ABSTRACT
Some explanation is required for the title of this chapter. I chose it with some care since I wanted to make the point that the sexual misbehaviours deemed by the law to be offences must be seen in the context of attitudes towards sexuality in general; and that not all sexual 'misbehaviours' come within (or should come within) the purview of the criminal law. This latter point is particularly relevant at the present time, since, as I draft this chapter, there is heated debate as to the appropriate age of consent for homosexual behaviour between males. Most groups of professionals involved consider that what is good for young women is good for young men. They have put forward quite powerful arguments for rationalisation, and these are based largely on sound medical and physiological evidence. l Against such views are the voices of those whose beliefs are more motivated by the kind offears and injunctions about sexuality that have been with us since the dawn of humankind, as evidenced in part by the quotation at the beginning of this chapter. Indeed, all the great religions of the world indicate varying degrees of proscription against sexual activity. These divergences of views are powerful and important and must have a profound bearing upon the attitudes of those who work with individuals whose sexual behaviours are deemed to have infringed the criminal law.
