According to Singh, S. and Darroch, J. E. (2000). Adolescent and childbearing: Levels and trends in developing countries. Family Planning Perspectives, 32, 14-23 the reason(s) why teenage women become pregnant or give birth are difficult to categorize. In the body of literature examined, It was stated that the rise in rates was due to the fact that more teenagers were sexually active, were using less contraception, or that there was an individual desire to become pregnant. The first two factors were stated by the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (1998/99 and 2000/01) which estimated that 12% of boys and 13% of girls had sexual intercourse by ages 14 or 15. Poverty, school achievement, and self-esteem were also factors which have been said to play a role. Research illustrated that the lack of opportunity and socioeconomic disadvantage significantly contributes to teen age pregnancy.
According to Patricia Watson of Jamaica Gleaner November 23, 2011 Teen pregnancy is highly correlated with living in poverty. Teens living in poverty were more likely to get pregnant than teens who do not, and furthermore, teen parents often had lower lifetime earnings, as well as more social problems throughout life. Pregnancy rates were highest among teens from single-parent families who had experienced poverty. For these teens, motherhood represented an acceptable solution that would compensate for a life of psychological, moral, family and social hardship
The extensive literature review by Dr Dilworth, K from the Canadian Institute of Child Health suggested that statistically, young mothers face a life of poverty, have lower levels of education and have less opportunity in the workplace than non-parenting teens. She found that research on teen pregnancy prevention usually focuses on the negative aspects of being a teen parent. For example:
- There is a close correlation between dropping out of school, early pregnancy, and poverty.
- Children of teenage parents are more likely to have problems and to become teenage parents themselves, thus perpetuating the cycle of poverty begun by a teenage birth.
- Teen mothers often find themselves to be undereducated, underemployed and underpaid, promoting a generational cycle of disadvantaged families.
- Early childbearing holds a risk of delaying emotional development, of high stress and potentially abusive environments, and of the reduction of life opportunities for both mother and child.
- The costs of adolescent parenthood for society are numerous. The mother’s education often is interrupted or terminated, leading to a loss or reduction in future earning power, and a life of poverty.
According to the Conflict perspective theory:
The functionalist perspective of health and illness
This theoretical perspective stresses the essential stability and cooperation within modern societies. Social events are explained by reference to the functions they perform in enabling continuity within society. Society itself is likened to a biological organism in that the whole is seen to be made up of interconnected and integrated parts; this integration is the result of a general consensus on core values and norms. Through the process of socialization we learn these rules of society which are translated into roles. Thus, consensus is apparently achieved through the structuring of human behavior. Within medical sociology, this approach is essentially concerned with the theme of the 'sick role', and the associated issue of illness behavior. Talcott Parsons, the leading figure within this sociological tradition, identified illness as a social phenomenon rather than as a purely physical condition. Health, as against illness, being defined as:
'The state of optimum capacity of an individual for the effective performance of the roles and tasks for which s/he has been socialized.' Parsons, 1951
Health within the Functionalist perspective thus becomes a prerequisite for the smooth functioning of society. To be sick is to fail in terms of fulfilling one's role in society; illness is thus seen as 'unmotivated deviance'. The regulation of this sickness/deviance comes about through the mechanism of the 'sick role' concept and the associated 'social control' role of doctors in allowing an individual to take on a sick status.
The Marxist perspective of health and illness
A key assertion of the Marxist perspective is that material production is the most fundamental of all human activities - from the production of the most basic of human necessities such as food, shelter and clothing in a subsistence economy, to the mass production of commodities in modern capitalist societies. Whether this production takes place within a modern or a subsistence economy, it involves some sort of organization and the use of appropriate tools; this is termed the 'forces of production'. Production of any type was recognized by Marx as also involving social relations. In modern capitalist societies these 'relations of production' lead to the development of a division of labor reflecting in the existence of different social classes. For Marx, it is these forces and relations of production together that constitute the economic base (infrastructure) of society. The superstructure of a society - the political, legal, educational, and health systems and so on, are shaped and determined by this economic base.
The orientation of this approach as applied within medical sociology is towards the social origins of disease. Health outcomes for the population are seen as being influenced by the operation of the capitalist economic system at two levels.
First, at the level of the production process itself, health is affected either directly in terms of industrial diseases and injuries, stress-related ill health, or indirectly through the wider effects of the process of commodity production within modern societies. The production processes produce environmental pollution, whilst the process of consuming the commodities themselves have long-term health consequences such as eating processed foods, chemical additives, car accidents and so on. Second, health is influenced at the level of distribution. INCOME and wealth are major determinants of people's standard of living - where they live, their access to educational opportunities, their access to health care, their diet, and their recreational opportunities. All of these factors are significant in the social patterning of health. Similarly, teens may indeed want to be pregnant as a way to rebel against the oppressive forces of a different generation. This creates a conflict between these two groups...
The researcher found out that Poverty can be both the consequences and the causes of teen pregnancy and childbearing, The research project would add to the existing literature, since no empirical research has been conducted in the Community L on the issue of Teenage Pregnancy and how affected the mothers health and family In so doing the researcher hopes to provoke policy makers and social service providers to become pro-active at the community level in matters relating to family life which in turn affects community and national development
In order to get information on my topic ‘teenage pregnancy contributes to poverty’ a research design was chosen. The research design that the researcher chose was quantitative. Quantitative data usually takes the form of statistical or numerical information. There are a number of advantages of using a quantitative research design.
- One advantage is that this method allows the researcher to analyze data. the reliability of the data is another advantage
- It was useful for collecting large amounts of data in a short period of time.
- Another advantage is that the data that is provided on this topic was easy to quantify
There are some disadvantages of using the quantitative research method.
- There is no indication of the personal state of the respondents, the mood, attitude or feeling of the teen mother and family may not be seen because the research was done using a questionnaire
For this research the type of sampling was used is probability sample. The type pf probability used was simple random sampling. The simple random sample was used instead of the quota sample since teenage pregnancy is a prevalent issue in the researcher’s community. In order to make this research accurate and unbiased the form of random sampling had to be selected because not every family in the community was affected by this matter. This type of sample allows individuals to be chosen randomly therefore everybody has the same chance of being selected
The research is about the cause and effects of teenage pregnancy on the pregnant teen’s health and her family therefore this type of sample allows the researcher to pick answers by teen mothers and her family and the community
Random sampling was done by going to 35 different homes in the community of the researcher were teenage pregnancy is an issue and gave out questionnaires
In order to receive information about the researcher’s topic, the researcher decided to use printed questionnaires. A questionnaire is a number of questions that may be opened ended, fixed choice or a combination of both that are given out to respondents. The questionnaires were given out between December 14, 2014and February 6, 2015 in the community L
After these questionnaire answers were collected and folded and placed in a container. The container was shaken with the respondent’s answers to ensure that they were evenly separated. The respondents answers were randomly selected therefore the results presented in this research were 100% accurate and unbiased
The questions were answered by persons in the community, pregnant teenagers and her parents. The following are findings of the research
Figure 1
Fig 1 Speaks about the age at which teenagers started to have sex in community L.51% of the respondents say that they started at an early stage 12-14, 37% say that they waited a bit older15-17 and 12% responded saying that they waited till they were adults 18-20.
Figure 2 line graph shows the trend of teenagers been pregnant through the years of 2012-2014 in community L
Figure 3 shows the percentage of respondents highlighting how they reacted when they found that there were pregnant. 2% stated that they were happy about it, 23% were sad about it 25% were nervous because of their parents and 50% stated that they were traumatized
Figure 4
Fig 4 shows the percentage on how would the teen mother maintain financial function of her family 67% of the respondents said they would depend on welfare, 5% said that they will get money from other sources 22% will depend on their family for help and 6% stated that they would ask the father of the child.
Figure 5
Fig 5 showing the respondents’ who receive help from their parents during pregnancy 78% responded by saying that they didn’t receive help at all while 22% said they got help
Figure 6
Fig 6 line graph show percentage of respondents to question 20 about going to a health care facility during pregnancy 14% of them answered saying they went regularly, 40% said they went every now and then another 14% said that they went every day and 32% of them said they never went.
Figure 7
Fig 7 showing the percentage of teenage mother who ate healthy during their pregnancy. 55% responded saying no, 20% did not answer truthfully saying maybe and 25% said yes.
Figure 8
Fig 8 refers to question 34% of the respondents believe they still can achieve their goals while 66% stated that their goals and dreams have been destroyed because of pregnancy.
Fig 9 shows the percentage of respondents if they actually cared about their child and the pregnancy overall 50% of them said maybe 40% said not really and 10% stated yes.
Fig 10 refers to what measures can be used to prevent teenage pregnancy in the community 30% of the respondents from the community said that they should keep counseling sessions 20%, said that more sexual educations are to be taught in schools and 50% responded saying that a better parental guidance would do
From conducting the research on teenage pregnancy the researcher found out that many teenage girls started to have sexual intercourse early mostly between 12 and 14. many of them have been pressured into having sex even though they didn’t know much about sex, The teenage mothers that took part in the researcher had very similar feeling when they found they were pregnant feelings of such include sad , upset angry nervous and traumatized.
Some parents did not talk to their teenagers about sex the researcher found out that some of these parents got pregnant when they were teenagers too
Most of the pregnant teens that were in the research didn’t eat or took care of them self-health wise which can cause very disturbing health issues for the mother and the baby.
A lot of the teen mother got pregnant while they were in school which resulting them having to stop going and only had a primary level of education.
In the research most of the teenage mothers didn’t have any financial needs to take care of the baby or themselves which result mainly depending on welfare and help from their family.
While conducting the research most of the teenager mothers would like to go back to school and get a better education so that they could help their baby but they also stated that their pregnancy shattered their dreams of becoming a good member of society. Persons in the community said that the act of going to counselling helps to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy in their community and that government should give out contraceptives to teenagers.
In Figure 1 it was shown that 51%of the teenagers started to have sex at a very early age. This findings proved that these teenagers where sexually active at a very early age and getting pregnant and a few of them are waiting until they get older before having sex when they are better prepared for it.
In Figure 2 shows the results trend of teenagers been pregnant through the years of 2012-2014 in community L. This shows that mainly in the months of June, July and August that teens become pregnant during these time of the year, since they are on holiday and not going to school they have a lot of free time to have sex initially an incline in the trend and since most of these teens are leaving school they think that it is ok to get pregnant since they just left high school.
Figure 3 shows the results for how teen mothers reacted when they found that there were pregnant. Most of the teenagers said that they were traumatized about it since they knew how their parents would react to the situation as a result in the graph of 50% said so themselves because abusing and arguments will surely happen. a few of the teens interviewed were happy because their parents were understanding and had a stable home to welcome them back in. 23% and 25% percent of them were sad and nervous about it since they do not know the outcome of the situation and who ore where to turn to.
They are several ways in which a teenage mother maintains financial function of her family to which ‘figure 4’ clearly highlights this as a result of the graph on which 5% stated that they would get money from other sources such as being independent like finding themselves a job. This clearly shows that these teenagers are wise and are ready to accept their fate of being a teenager mother while 6% seeks financial aid from the child’s father and not bother being independent they would rather stick to the stagnant ways of their society saying it’s the fathers responsibility to take care of the child. 67% of the respondents said that they would get financial aid from the welfare of the country while 22% said that they would depend on their family for help since they don’t know who to turn to for help.
Some parents of these teenage mothers have helped their daughters with the raising of the child while some decided not help them at all this is clearly shown in ‘figure 5’. Out of the 35 teenage mothers 22% of them received help from their parents. On the other hand 78% did not receive any help with raising the child. The parents of these teen mothers may feel disappointed in their daughters so they do not want to have anything to do with them or the child. Many parents try to raise their daughters in the right by trying to avoid shame being brought on their family.
In figure 6 and 9 it clearly shows the percentage of the teen mothers who went to a health care facility during pregnancy and who cared about their baby. 14% of them went regularly and every day. This shows that these teens cared about their health and child. While 40% of the respondents said they went every now and then and 32% of them said they never went at all. This clearly shows that this group of teenage mother don’t care about their health or the baby at all.
Figure 8 clearly highlights that 34% of the respondents believes that they can still achieve their goals after pregnancy. These teens were highly motivated and supported by their family and well-wishers. While 66% of them believed that they cannot achieve their goals after pregnancy because all their dreams and hope were crushed by pregnancy. This shows that these teens were merely under stress emotionally, these teenagers did not receive enough emotional or financial help therefore they were not motivated enough to believe they could still have a dream.
It is said that during pregnancy the teenage mother must eat healthy so that their baby can also be healthy. 55% of the girls said no and that they did not even try to eat healthy because they didn’t care that much while 20% and 25% said maybe and yes as shown in Figure 7
Fig 7 showing the percentage of teenage mother who ate healthy during their pregnancy. 55% responded saying no, 20% did not answer truthfully saying maybe and 25% said yes.
There are many different ways to prevent a teenage girl from becoming pregnant, the only one that is absolutely effective is sexual abstinence. This method is the only one that guarantees no risk of getting pregnant and protects the teen from getting any STD's. For many years abstinence has been viewed as a decision based upon a religious or moral belief. In the article "Promotion of Sexual Abstinence: Reducing Adolescent Sexual Activity and Pregnancies," Hani R. Khouzam says, "Sexual abstinence is not associated with public health risks and needs to be presented and promoted as the most effective primary prevention for unplanned pregnancies" Abstinence from sex (oral, anal or vaginal) is the only behavior that is 100 percent effective at preventing teenage pregnancy. In fact, the National Campaign stresses that abstinence from sex is the best choice for teens as it avoids early pregnancy, parenthood and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Planned Parenthood reminds teens that remaining abstinent is a behavior choice and it can be difficult for some people.
Another form of teenage pregnancy prevention that is being taught in schools is various contraceptive techniques. Although abstinence remains the best way to prevent pregnancy among teens, it is a fact that there are still a large number of them who will be involved in sexual relations. For this reason, it is important that teens be provided with broad information on how to do so responsibly using various contraceptive techniques. Most of the sex education in schools consists of one message: "Don't have sex--but if you do, use a condom”. The problem that rises from this is that teenagers are not being exposed to extensive information on the various forms of birth control, condoms, and other methods of prevention that are available. According to Helen Lippman, contraceptives are talked about in sex education classes, but only as being ineffective in preventing pregnancy and diseases. Also, these classes on contraceptives should include information on how to obtain the different methods of birth control. Jocelyn Elders has also advocated school-based health clinics nationwide with the purpose of reducing teen pregnancy with the availability of contraceptives. This is a way to ensure contraceptive use for many young teens who, rather than going to their parents for help in obtaining birth control, choose to have sex without protection simply because that protection is not made available to them.
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