Constructing and Deconstructing Teen Pregnancy as a Social Problem

Elena Neiterman

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.8.3.02

Authors

Elena Neiterman University of Toronto, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.8.3.02

Keywords:

Teen Pregnancy, Social Problems, Social Constructionism, Mothering, Canada

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine teenage pregnancy as a social problem using social constructionist perspective. Analyzing qualitative interviews with 11 young mothers and relying on the media analysis of popular North American newspapers and magazines, I examine claims-making activity around the definition of teenage pregnancy as a social problem. I start this paper, situating my arguments in the social constructionist literature on social problems. In the second part of this paper I review the literature on teen pregnancy and identify three major themes that dominate academic and public discourse on pregnancy as a social problem. After describing the methodological approach I took to conduct this study, I move on to present my findings. I demonstrate that in negotiating their mothering skills, young teenage mothers construct their claims about pregnancy, parenthood and their future vis-à-vis the dominant public discourse on teen pregnancy. They reconstruct their pregnancy and mothering as non-deviant, claim their status as mature and responsible mothers and challenge the importance of biological age as a predictor of successful mothering. I summarize this paper suggesting that these young women’s narratives should be considered the claims-making activity of a marginalized population of young mothers who are rarely heard in public, yet they do challenge our assumptions about teen mothering and find their own way to resist the dominant discourse on teen pregnancy.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Elena Neiterman, University of Toronto, Canada

Elena Neiterman is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include sociology of health and illness, pregnancy, mothering and study of the body.

References

“And the survey says ... Bullying, sex, and drugs are key issues for local teens.” 2001. Hamilton Spectator, November 13, p. D01.

Anderssen, Erin. 2002. “In teenage wasteland, the rent just went up. Graduation, cottage weekends, parents on vacation ‒ summer’s here and, for many adolescents, it’s party time. But with tough new rulings coming from courts in the U.S. and Canada on liability for everything from drunk driving to teen pregnancy.” The Globe & Mail, June 22, p. F4.

Arai, Lisa. 2009. “What a Difference a Decade Makes: Rethinking Teenage Pregnancy as a Problem.” Social Policy and Society 8(2):171-183. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746408004703

McMahon, Martha. 1995. Engendering Motherhood: Identity and Self-Transformation in Women’s Lives. New York: The Guilford Press.

Mensch, Barbara and Denise B. Kandel. 1992. “Drug use as a risk factor for premarital teen pregnancy and abortion in a national sample of young white women.” Demography 29(3):409-429. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2061826

Miller, Jasmine. 2000. “Motherhood misconceptions.” Chatelaine 73:112.

Miller, Leslie J. 2003. “Claims-Making from the Underside: Marginalization and Social Problem Analysis.” Pp. 92-119 in Challenges and Choices: Constructionist Perspective on Social Problems, edited by J. A. Holstein, G. Miller. New York: Aldine De Gruyter.

Mitchell, Alanna. 1998. “Teen-age pregnancy on rise again: government ill-prepared for trend, observers say.” Globe & Mail, p. A1.

Mitchell, Barbara A. 2008. Family Matters: An Introduction to Family Sociology in Canada. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc.

Modrcin-Talbott, Mary A. et al. 1998. “A study of self-esteem among well adolescents: seeking a new direction.” Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing 21(4):229-241. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/014608698265438

Monahan, Deborah J. 2001. “Teen Pregnancy Prevention Outcomes: Implications for Social Work Practice.” Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services 83(4):431-439. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.15

Monsebraaten, Laurie. 2006. “Dark side of girl power.” The Toronto Star, April 15, p. A01.

Musick, Judith S. 1993. Young, Poor, and Pregnant. New Haven, London: Yale University Press.

Ontario Works. 2011. LEAP program. Retrieved October 23, 2011: http://www.dnssab.on.ca/ow.htm

Paranjothy, Shantini et al. 2009. “Teenage pregnancy: who suffers?” Archives of Disease in Childhood 94(3):239-245. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.2007.115915

Phoenix, Ann and Anne Woollett. 1991. “Motherhood: Social Construction, Politics and Psychology.” Pp. 13-27 in Motherhood: Meanings, Practices and Ideologies, edited by A. Phoenix, A. Woollett. London, Newbury Park, New Delhi: Sage.

Pogarsky, Greg, Terence P. Thornberry and Alan J. Lizotte. 2006. “Developmental Outcomes for Children of Young Mothers.” Journal of Marriage and Family 68(2):332-344. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2006.00256.x

Ranson, Gillian. 2009. “Education, Work, and Family Decision-making: Findings the ‘Right Time’ to Have a Baby.” Pp. 277-289 in Family Patterns, Gender Relations, edited by B. Fox. Don Mills: Oxford University Press.

Richardson, Karol K. 1999. “Adolescent pregnancy and substance use.” JOGNN ‒ Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing 28(6):623-627. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-6909.1999.tb02171.x

Rue, Ginger. 2005. “She got pregnant on purpose.” Seventeen 64(2):152.

Schuyler, Lynne. 1999. “When children have children: teens who become parents are in for the shock of their lives.” Reader’s Digest 155:122-126.

Shaw, Mary E. and Debbie A. Lawlor. 2007. “Why we measure teenage pregnancy but do not count teenage mothers?” Critical Public Health 17(4):311-316. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09581590701302281

SmithBattle, Lee. 2007. “I Wanna Have a Good Future: Teen Mothers’ Rise in Educational Aspirations, Competing Demands, and Limited School Support.” Youth & Society 38(3):348-371. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X06287962

Spector, Malcolm and John I. Kitsuse. 2006. Constructing Social Problems. New Brunswick, London: Transaction Publishers.

Thompson, Sanna J. et al. 2008. “Runaway and Pregnant: Risk Factors Associated with Pregnancy in a National Sample of Runaway/Homeless Female Adolescents.” Journal of Adolescent Health 43(2):125-132. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.12.015

Turner, Katrina M. 2004. “Young Women’s Views on Teenage Motherhood: A Possible Explanation for the Relationship between Socio-Economic Background and Teenage Pregnancy Outcome?” Journal of Youth Studies 7(2):221-238. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1367626042000238730

Unger, Jennifer B., Gregory B. Molina and Lorena Teran. 2000. “Perceived Consequences of Teenage Childbearing among Adolescent Girls in an Urban Sample.” Journal of Adolescent Health 26(3):205-212. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(99)00067-1

Upton, Rebecca L. and Sallie S. Han. 2003. “Maternity and Its Discontents: ‘Getting the Body Back’ after Pregnancy.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 32(6):670-692. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241603257596

Vorvick, Linda J. and Susan Storck. 2009. “Adolescent Pregnancy.” In MedLine Plus, edited by D. Zieve: US National Library of Medicine.

Warren, Samantha and Joanna Brewis. 2004. “Matter over Mind? Examining the Experience of Pregnancy.” Sociology 38(2):219-236. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038504040860

Werkermann, Yvonne U. 1994. “A Qualitative Investigation of the Experiences of Pregnant Adolescents: Dynamics of Control and Resistance.” M.A. Thesis, Sociology, McMaster, Hamilton.

Wong, Jan. 2003. “Party animals: Jan Wong examines the bizarre ritual that now passes for a celebration among better-off young teens. Its key features: too much alcohol, too little parental scrutiny and far, far too many uninvited strangers bent on wanton destruction.” The Globe & Mail, July 15, p. F1.

Woodward, Lianne, David M. Fergusson and L. John Horwood. 2001. “Risk Factors and Life Processes Associated with Teenage Pregnancy: Results of a Prospective Study from Birth to 20 Years.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 63:1170-1184. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2001.01170.x

Woollett, Anne. 1991. “Mothers Under Twenty: Outsider and Insider View.” Pp. 86-102 in Motherhood: Meanings, Practices and Ideologies, edited by A. Phoenix and A. Woollett. London, Newbury Park, New Delhi: Sage.