Teenage Pregnancy: A Sociological Identification and Perspective - Essay Example

Teenage Pregnancy: A Sociological Identification and Perspective Intro and Description of Problem Although many sociological issues are large and ultimately complex, the issue of teenage pregnancy is something that can almost invariably be taken at face value. However, rather than accepting this as a natural outgrowth of the human evolutionary and biological development process, a sociological view of teenage pregnancy is necessitated as a means of understanding how this societal problem has grown and developed within the past several decades. At its most basic definition, the societal “issue” of teenage pregnancy revolves around societal stakeholders becoming pregnant during the early/formative years of their own developmental process. Such an eventuality oftentimes correlates to and inability to effectively raise or provide for the needs of the infant/child in question. Moreover, rather than merely providing for the economic demands that having a child necessarily require, teenage mothers oftentimes find themselves in a situation with no partner in which they can rely on as a means of raising a child. Due to the fact that these partners are invariably young themselves, this places a strain not only upon the parents of the young woman, but also upon the health care services and economy as a whole; due to the fact that the young girl requires a great deal of psychological and economic support in order to raise the child on her own. From a sociological standpoint, this becomes an issue as it cannot only be understood as a personal issue that impacts upon the lives or immediate family experience of a small group of individuals. In this way, the following analysis will not only seek to define and elaborate on the sociological issue that teen pregnancy poses, it will also seek to discuss how this particular phenomenon impacts society in a different way than it has in the recent past as well as drawing upon the views that two prominent sociologists might have proffered with regards to teen pregnancy and how it should be approached/what were some of the contributing factors. Description of Change and Societal Ramifications of Change Firstly, with respect to delineating a specific case or example of teenage pregnancy, the reader does not need to look very far in order to see the impacts that teenage pregnancy impacts upon the individual, the child, and the immediate family/loved ones of the mother. Ultimately, as a means of how current Western civilization has evolved, motherhood is something that has come to be delayed upon until the time that a level of material success is assured. Due to the increasing complexity of life within the recent past, the average age at which a woman typically chooses to become a mother has seen an incremental shift towards a higher average. However, at the same time, important societal trends have emerged that has increased the rates of teenage pregnancy; even as the general trend has been to become pregnant at a later age than previous generations. This societal shift of course has to do with the sexual revolution which was experienced within the 1960s (Basch 2011). As a direct result of this sexual revolution, three unique outcomes were evidenced. The first was with respect to the development of “the pill”; allowing women to engage in a more promiscuous level of behavior without the danger of an unwanted pregnancy. Due to the degree of freedoms that “the pill” was able to ensure, combined with a cultural shift away from the more Puritanical definitions of premarital sex, the stigma of sexual liaisons between unmarried individuals slowly came to be removed. This is not to say that the current time does not exhibit any type of double standard with regards to men’s or women’s sexuality; rather, it merely denotes that a great deal of societal growth with regards to viewpoints concerning human sexuality was experienced within the past few decades. Yet, regardless of the extent to which an increased level of personal, sexual liberation has been exhibited over the past several decades, the fact of the matter is the there exists a correlative linkage between this degree of loosened societal censure and the overall level of teenage pregnancies. Proving whether or not such an eventuality represents a positive of or a negative ultimately relies upon what metric is being measured. However, from the systemic view, society as a whole is impacted upon by the increased rates of teenage pregnancy due to the fact that the burden of caring and providing for this child ultimately falls upon the citizen/taxpayer of whatever nation or entity is being considered. Effect on Current Society Seeking to claim that teenage pregnancy is a construct of the liberal attitudes that have come to prominence within the past half century would be to miss the point. However, it is fair to say that due to the societal stigma that existed concerning premarital sex and the overall degree of sexual freedoms that existed for young people even within the early 1960s, the overall levels of teen pregnancy were unquestionably much lower. Many social conservatives point to this as proof that society is slowly but surely disintegrating and that the ills of relaxed standards for human behavior will soon work towards a cataclysmic conclusion. However, shifts with regards to the way in which society integrate with such concepts as sexuality, pregnancy, marriage, and a litany of others are guaranteed to morph and evolve in time. For this very reason, it comes as little surprise that the Aztecs are no longer performing human sacrifices, the pagans of early Europe are no longer sacrificing virgins to a sun god, or that the Catholics of 15th century Spain are no longer burning heretics at the stake. Due to the fact that change in societal norms is all but guaranteed, it is without question that both positive and negative aspects of human behavior will evolve and develop within a society as time progresses. Comparison and contrast of how two of the sociologists thus far studied might have analyzed the social phenomenon. An individual that might ascribe to Herbert Meade’s definition of symbolic interactionism would necessarily put forward the understanding that teenage pregnancy is merely an outgrowth of an individual’s desire to integrate with current society. Moreover, in seeing an inherent evolutionary need to procreate and propagate the species, teenage pregnancy, which is not the result of an accident, serves as a representation of a primal human need to propagate life and add to the genetic diversity that exists within society. Moreover, in leveraging the 5 fundamental components of Meade’s theory, the reader would do well to consider teenage pregnancy as a an outgrowth of the following: a fundamental need to see oneself as a component part of existing human society, the need to understanding the individual as both a rational and cognizant entity, the need to appreciate not only the extant environment as it can be described but also as it must be perceived by the individual/individuals in question, appreciating the fact that the root cause of human action is the result of what may or may not be occurring within the given situation that the individual/individuals are experiencing, and lastly the fact that humans must be understood as active members of the environment. In such a way, the importance of societal conditioning or other selective unidirectional impacts upon the individual are not considered. It is the view of this researcher that such an approach is ultimately highly useful in delineating the importance of evolutionary and innate needs in determining action within society. Rather than seeing life decisions as a result of key cultural impressions, this approach cuts to the core and engages the reader with an understanding and appreciation for the fact that key biological and evolutionary impulses oftentimes dictate the way that an individual will engage in certain situations more than other factors. By much the same token, conflict theory, first proposed and expounded upon by Karl Marx in the late 1880s, puts forward the understanding that social science is constrained by the fact that tensions between the “haves” and the “have nots” can most appropriately explain many of the nuanced patterns of behavior that are evidenced. Although Marx saw this conflict theory as merely being defined as a conflict between the proletariat working class and the governing bourgeoisie, a more expansive definition of conflict theory has been elaborated by subsequent sociologists in the years since. Whereas Marx did not specifically expound upon ideas concerning sexual liberation or teen pregnancy for that matter, it is possible to assume that his stance on this subject might have included a clear discussion concerning what he termed as “false consciousness explanation of social problems” (McCay & Barrett 2010). In this way, rather than blaming the mother, morality as such, the degree of sexual liberation that might exist within a society or the overall level of maturity that is evidenced in the youth, Marx may well have put forward the belief that the capitalist societies around the globe would seek to denote other issues as responsible for teenage pregnancy rather than acquiescing to the truth that it is ultimately caused by a conflict between rich and poor. Although Marx’ interpretation of conflict theory has been highly useful in defining many other aspects of human interaction during the past 150 years, this particular approach, with regards to teenage pregnancy is ultimately wanting with regards to verifiable proof or evidence. Although it is true that teenage pregnancy is relegated mainly the lower working classes, it is an issue that impacts each and every level of society (Patel & Sen 2012). Whereas it may seem incongruous and somewhat scandalous for a well known member of the current aristocracy to become pregnant as a teenager, it is far from unheard of. In such a way, Marx view on this particular topic begins to fall apart before it can even be considered fully. Conclusion As with many sociological theories pertaining to the exhibitions of behavior that are noted within current or past society, neither symbolic interaction nor conflict theory is fully able to define and elaborate upon the underlying reasons for why teenage pregnancy continues to be such an issue within society. Rather, a litany of different influences and theoretical approaches must be applied to this negative outgrowth of societal evolution prior to a further determination being able to be made. Whereas the basic need and drive to further the species can be attributed in part to the prevalence of teenage pregnancy, taking an evolutionary biological approach to define a complex behavioral pattern that has exhibited a marked growth in recent years would involve a gross oversimplification of a much more nuanced issue. References Basch, C. E. (2011). Teen Pregnancy and the Achievement Gap Among Urban Minority Youth. Journal Of School Health, 81(10), 614-618. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2011.00635.x McKay, A., & Barrett, M. (2010). Trends in teen pregnancy rates from 1996-2006: a comparison of Canada, Sweden, U.S.A., and England/Wales. Canadian Journal Of Human Sexuality, 19(1-2), 43-52. Patel, P., & Sen, B. (2012). Teen Motherhood and Long-Term Consequences. Maternal & Child Health Journal, 16(5), 1063-1071. doi:10.1007/s10995-011-0829-2 Read More