If you think “hooking-up” isn’t a big deal…then you should start reading some of these books!

As more and more studies, surveys and research is being done on the “hook-up” culture, especially in college, there are a slew of books that are beginning to emerge. One of the interesting things about the “hook-up” culture in college is that it is producing young adults who carry on the same behaviors, and are unable then to carry on any meaningful committed relationships.

RO just blogged about it at our collaborative youth ministry blog Collection of Crumbs. In the book Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both, she writes:

Young people have virtually abandoned dating and replaced it with group get-togethers and sexual behaviors that are detached from love or commitment–and sometimes even from liking. Relationships have been replaced by the casual sexual encounters known as hookups…Hooking up’s defining characteristic is the ability to unhook from a partner at any time.

Recently I blogged about the book Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in Her Profession Endangers Every Student. She states:

More relevant to my patients at this stage in their lives is that oxytocin is released during sexual activity. Could it be that the same chemical that flows through a woman’s veins as she nurses her infant, promoting a powerful and selfless devotion, is found in college women ‘hooking up’ with men whose last intention is to bond?

I then saw this today at Ivy Jungle’s Campus Ministry Update. It says:

A Textbook on Hooking Up: Kathleen Bogle has published her book, Hooking Up as an analysis of research into the dating and sexual behaviors of college students today. Conducting in depth interviews with students at two unnamed universities - one large public school and one smaller Roman Catholic school, she describes the casual hook up as the “center for college social life.” Her research shows that students overestimate the frequency of hook ups among their peers as well as “how far” those encounters go (kissing, intercourse, etc.). She is quick to point out that such behavior is not new to campus life, but technology and informality have turned it into what she calls “the dominant script for forming sexual and romantic relationships on campus.” She also points out the damage of a hook up culture on women. First, women are much more likely to receive a bad reputation for hooking up. Secondly, her research shows that women do not get what they want (i.e. a relationship) from the casual sex of a hook up - but believe it is the only way to meet men. The culture is also affecting young adults after graduation. When these young adults enter more formal dating environments, many say they do not know how to go on dates and establish relationships outside of “hanging out” and “hooking up.” A full interview with the author is available at www.insidehighered.com (Inside Higher Ed January 29, 200

Books:

• Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both

• Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in Her Profession Endangers Every Student

• Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus

There are plenty of more books out there on this topic, plus the books that are in favor of hooking up and how to go about having casual sexual relationships. I think that I am concerned more and more for the students I work with who really don’t think it’s a big deal, and fail to think about the long term ramifications of their actions. And usually in the process it is the woman who gets hurt the most as the research is showing.

I think Bogle’s statements are pretty telling:

“center for college social life.” Her research shows that students overestimate the frequency of hook ups among their peers as well as “how far” those encounters go (kissing, intercourse, etc.). She is quick to point out that such behavior is not new to campus life, but technology and informality have turned it into what she calls “the dominant script for forming sexual and romantic relationships on campus.”

 

This book should be a primer for all college pastors (well, anyone working with youth that is)

I posted the below over at Leadership Network’s Book Blog because it has been a very important book for me in college ministry. This book is actually really relevant for anyone working with youth, because if you work with youth I know this topic has come up.

I’m going to begin to post more about this in the next few weeks at this site, as well as at my own blog, Rhett Smith. I would love to hear about this topic from you. If you are a youth minister, or work with you, what is your thought on this topic? Is is an issue in the ministry you work in?

Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in Her Profession Endangers Every Student

I’ve been slowly reading through Miriam Grossman M.D.’s new book, Unprotected, and I’m having a hard time finding the right adjective to describe my thoughts…depressing, enlightening, sad. One of the reasons that I picked up the book was because I have been working with college students for almost ten years and I (among many others) have noticed the affects of the “hook up” culture in college circles.

“Hooking up” is nothing new in college, and in fact it’s even made easier through social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace which allow you to find “hook up” partners at the touch of a button. But now for the first time in many years, those in the medical, psychological and religious fields are taking notice of some of the long lasting effects of this sexual encounter. Dr. Grossman who has been working with college students for over twenty years, and the last ten working as a psychiatrist at UCLA’s Student Psychological Services, wrote this book out of her experiences of working with thousands of college students, and more specifically women on college campuses. Miriam writes,

“Now young people are advised to use latex, and have a limited number of partners (as opposed to unlimited?). There is a tacit approval of promiscuity and experimentation: one study of college students speaks of ‘primary and casual sex partners.”

She goes on to say that,

“More relevant to my patients at this stage in their lives is that oxytocin is released during sexual activity. Could it be that the same chemical that flows through a woman’s veins as she nurses her infant, promoting a powerful and selfless devotion, is found in college women ‘hooking up’ with men whose last intention is to bond?”

As a college pastor this is a necessary book as I interact with students who live in a “hook up” culture. And for the first time in many years, Grossman from a psychiatric perspective is confirming what Christian teachers have been saying.