development it is necessary to have a model that holds space for the twists and turns, and often abrupt and non-linear courses that these forms of development can take. Thus, the author argues in favor of a dynamical systems model for understanding the complex, diverse, and variable experiences of gender-minority and sexual-minority childhood and adolescence. The author reviews the literature on both forms of development, identifies trends and limitations in this literature, and follows by introducing dynamical systems models and explicating their usefulness for understanding processes of non-linear change, such as gender and sexual development in childhood, adolescence, and across the life course. This chapter concludes with suggestions for future research.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Sexual Development
Childhood and Adolescence
 , pp. 94 - 112
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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