Resumen de A prática cultural do sexting entre adolescentes: Notas para a delimitação do objeto de estudo

Fabrício de Souza, Roberto Alves Banaco

• português

  Este artigo discute a prática do sexting entre adolescentes e se propõe a construir uma análise baseada na definição de prática cultural presente na perspectiva behaviorista radical. O sexting é definido como a produção e o compartilhamento, por meio eletrônico, de conteúdos, imagens ou textos que explicitem claramente áreas genitais ou outras partes do corpo (em forte alusão sexual), ou, em sendo conteúdo escrito, mensagens que expressem experiências e/ou insinuações sexuais do próprio adolescente que produz estes materiais e, também, de seus amigos, colegas ou demais pessoas que estejam a ele ligados em uma rede social específica. São apresentadas análises considerando as possibilidades do sexting ser uma prática social caracterizada ou por uma metacontingência ou por uma macrocontingência.

  É ressaltada a necessidade de se investir em pesquisas que forneçam dados úteis tanto para a caracterização apropriada do fenômeno quanto para o planejamento de intervenções adequadas e que considerem o sexting parte de um repertório mais amplo da vivência da sexualidade em tempos de interação social mediada pela tecnologia de informação e comunicação.

• English

  A behavioral pattern called “sexting” has been currently exhibited by adolescents and given prominence from parents and lecturers. Sexting is defined as the production and/or sharing, by electronic means, of contents, images or texts, which clearly exposes genital areas or other body parts (in a strong sexual allusion), or, in written content, messages expressing experiences and/or sexual insinuations of the adolescents themselves who produce these materials and also of their friends, colleagues or other people who are connected to them in a specific social network. The novelty of the sexting should lead to questions about its usefulness and the harms to the process of socialization of adolescents.

  Even if it is possible to think of sexting as a technologically mediated sexual expression, one must not forget that amongst the hazards associated with practice is the dissemination of contents without authorization and the subsequent embarrassment. Another condition should be considered.

  According to the law under Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente (ECA), sexting involving children and adolescents is considered “child pornography” and this can lead to correctional measures for adolescents who practice it. This current reality highlights the need to rethink values and concepts about adolescents’ identity, sexuality and autonomy in relation to this type of interaction. This article discusses the practice of sexting amongst adolescents and proposes an analysis based on the definition of cultural practice present in Radical Behaviorism. Some analyzes are presented considering two possibilities: the sexting being a social practice characterized either by a metacontingency or by a macrocontingency. If research data indicates that sexting is maintained by a macrocontingency, the selective consequence of the responses involved in this practice will be of behavioral appeal, making the operant lineage the interventional locus, more specifically the intervention should be on the “cumulative effect” emphasizing the participants’ individual responses. If research data indicates that sexting is maintained by a metacontingency, the intervention should be planned to encompass the culturo-behavioral lineage involving the interlocking behavioral contingencies and the “aggregate product”. In addition to serving as a foundation for the understanding of its determinants, the research of sexting needs to strengthen the insertion of this theme into a broader educational practice on sex education that encourages adolescents to look for the (1) knowledge of what sexting is, 2) the social values involved in this practice, 3) the required social skills to make decisions while interacting with the group, and 4) the repertoire of responsibility for the actions taken. It emphasizes the need of carrying out researches that provides useful data both for the appropriate characterization of the phenomenon and further planning of appropriate interventions and that consider the sexting part of a wider repertoire of the experience of sexuality in times of social interaction mediated by the information and communication technologies.