Constructing and Deconstructing Teen Pregnancy as a Social Problem

Bibliographic Data

ID12875247
AuthorsElena Netierman (0000-0001-6767-6169, University of Toronto, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume8
Issue3
Pages24-47
Publication date2012-12-30
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQualitative Sociology Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1733-8077 • E-ISSN: 1733-8077
PublisherUniversity of Lodz Press (PUBLISHER • PL)
DOI10.18778/1733-8077.8.3.02
OpenAlexW4206522521
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited9

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

Construct (python library · Developmental psychology · Discourse analysis · Media studies · Narrative · Negotiation · Newspaper · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Population · Pregnancy · Qualitative research · Social constructionism · Social issues · Social science · Sociology · Strict constructionism · Teenage pregnancy · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Demography · Gender Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

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