Teen Pregnancy among the Hispanics in US - Research Paper Example

Teen Pregnancy among the Hispanics in US The article titled “Teen Pregnancy and the Achievement Gap among Urban Minority Youth,” written by Charles E. Basch, deals with the problem of teen pregnancy with a focus on shortfall in achievements in the case of Hispanics living in urban areas of the US. This paper attempts to offer a critical analysis of the article with reference to the problem statement, purpose of study, research questions, literature review and theoretical framework as discussed below. Problem Statement The article clearly states the problem and its ramifications in terms of poor health, educational and the economic outcomes for both children and mothers. The author also adequately supports his view through evidence gleaned from various studies on the topic, conducted by other professionals. The findings of these studies also validate the author’s claim that the most widespread health related problem for the US is “teenage pregnancy”, a major point of which is Hispanics (Curley, 2012, p. 230). The author further contends that teenagers who become pregnant are unlikely to complete their high school or college education and, on most occasions, they drop out, and this problem is clearly stated and supported by evidence from other studies. Basch further delineates the repercussions of the problem in terms of failure to attain academic accomplishments and considerable aggravation of economic stability. He also identifies clinical problems related to teen pregnancy, which are evident from the fact that “children who are born to teen mothers also experience a wide range of problems” (“Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion”, 2011, para.4) like chronic health conditions and behavioral problems. The author specifically narrows down his claims that economic and social costs of teen pregnancy are often high among Hispanic groups, and these costs may be both immediate and recurring for teen parents and their children. This claim is further substantiated through another study, which purports that the rising problem of teen pregnancy contributes significantly to “drop-out rates among high school girls” (“Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion”, 2011, para.5). Teen pregnancy and childbirth cost for the US taxpayers was estimated to be “$9 billion per year” (“Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion”, 2011, para.8) due to enlarged health and foster care cost, enlarged internment rates among the teen parent’s children, and missing tax returns from the teen mothers who receive less money as they have less education. The author also establishes the significance of the study by stating that non-marital teen births in the US affect the educational, economic, social and health aspects of such teenagers and their children. Purpose and Research Questions The author has clearly stated the objective of the study and also delineated the pervasiveness of teen pregnancy among school-aged Hispanic youth, underlying pathways through which the pre-marital teen births negatively affect educational achievement. Though the author does not put the questions explicitly in the study, it serves the purpose as the questions are related to the problem. The qualitative methods of analysis are suitable to answer the research questions as the author has reviewed the articles of several prominent authors. Literature Review The author has conducted an exhaustive and accurate analysis of this problem prevalent among the Hispanics in the US. He claims that teen pregnancy and birth rates of this race are considered to higher than in any other community and it “exerts an important influence on [their] educational attainment” (Basch, 2011, p.614). As a result of this, they drop out from schools, and this adversely affects their education and knowledge attainment and pushes them to the lower strata. While conducting this study, Basch has carried out both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the problem, which has enabled the study to cover all significant aspects of the issue. The qualitative analysis has been carried out through a review of articles written by prominent authors, and the literature review covers relevant articles published over a period of last 10 years in order to get a better insight into the topic and its ramifications. Apart from this, he has also conducted a recent analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which points out that there is a 66% possibility of daughters of teen mothers also to become teen mothers and that they live in poverty, remaining unmarried and not attaining adequate education. As compared to the quantitative method analysis, Basch has focused on attaching more importance to the qualitative study to support his arguments. On the quantitative side, a statistical analysis of the year 2006 regarding the birth rate among 15-17 year old in the United States has been considered, which indicates that birth rates among Hispanics are higher than among Caucasians or African Americans. The weakness found in this article is that the author has referred to so many articles of other authors that it may create bias of opinion while carrying out the analysis. Besides, there is also a lack of adequate quantitative data or its interpretation in the article. Conceptual/Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework includes the analysis of the teen pregnancy among the Hispanics. The author clearly emphasizes that teen pregnancy is a serious issue that hampers the education of Hispanic youth in the US. The conceptual premise contends that the issue must be recognized within the family itself and school-based sex education programs should be implemented to make the youth aware of the underlying factors of risk. In the theoretical framework, the author has conducted qualitative analysis only. His findings are considered as social messages to the youth to understand the repercussions of the issue and implement programs to prevent it. The author also offers a valid suggestion that “programs delivered through school-based health clinics” (Basch, 2011, p.617) will be effective in helping pregnant teens to carry on their education, obviously as is to be done through the support of family and school. Basch’s proposition is also supported through other research evidence, which suggests that Hispanic teen population in the US is on the rise and, therefore, they form an “important target group for pregnancy prevention programs” (Ryan, Franzetta, & Manlove, 2005, Para.3) The article’s framework also discusses the findings of the author. It begins with the issue of teen pregnancy and its influence on education and is structured in such a manner as to out the significance of creating awareness of teen pregnancy and imparting education among Hispanics. The objectives, methods, results and conclusion of the article are related to the research questions of the study, and the author clearly states the solutions in his findings. Reference List Basch, C.E. (2011). Teen pregnancy and the achievement gap among urban minority group. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2011.00635.x/pdf Chronic disease prevention and health promotion (2011). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/teen-preg.htm Curley, A.L., & Vitale, P.A. (2012). Population based nursing concepts and competencies for advanced practice. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=AXbG_bcA1DUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Population-Based+Nursing:+Concepts+and+Competencies+for+Advanced+Practice&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GgIAULqaG86GrAfzhdmrBg&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Population-Based%20Nursing%3A%20Concepts%20and%20Competencies%20for%20Advanced%20Practice&f=false Ryan, S., Franzetta, K., & Manlove, J. (2005). Hispanic teen pregnancy and birth rates: Looking behind the numbers. Retrieved Read More