THE PLAIN DEALER, TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1968
Institute Continues Work Started by Dr. Kinsey
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By ALTON BLAKESLEE
Associated Press
"Now we are revising our schedule of questions," says Science Writer Dr. Paul H. Gebhard, the BLOOMINGTON, Ind. executive director. "Lots Ashamed and troubled, a of questions have been young college student conent conan fessed a secret about his own sex life to a classmate, appealing for advice overcoming his "weak-
sness.
:
""
on
Shocked, his friend could suggest only that they kneel and pray.
The youth suggesting prayer was Alfred Kinsey. Years later, students were coming to Dr. Alfred 3. Kinsey, professor of zoology at Indiana University, asking questions about sex that he couldn't answer, seeking advice he couldn't provide..
FOR THESE reasons, a former associate says, Dr. Kinsey determined nearly
·
30 years ago to undertake
his famous studies of hu-
man sexual behavior.
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The first books on male and female behavior, resulting from thousands of interviews by Kinsey and colleagues, stirred controversy, shocked some people and titillated otherswith such findings that 50% of American husbands and 25% of wives commit adultery and that 10% of brides are pregnant before their wedding day.
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The studies did far more. They pointed up differences in sexual behavior by social class, and some influences from religions. They added to knowledge about female physiology and they provided with whatever weaknesses in the sampling -a base line for information on specific sex activities.
Devoid of moral judgments or recommendations, the research stamped Kinsey and associates as scientific pioneers into an area of human life guarded by taboos, myths and strong emotions.
KINSEY'S REACTION to criticisms of his work, some of his friends say, contributed to his depression and fatal illness 10 years ago.
Research has continued at the Institute for Sex Research here founded by Kinsey, with major books since published on pregnancy, birth and abortion, and on sex offenders.
answered. The second step is to study sex in terms of its meanings to the individual, the interaction between individuals and so ciety, sex in its emotional
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and psychological context.' More immediately, the the institute is embarking on three projects:
A study of homosexual communities in cities, the individuals who several cities, the individuals who comprise them, what "career stages" they go through from neophyte onward, how the community may impose these stages upon them.
This is suported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.
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Research to discover more “about how young people learn about sex and try to control sex, if they do. We're interested in how they integrate sexuality into their lives. Does sex play a role in school dropouts? By comparing results with
earlier interviews, we might be able really to answer whether there has been or is a sexual revolution." A grant has been awarded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
A study of the effects of sex education.
The institute's library of 20.000 volumes is
the
world's largest repository on sex information, Dr. Gebhard says, and since the institute is supported by public funds, the library has been made available for years to qualified scholars.
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Further, the confidential data gathered in the earlier data gathered in the earlier Kinsey interviews has been transferred to punch cards
and tanes
Thus ANSWAYS
can be obtained quickly to a tremendous variety of questions.
Dr. Gebhard hopes the institute also can establish a card index system on everyone, anywhere, doing serious sex research, to keep them in touch with one another.
"A LARGE number of them are mostly unknown to others doing related research. This results in poor scientific work and some
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He estimates that perhaps only 100 persons are devoting much time to sex research. Most began their work in the last few years
and most are located in the United States and northern Europe.
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