Sex and Sexuality Among New York's Puerto Rican Youth (Hardback)

Though Latinos are the youngest and most rapidly growing minority ethnic group in the U.S. today, their experiences with regard to sexuality have received little attention. Remedying this, Sex, and Sexuality draws on the voices of second-generation Puerto Rican adolescents in New York to illustrate the complex interactions of class, culture, and acculturation that produce sexual behaviors and attitudes. Asencio reveals that programs encouraging abstinence, monogamy, and safer-sex practices have interacted with Latino adolescent social and cultural norms to produce changes - but not changes that reduce sexual risk. Her study presents both data and conclusions that have critical significance for the development of policy aimed at mitigating the devastation of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.