SEXUAL LATENCY

Until recently, because of the influence of Freud, it was believed that once a child had found its gender-identity it entered a period of sexual latency which lasted until puberty. It was reluctantly accepted that small children were sexual in so far as they enjoyed fondling their genitals and in masturbating, although it was doubted if the child perceived this activity as erotic. But it was believed that by the end of its fifth year a child entered a period of sexual latency, because, by that stage of its development, a boy had repressed his guilt for desiring his mother sexually and had resolved his fear that his father could retaliate by cutting off the boy’s penis. Having resolved the so-called Oedipal conflict, the child’s sexuality ceased. ‘During this lull period,’ Freud wrote, ‘it is at a standstill and much is unlearnt and there is much recession. After the end of the period of latency, as it is called, sexual life advances once more with puberty.’

It is now known that there is no latent sexual period. With the widening variety of experiences, the child’s interest moves away from obtaining pleasure by fondling its genitals, but masturbation continues throughout childhood, and in some cultures sexual intercourse takes place.

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