Book selection and its theoretical foundations

Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus, was written by Kathleen Bogle and published in 2008 by NKU Press. Kathleen Bogle is an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice at La Salle University, and she used her expertise in both sociology and the university setting to investigate the sexual behaviors of young adults. Bogle gathered information for this piece through interviews with college students and recent graduates, conducted from 2001 to 2006.

The main premise of Bogle's book is to enlighten readers regarding the rules and social expectations of dating and sexuality among current young adult populations. Bogle offers a detailed explanation regarding the concept of a "hook-up culture," with the term hooking-up specifically relating to the casual intimacy. Bogle outlines a very clear explanation regarding what young people mean when they discuss "hooking-up" and how different genders and sexual orientations regarding the social expectations involved. Bogle's interview and the resulting book explore how young people engage in "hook-up" behavior, how they perceive the social rules and expectation regarding sex, and the role that age, experience, and substance use plays in an individual's "hook-up" behavior.

Bogle constructs her arguments regarding a "hook-up culture" by explaining that youth culture has made a gradual shift over the past several decades. While dating was more formalized several decades ago, young people currently growing up are very likely to have a different perspective on dating and sexual behavior. It is more widely accepted that people in college and even in high school can engage in casual physical relationships without any formal agreement regarding their dating status or a monogamous relationship. College students report that it is common to engage in kissing, touching, oral sex, and even intercourse without a formalized relationship. The process of "hooking-up" or partnering off into casual sexual relationships commonly occurs and partners may "hook-up" on a regular basis without any expectation of a more serious emotional commitment. Bogle makes a very convincing argument that these hooking-up behaviors vary greatly from previous generations who regarding dating or courting as a key step in relationships.

Bogle investigates the potential drawbacks of this hook-up culture and specifically considers the double standard applied to young women and young men. While casual sexual encounters occur with more frequency and today's young people are more likely to regard this behavior as fairly normal, young women are still frequently criticized for their sexualized behavior. Bogle also reflects on the potential emotional fallout that these casual hook-ups may cause when one partner feels more emotionally involved than another, as formal dating relationships are often pushed aside in favor of more open, casual interactions.

This book is intended to inform parents, students and educators about the general sociological trends among college-age youth. This is an academic piece with a good deal of individualized information and insight drawn from personal interviews with students. The book is likely to be especially useful to students studying psychology or human behavior, and many sociology researchers may be able to draw off of Bogle's work to develop further studies of young adult dating behaviors. Parents of college-age youth may also find this book very enlightening as they try to understand the major difference between their generation's dating rules and those of their children's generation. Younger generations engage in less formalized relationships and delay marriage until later than their parent's generation, and this book offers a very well-organized investigation of the current dating landscape.

One major limitation and bias to Bogle's work is that fact that her investigation was limited in both size and demographic due to the fact that her specific work and expertise expose her to a somewhat limited sample of young people. Bogle's interviews and the resulting information regarding a "hook-up" culture focused on a primarily white, middle class population, so there was little consideration for how culture, ethnicity or education status affects these behaviors. Her writing and the style in which she discusses casual sexual encounters and the hook-up culture are also not necessarily accessible to a wider audience who may not share the same life experiences as her interviewees. In a sense this book is very focused on the population with which Bogle works most directly and, as such, it is most appropriately suited for an audience that is familiar with college lifestyle in which Bogle works.