ABSTRACT
One area of behaviour that affects all adolescents is the conflict experienced about masturbation. We are now a long way from the Victorian, moralistic, judgemental view that masturbation must not take place because it is wrong. Temporary feelings of guilt are a normal reaction to masturbation; it is when this guilt seriously interferes with the person's whole life that we should take it as a 'danger sign'. Most male adolescents are normally more open about this activity and about some of the fears or worries accompanying it. Some female adolescents deal with it in a different way from males, and it is not unusual for girls not to have the conscious wish to masturbate at all. For a girl, this could be quite a normal reaction, whereas in the case of a boy we would see such a reaction as much more related to 'danger signs' either now or at some time in the future.
