Teenage Mothers All across the Globe - Term Paper Example

The Group The group being studied here in this essay is teenage mothers. Technically, minor girls who become mothers are known as teenage mothers. As a community, teenage mothers are an increasing population all across the globe. United States in reported to have the largest number of teen age conceptions and teen mothers. In Western Europe, United Kingdom has the largest number of teenage mothers. It has been reported that more than a million children are born to mothers who are below 20 years every year (Henshaw, 1993) The Social Perception In recent years there has been increased attention in researches, media and other social circles which focuses on the ‘issue’ of adolescents giving birth. It is quite evident from the available literature that the incidents of adolescents giving birth have been increasing. The biological and economic consequences of teenage pregnancy and parenthood have been largely studied. However, these conclusions confirming its negative impacts have to a large extent influenced the social perception on teenage mothers. It has been established that both the mothers and children in the discussed population are underprivileged due to various reasons. As motherhood limits their scope of further education, resultantly hindering their access to good employment, the chances of these mothers remaining underprivileged is large. Thus the inherent consequences of teen motherhood remain to be same across generations. Wiemann, Rickert, Berenson, & Volk (2005) confirms this argument as they observe that despite the increased visibility of teen mothers and unmarried teen pregnancy, the social stigma around ten mother are significant. Interestingly, there are opinions which connect to the reciprocal effect of this stigmatization. This school of thought suggests that stigmatization would ultimately result in the positive consequence of reduced teen pregnancies. However, the implications that this futuristic philosophy can have on the present generation of the target population is overseen. In other words, the teen mothers will be socially marginalized. This in no sense is justified in a civilized society. There are several researches which suggest that this stigmatization add to the challenges which they are going through due to their underprivileged social context. A very important factor that has to be considered while understanding the larger social effects posed upon teen mothers is their perception of the societal attitude towards them. The aspect of stigmatization has to be considered in this respect. It has been culturally proven that in any given social context, stigma is an undesired scenario as perceived by the stigmatized. Thus primarily it can be understood that stigmatization has an overall negative influence on the social well being of any individual. Goffman (1963) states that stigmatization involves assumptions made against the victim. These assumptions lead to generic judgments made on the victimized. These judgments often become unwritten societal norms and constitute a social order. In the context of teen mothers, there will be generic assumptions made on the whole community of teen mothers by the society. Here the traits and qualities of individuals don’t matter. Every teen mother is categorically seen as a constituent of this larger community to which these norms apply. So the moment one is labeled teen mother, all these judgments with no reference to the individual applies generically. Common stereotypes There are several studies which analyzed the perception of the society on the issue of teen mothers. Several stereotypes which are typical to teen mothers have been identified by these studies. Herrman (2008) has suggested that immorality, child abuse, ignorance, promiscuity, stupidity, welfare dependency, irresponsibility and laziness as typical stereotypes associated with mothers who achieve motherhood during adolescence. This would mean that for the society every individual who is a teen mother is too dependent on the governmental welfare schemes. This gives them the idea that these women are consuming a large share of their taxes. This sense of dependency comes along with the commitment of being loyal and responsible for the favor they receive from the society. They lose this opportunity as well when behavioral traits like irresponsibility and laziness are indiscriminately labeled on the whole population of teen mothers. This in turn largely affects the self esteem of these individuals. Thus they are susceptible to be isolated socially. Erikson (1980) has put forth a theory of development where it has been reported that the process of ego development happens during teenage years which constitutes one’s self esteem. It has also been stated that this stage of life defines one’s capacity to nurture others. Taking this theory into account, the effect that teenage stereotypes can have on the personal well being and the parenting skills of teen mothers can be confirmed. Another cross connection of self esteem and parenting skills is confirmed by Mercer (1995) that positive self esteem can have outcomes favoring good parental behaviors. Thus it is quite evident that the self esteem of these individuals especially during their teenage is quite influential in forming a healthy next generation. The stereotypical bracketing of the teen mothers defines the way by which the society treats them. It must be noted here that the perception of the society is totally dependent on these stereotypes. To explain this further, every interaction that the individuals of the society has with a teen mother will be totally biased in accordance with the common traits which are perceived to be associated with them. More dangerous is the long term impact that this can have on the teen mothers. Goffman (1963) has found that stereotypes are internalized by the victim on a long term. This would mean a long exposure to a society which has stereotypical perceptions, would lead to one believing for herself that she in reality has all these traits. For instance, a teen mother who is perceived to be irresponsible, lazy and stupid would over time start believing that she is actually so. This would in turn affect the ways in which they treat their children. One they start believing that they are not competent parents; their attitude towards parenting may change. There is ample evidence which suggests that teen mother indulge themselves in risk parenting behaviors. Tamis-Lemonda, Shannon, and Spellman (2002) have compiled a number of cases where teen mothers become risky parents. However, this evidence has to seen in connection with the theory of internalization of stereotypes. It is the perception of the society that in long term makes the mothers behaves in ways which they are reported to have behaved. Interestingly, the evidences as in the case of the study done by Tamis-Lemonda, Shannon, and Spellman (2002) reiterates the stereotypical perception of the society. Thus the larger well being of teen mothers and their children has a very interesting reciprocal connection with the stereotypes that the society labels them with. The perception on parenting skills It has been reported that teen age parents generally are pressurized in a negative sense in terms of their parental skills and ability. Observations on the well being and social security indexes of children brought up teen parents would be alarming. It has been confirmed by Geronimous and Korenman (1992) that it is more probable that children of adolescent mothers grow up in poverty in comparison with the other parents. Further, Furstenberg, Brooks-Gunn and Morgan (1987) have observed that these children are more prone to become criminals in case of boy children. In case of girl children, they are reported to be more susceptible to become adolescent mothers (Furstenberg, Brooks-Gunn and Morgan (1987). These observations are generally perceived to have direct connections with the parenting skills of teen parents. However, other factors underlying this scenario are often overlooked. Nathnson (1991) has argued that age is not the primary determinant of negative outcomes in cases of children of teen parents. He has observed that the disadvantaged backgrounds of the parents are the actual drivers of these observed consequences. The social exclusion and the stereotypic perception of the society towards teen parents leads to the denial of social and cultural resources which are required to bring up their children in accordance to the societal standards. Studies on relative parenting skills have noted non significant differences in the parenting skills of teen mothers and other mothers. The only significant difference which was observed was in the maternal vocalization, wherein the teen mothers lagged behind (Baranowski, Schilmoeller & Higgings, 1990). This is contrary to the typical stereotypes on parenting skills of teenage mothers. Moreover, as reported by studies, there have been very positive improvements in the parenting outcomes of teens where there were interventions involved including house visits, parental education and nursing services. Thus it is quite evident that stereotypic perceptions have to be replaced with more concrete functional efforts on helping the teenage parents handle their motherhood. Access to resources Several studies have confirmed that pregnancy and motherhood hinders the process of education for adolescent parents. It must be noted here that education is primary resource which gives further access to other cultural and social resources. It must be noted here that the cultural capital and the social capital of these children would be automatically limited by the stereotypic approach and the resultant social isolation. The limited achievements in education would further restrain them from having proper jobs. Thus their economic and cultural prosperity would be at stake. However, in terms of education, there is a promising tend that the scenario has been improving with time. Researches on teen age students who became parents in 1960s and seventies have shown a very poor relative success in terms educational outcomes (Marini, 1984). Compared to this, more recent generations of teen mothers have reportedly had better relative rates of educational success (Upchurch & Mc Carthy, 1990). This would however, relate to the legislative changes that were introduced in early 1970s. Till this time, students were forced not to continue by the school authorities in cases of pregnancies. However, the title 9 legislation which was introduced in early 1970s, prohibited schools from barring children who are pregnant (Luker, 1996). In this context, it must be noted that the legal framework that protects teen mothers have improved their right for access to the basic resources. However, the perceptions towards the rights which are determined by the changing social conceptions also have to be considered while analyzing the factors limiting the access. In other words, by mere legal enforcement won’t improve the social placement of the teen mothers in the society. This has to involve a larger consensus by the society on the need to culturally support teen mothers. This would in turn uplift their self esteem leading to their improved access to resources. Another serious lacuna in the literature connecting schooling and parenting is the lack of studies considering the counter connection of education with parenting. There have not been many studies which accounted the effect that education can have on parenting. Without understanding this, it may not be scientific to conclude the interconnection between parenting and access to education as a resource. The scope of schooling for teen mothers does not limit its scope to mere academic consequences. Though the academic outcomes are important, the o process of schooling also has other inherent consequences in terms access to resources. School acts as an important source of social and cultural capital. The values that the peers would imbibe on the children would determine their attitude towards like including their approach to parenthood. Thus the access to schooling automatically acts as access to range of cultural and social resources. There has to be in depth studies which would make sensible and scientific connections between this access and the generic attitude of adolescent parents. It is the extent of this access that would determine the values of parenting for these young parents. Here the environment within these resources also becomes very important. For instance, the overall attitude of the other students towards these children would determine the qualitative extent to which these resources are utilized. The enforcement of legislation has improved the teen mothers’ access to the resources. However, it must be noted that this won’t solve the whole problem. The factors which would limit the teen from accessing these resources must be identified and individually dealt with. For instance, the status of motherhood would put a lot of physical and psychological pressure on these mothers. Their children would demand a lot of their time. Taking this pressure along with the academic requirements won’t be an easy task. There would many other psychological factors including the ones affecting their self esteem which would hinder the process of resource exploitation. Furstenberg et al (1987) has confirmed this by qualitatively confirming the pressure that motherhood puts on teens. On the other side he has also stated that they reported to enjoy the responsibility of being a mother. Another very important element that has to be considered is the access to the financial resources. A number of studies suggest that the capacity to have the financial resources become a focal concern for teen parents. Higginson (1998) has reported a case where majority of mothers who were studied had a general psychological approach to have the ability to sustain without the financial support from the government and their parents. This within itself is countering the stereotype that teen mothers are overly dependent of welfare schemes. However, this observation is contrary to the generic statistics that 60% of teen mothers receive financial aid from the government. This gives a generic picture of the extent of the access to financial resources. The government has setup a number of welfare schemes through which teen mothers are financially supported. These include Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Special Supplemental programme for Women Infants and Children and Medicaid (Miller & Moore, 1990). Ortiz & Bassoff (1987) has reported that more than half of the budgetary allocations of Aid to Families with Dependent Children go in favor of teen mothers. Horowitz (1995) has observed that generally teen mothers hide their poverty and act as if they are as wealthy as other mothers. This in other words is a reflection of the financial insecurity that these mothers go through. Moreover, a psychological state of relative financial deprivation is the key driver behind this act. Horowitz (1995) further noted that teen mothers were proud in having a ‘spoilt’ child. They were observed to spend indiscriminately on luxury items for the child. For instance, Horowitz (1995) reported that teen mothers always wanted their children dressed up in expensive dresses. It was also observed by her that charity in any form was taken as a confirmation of the insecurity that these mothers had. This suggests that there is a scope of increased financial pressure on the teen mother in the process of living up to the acclaimed high social status. It was inferred by several researchers that extensive spending was perceived as signs of good motherhood by adolescent mothers. Access to family support is also crucial in helping teen mothers tackle the issues of motherhood. It has been identified as a major factor in successful parenting (Burke & Liston, 1994). The support that a family can offer often compensates the limitations to other resources. Professional help also has important role in helping mothers. Thus access to this is also important. Read More