Hélène Manseau

Love without a home: a portrait of romantic and couple relationships among street-involved young adults in Montreal

Few studies have explored love relationships among street-involved young adults. Unstructured interviews were conducted with 42 street-involved young adults, aged between 18 and 32 years (mean age = 23), about their love and sexual life. Themes were identified in the interviews with their corresponding kernels of meaning, and these kernels of meaning were then grouped into conceptual categories on the basis of their conceptual proximity. Five main conceptual categories emerged: (1) past relationships get in the way; (2) a romantic view of love dominates; (3) love is not always the main or the only motivation; (4) romance and the street do not mix well; and (5) hoping for love when the present seems dark. The interviews suggest that although there are many challenges facing the love life of street-involved young adults, love relationships can also contribute positively to the identity of these people by helping them to look at themselves differently and to consider alternatives to life on the street.

Prior Victimization and Sexual and Contraceptive Self-Efficacy Among Adolescent Females Under Child Protective Services Care

Adolescent females under Child Protective Services care in Quebec, Canada (n = 328) completed a questionnaire designed to explore associations between prior victimization (childhood sexual abuse and four forms of dating violence) and four dimensions of sexual and contraceptive self-efficacy. Five MANCOVAs were performed. In each model, a victimization index served as the independent variable, four Contraceptive Self-Efficacy subscales as dependant variables, and age, age at first sexual intercourse, and lifetime number of sexual partners as covariates. Childhood sexual abuse was negatively associated with adolescent’s perceived ability to communicate about her sexuality and contraceptive practices. Sexual coercion in dating relationships was negatively associated with the adolescent’s perceived ability to communicate about her sexuality and contraception, her perceived control over her sexual activity, and her perceived control over her use of contraceptives in passionate situations. Sexual victimization was found to impair important aspects of adolescent females’ sexual and contraceptive self-efficacy.

Integrating the Perspective of Vulnerable Heterosexual Male Adolescents to Prevent Premature Paternity and Sexually Transmitted Infection

ABSTRACT This study presents the perspective of vulnerable Canadian (Quebecker) adolescents defined as such on account of their numerous experiences with potential or actual fatherhood or exposure to sexually transmitted infection. The interviews allowed youth to talk about their experiences with paternity, their sex lives and their views on sex education. The recurrent themes in their accounts were: (1) a felt inability to face fatherhood; (2) sexual expression (heterosexual) as a means of establishing masculinity; (3) resistance towards condom use; (4) idealized yet difficult love relationships; and (5) a need for dynamic sex education that covers love and eroticism. Based on these analyses, guidelines for sex education are proposed.