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Principles of Developmental Sexology

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John Money
Principles of Developmental Sexology

(New York: Continuum, 1997) 384 pages
(ISBN: 0-8264-1026-X; hardcover)
(Library of Congress call number: HQ21.M733 1997)

John Money presents a good summary of almost all the themes in sexology
that he has handled in much greater length in his many earlier books and articles.
Sometimes the content of another book is summarized in just one or two pages.
In writing this summary at the end of his long career,
he had the opportunity to make some minor changes
and to express himself more clearly.
But basically, he does not take back the content of any of his previous books.
Thus, this one volume will serve future generations
as a good introduction to the sexology of John Money.
Readers introduced to a particular issue in this book
can pursue that issue more deeply in other books and articles by John Money
--and others writers in the same school of thought.

I recommend this book highly.
It is written so well that it merited reading aloud,
which I find true of less than 5% of the books I read.

Principles of Developmental Sexology
breaks no new ground for John Money.
But it does provide up-to-date references to new publications,
many of which were not written when he published his earlier books.
Many of Money's perspectives are not yet accepted by other sexologists.
But he leads the way into an area of scientific investigation
few others have tried.
John Money will be recognized well into the 21st century
as the greatest sexologist of the 20th century.
His theories are not closed and settled dogmas.
In the spirit of scientific investigation,
he maintains an open mind on questions
for which there is not sufficient evidence to formulate a reliable theory.
In many cases he merely introduces the beginnings
of new lines of scientific research into the mysteries of human sexuality.

Here are the basic themes covered in
Principles of Developmental Sexology:
1. biological roots of human sexuality.
2. development of personality-differences between males and females.
3. development of "lovemaps"--sex-scripts or imprinted sexual fantasies.
4. emergence of romantic love
--and its various manifestations and distortions.
5. varieties of human "pairbonding"--mating, marriage.
6. sexual problems encountered in the teen years.
7. orgasm and its problems.
8. body-image and self-concept.
9. unusual sex-scripts ("paraphilias")--and their problems.

Find other books reviewed by James Park here on the Internet:
"SEXOLOGY---BEST BOOKS".