Family Organization, Family Planning Services, Race, and Early Sexual Behavior

Sarah R. Brauner, University of Michigan

This study employs detailed life histories to investigate the relationship between family organization, receipt of family planning services, and the rate of first sexual intercourse and contraceptive use at first intercourse for whites and blacks. The theoretical framework integrates hypotheses about family organization and instability with ideas about family planning services to formulate a multidimensional model of the forces shaping early sexual behavior. This rich theoretical framework also addresses racial differences in processes shaping sexual behavior. Unique data measuring family, family planning, and sexual dynamics early in life, permit detailed empirical estimates for numerous dimensions of this comprehensive model. Findings reveal significant consequences of many dimensions of family organization for the timing of first sex and contraceptive use at first sex for white women, but relatively few consequences for black women. However, receipt of family planning services early in life has long-term, enduring effects on contraceptive behavior for both black and white women.