Sex-for-Crack-Cocaine Exchange, Poor Black Women, and Pregnancy

Bibliographic Data

ID4625627
AuthorsTanya Telfair Sharpe (Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, corresponding author)
Year2001
Volume11
Issue5
Pages612-630
Publication date2001-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQualitative Health Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/104973201129119334
PMID11554191
OpenAlexW2145420279
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited35

A sample of 34 poor Black women who exchanged sex for crack was screened to discover if sex-for-crack exchanges resulted in pregnancies. Ethnographic interviews were conducted with women who became pregnant this way. Out of the 34 women, 18 reported sex-for-crack pregnancies, and more than half of that number became pregnant this way more than once. Twenty-nine pregnancies were reported. Only 2 women chose to have abortions. Interview transcripts were analyzed using qualitative data analytical procedures. The following three issues shaped the women's responses to sex-for-crack pregnancies: (a) severity of crack use, (b) religious beliefs, and (c) social organization patterns within poor Black communities. The findings have implications for drug treatment and child welfare policy

Crack cocaine · Ethnography · Obstetrics · Pregnancy · Psychiatry · Qualitative research · Sociology · Demography · Homelessness and Social Issues · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma · Prenatal Substance Exposure Effects · Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub