Cultural Differences and the Practice of Sexual Medicine

The aim of this book is twofold: to promote an awareness of cultural differences in connection with sexual medicine among health care providers, and to demonstrate how such differences are relevant to the care and treatment of patients with sexual issues.

Individual sexuality represents the cumulative effects of biological, psychological, and cultural influences. Yet much of the study of sexuality—including issues ranging from sexual identity to sexual response—has been conducted through a Western lens.  Although a substantial body of work in anthropology has taken up the study of human sexuality from a cross-cultural perspective, two points are notable. First, this work seldom crosses the desks of medical and psychological health practitioners, and second, the relevance of specific cultural differences is rarely apparent to the typical sexual health practitioner. To address this situation, this book adopts a global perspective, focusing on how cultural practices and values can impact health care, treatment, and outcomes. In this regard, it covers three broad domains: Sexual Identity and Orientation; Sexual Response and Dysfunction; and Sexual Diversity. Each chapter consists of two parts: a general description of the relevant issues, and a discussion of how these issues can be relevant to clinical practice.

The book offers a valuable, practical tool for specialists in sexual medicine and sexual psychology, for sexual healthcare givers, and for sexological researchers who want to better serve their patients by developing an awareness of and sensitivity to cultural differences, and by providing a framework for dealing with issues of sexuality and sexual health that takes cultural values into consideration, while adhering to best practices in patient care.

“The book has something to teach everyone, from the novice just beginning to understand the cross disciplinary nature of sexual health care to the seasoned sexual health professional looking to enhance their understanding of specific cultures or sub-cultures. As an educational resource tool, the book is worth being read and kept as a resource … . having read it, I look forward to treating my patients more effectively and to the many lively discussions that will be engendered by this work.” (Elisabeth Gordon, Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, May 6, 2021)

David L. Rowland, PhD, is a Senior Research Professor of Psychology and former Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Provost at Valparaiso University, Indiana, USA. After receiving his doctorate from the University of Chicago and over the course of his career, he has taken research fellowships at SUNY-Stony Brook, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, and Erasmus University (Netherlands). He serves on the editorial boards of half a dozen journals, was Editor-in-Chief for the Annual Review of Sex Research for five years, and is co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of Mind and Medical Science. He has published several hundred research and review articles and chapters on sexual response, evaluation, dysfunction, and cross-cultural variation in men and women, and co-edited or authored a number of reference texts, including Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders (Wiley, 2008), Sexual Dysfunction in Men (Hogrefe, 2012), and Proceedings of the International Conference on Translational Medicine (Web of Science, 2018). He has consulted for numerous pharmaceutical and professional organizations, has been an expert witness for legal cases, and recently served as a Fulbright Specialist to Pakistan and Indonesia. 

Emmanuele A. Jannini, MD, is a Full Professor of Endocrinology, Andrology and Medical Sexology at the Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy, and a Visiting Professor of Andrology at the Universities of Shanghai, Hefei, and Guangzhou. He has had numerous experiences abroad, e.g. as a guest researcher and exchange scientist at the Clinical Endocrinology Branch and at the Genetics and Biochemistry Branch, NIDDK, NIH. Later he lectured at St Catherine’s College, Oxford (UK) for summer courses organized by the European Academy of Sexual Medicine. Prof. Jannini’s scientific contributions are reflected in more than 250 papers published in peer-reviewed international journals, as well as several edited textbooks. His main research interests are sexual medicine and the andrology (erectile dysfunction and subcellular localization of type 5 phosphodiesterase; pathogenesis of premature ejaculation; functional anatomy of female orgasm) and endocrinology of reproduction and sexuality, particularly testosterone and thyroid hormone nuclear receptor phylogenesis. He is currently the President of the Italian Academy for Couples’ Health, Past President of the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine, Chairman of the Education Committee of the European Academy of Andrology, Chairman of the Publication Committee of the International Society of Sexual Medicine, and Chairman of the Multidisciplinary Joint Committee of Sexual Medicine of the Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes.