An Ethnographic Deconstruction of Sex and Relationships Education in Scotland

Abstract

This chapter begins by presenting ethnographic data on the behaviours of Scottish working class teenagers and proceeds to an analysis of discursive behaviour observed surrounding the area of sexual relationships. This paper not only argues that sexual and / or intimate relationships are tied to wider social and cultural and economic realities, but are to be privileged as uniquely disclosive of the nature and power of social and cultural realities in the lives of teenagers. On this basis, the article considers some of the challenges faced by Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) in Scotland today when adolescent / teenage behaviours are understood as social, cultural and class practices. The article notes the increasing challenges faced by any SRE curriculum today and concludes SRE as currently configured by the State is unlikely to recognize the dominant forces shaping young peoples’ sexual relationships as this would require a ‘deconstructing’ reflexivity towards SRE once recognised itself as a social and class practice by its professional practitioners.