Teenage Pregnancy Among Urban Adolescent Women

Teen pregnancy has been a problem in the United States for years. Although rates have dropped since the 1990’s, teen pregnancy rates in the United States are still higher than other western societies. Teenage pregnancy is accompanied with many negative consequences such as shortened educational experience, diminished employment, larger family size, increased risk of single- parent and poverty. Teen mothers struggle on a daily basis, if you are one of them you should visit a psychoeducational group. Teen mothers should attend psychoeducational groups because they can teach teen moms parenting skills, social skills, and provide them with the support they

Teen pregnancy falls into the category of pregnancies in girls age 19 or younger (NIH). Although statistics have shown a decrease, the number of teen pregnancy in the U.S. is still relatively high compared to the rest of the world. Sexual health is one of the top priorities in early adolescence health in the United States. Consequences of having sex at a young age generally results in unsafe sex practices. The consequences can be due to the lack of knowledge about sex education, and access to birth control/contraception (NIH, 2005). Due to the lack of knowledge and access to birth control, adolescents involve in risk taking when they start to explore sexual intimate relationships.

One community member, Jay Coffelt, is a long-term resident of Kansas City in Jackson County, Missouri. Jay is passionate about researching and awareness of issues like teen pregnancy at the county, state, and national levels. Although not directly involved as a parent of a pregnant teen and not being a teen himself, Mr. Coffelt’s community passion is beneficial in providing insight to the level of community empowerment present in Jackson County, Missouri with regards to a major health issue like teen pregnancy. From a community members’ perspective, it was noted that there seems to be a lack of resources available to pregnant teens and their families as well as a lack of ways community members can be involved in the issue. When asked about his ability to participate in decision making regarding teen pregnancy or to attend forums discussing teen pregnancy, Mr. Coffelt was unsure if those resources were available to him. Another important finding from Mr. Coffelt’s interview was the frequent comparisons he made to an adjacent county in Kansas. Having lived in both counties, Mr. Coffelt was able to recall more available resources, awareness, and guidance for teen health and community members in the adjacent Kansas county compared to Jackson County in Missouri. Through the interview, it was determined that Mr. Coffelt felt an increased level of empowerment. According to Clark, “...empowered individuals gain new skills and power to influence others and to affect the outcomes of

There is presently much controversy regarding teen pregnancy, considering that many countries in the developed world experience a rise in adolescent pregnancies in spite of the fact that effective programs are installed in these areas. Teen pregnancy has been a major issue in Los Angeles in the recent years, but the fact that state authorities have been actively involved in combating the problem has generated positive results. It is probable that the struggle for abstinence and the practice of safe sex have become less important for high school students in Los Angeles in the last few years, taking into account that teen pregnancy rates have gone up significantly.

The main ethnic/racial groups affected by the health issue are non-Hispanic African American females, Hispanic females, and Native Americans/Native Alaskans. There were key study findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found that U.S. birth rates for adolescents vary considerably by race and Hispanic origin (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). Thus, this provides even more clear evidence on the difference of ethnic/racial groups. Additionally, in 2008, the birth rate for Hispanic adolescents was approximately five times the rate for Asian/Pacific Islander adolescents, three times the rate for non-Hispanic white adolescents, and somewhat higher than the rates for non-Hispanic African American and Native American/Native Alaskan adolescents (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011).

Birth rates in African American and Hispanic teens are substantially higher than whites, a trend that has persisted for decades. Even though pregnancy rates among teens are at an all time low. It is still a major issue but mostly affecting the urban communities. In this research paper I will be comparing and demonstrating the relationships between teenage pregnancy, social issues, and education.

Teen pregnancy has become a problem over the past decade. This issue can be looked at using sociological imagination. C. Write Mills explaing the idea of sociological imagination as the ability to see the connection between personal experiences and larger society. On a personal level, teens with children experience many difficulties juggling the responsibilities of parenting, school, work, and everything else. The teenage years can be very complicated, but adding a child to the mix can really impact young men and women’s relationships, emotions, and future. Looking at this problem on a public level, society has a huge role in preventing teen pregnancies. Also, the media plays a large role in influencing teenagers to engage in sexual activities.Many

For many years teen pregnancy has been a national social problem. Views have changed over the years as society has started to adapt to the thought of teen pregnancy. “Growing evidence suggests that pre-existing academic and economic hardships play a role in the continuing struggles of teen mothers. While 85% of young women who delay having their first child until at least twenty or twenty – one obtain a high school diploma or GED, only 63% of mothers who give birth by age seventeen do so” (Crosson- Tower p255)

Even though teenage pregnancy rates have decreased in the U.S. in recent years, the rates are far behind European countries. Studies have shown that U.S. teenagers have (a) high rates of sexual intercourse at a younger age, (b) high rates of sex without contraceptives, (c) high rates of pregnancy, (d) and high number of multiple sex partners in comparison to European countries like Sweden, France, Netherland (Bell, 2009).

According to studies there has been an increase of unprotected intercourse in adolescents that leads to sexually transmitted diseases, psychological disorders, and the use of substance abuse (Jemmott, Fong, G. T. (2005)). Adolescents typically go to the use of drugs to throw away the feelings they encounter in everyday situations. Studies also show that most adolescents that involve their selves in intercourse at an early age will have a larger number of sexual partners, and use condoms less often when engaged in intercourse.

This article is highly relevant to class discussion in terms of solving the teen pregnancy/sexual risk behavior epidemic within the African American community. As discussed in class, teen pregnancy is one of the chronic social issues of the African American society. The article gives statistical information in regards to narrowing down some specific reasons why this epidemic is occurring.

The incidence of teen births in the United States has reached a historic all time low throughout the last couple of years but teen girls are still giving birth to 1700 babies a week. However, minorities are still amongst the highest group of teenagers having children among the age group between 15 and 19 years of age. The highest ethnic groups were comprised of Hispanics and Non-Hispanic blacks making up 57% of all US teen births in 2011, according to a study done by the CDC in 2011. American Indians and Alaskan Natives had the third highest birth rates at about 36 births per 1000 females. The smallest occurrence of teen births per 1000 came from the Asian/Pacific Islander population. However, the continuously low population group with teen pregnancies involved White individuals so the question remains, why are most minority groups more likely to give birth within their teenage years?

Continuing along, according to studies, there is a difference between ethnic/racial groups in the incidence and occurrence of adolescent pregnancies. According to the youngest age group (10-14 years), Africans Americans are disproportionately present (Cooper et al., 1995) and the same holds true among females who have had two consecutive pregnancies as an adolescent (Blankson et al., 1993). Additionally, in 1997, birth rates for adolescents (15-19 years) were thirty-six for non-Hispanic white females, eighty-eight point two for non-Hispanic black females, seventy-one point eight for non-Hispanic native Americans and ninety-seven point four for Hispanic females (Ventura & Freedman, 2000). Thus, this reflects a disparity among the ethnic/racial

Americans take great pride in their leadership among nations. Such a distinction becomes embarrassing however when the title is claimed for the highest teenage pregnancy rate of any developed nation with nearly one million pregnancies each year. There has been extensive research on the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy which has yielded important information about pregnancy rates and risk factors. Researchers concur that pregnancy is a time of dramatic transition. A first time pregnancy propels the mother from the status of woman to mother. While these changes are noteworthy for the adult woman confronting pregnancy, their effect is frequently magnified when the expecting mother is an adolescent. Adolescent childbearing has become a

An ongoing epidemic in the United Sates is teen pregnancy. In America, our society is run down by many problems. Most are caused by the older generation, but this problem has risen with the younger generation around the age of 15-19. The peak of the teen pregnancy trend started in 1990 when 60 teen girls out of 1,000 had a teen birth ("About Teen Pregnancy.”). For every 1,000 females in 2013, on average only 27 out of the 1,000 had gone through teen birth ("About Teen Pregnancy.”). Over the years, it seems that the trend is winding down and that less and less teens appear to becoming pregnant. In 2013, the teen pregnancy rate decreased by 10% since 2012 and 57% 1990 ("Teen Birth Rate | The National Campaign.”).