Reflecting on sexual health and young women's sexuality: business or pleasure?

This chapter explains the author's recent empirical work in which thirty participants were asked to talk about their sexual selves. It explores some of the key questions about identity and the sexual self in social work. The chapter also explores the late-modern notion of reflexivity as it relates to identity generally and outlines the research design, methods and findings as well as the theoretical underpinnings of the study. It examines how the study impacts upon current understandings of the sexual self in social work. The broader implications of the de-differentiated self consider the existing template and core social work tool: assessment. The chapter describes the limitations of contemporary assessment practices and approaches as well as offering some suggestions for future research and scholarship in this important area of self-identity. It considers how the notion of a de-differentiated identity allows people to move on from more traditional notions of the self and sexuality.