In asserting the existence of child sexuality, psychoanalysis has profoundly changed the way in which we regard children. Their development, their newly found control over their bodies, and their break from dependence on others is accompanied by attitudes and behaviour which, in the eyes of adults, can seem perverse. For Freud, this tendency for polymorphe perverse behaviour seemed to differentiate the child from the adult. However, he also affirmed that it is a “universally human trait”. From this point, how do we define this “universal” which is at the heart of human sexuality ? Psychoanalysts, clinicians specialising in both adults and children, scientists, anthropologists, and historians bring together in this book their practical experiences and their research in order to review this crucial question which goes beyond the boundaries of psychoanalysis.

These collaborators consist of Alexandre Adler, Patrick Avrane, Marcianne Blévis, Irène Diamantis, Muriel Djéribi-Valentin, René Frydman, Liliane Gherchanoc, Suzanne Ginestet-Delbreil, Gilbert Grandguillaume, Dominique Guyomard, Patrick Guyomard, François Lévy, et Michèle Montrelay.