Teenage Pregnancy Case Study

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Recommended: Risky behaviours in teenagers

Teenage pregnancy materialized as a social problem within the United States of America during the 1970’s and somewhat later on in South Africa. In this report we review the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy in our South African communities as well as the literature concerning the consequences of teenage pregnancy since it is formulated as a problem. Contributing elements that have been examined by South African researchers include; reproductive ignorance; risk-taking behaviour; psychological problems; peer influence; dysfunctional family patterns; coercive sexual relations; the earlier occurrence of menarche; socio-economic status; poor health services; the cultural value placed on children and the breakdown of cultural traditions and all the above mentioned will be later discussed in the report.
TEENAGE PREGNANCY AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM
A social problem is a social condition with negative consequences for individuals, our social world or our physical world. He goes further and says that social problems have objective and subjective realities… the object reality of a social problem comes from acknowledging that a particular social condition exists (Leon-Guerrero ,2010:3-4).
With recent data from the journal of South African education showing that over thirty percent of teenage girls over the age of eighteen have already given birth to their first child (Chetty & Chigoma, 2008:261).Teenage pregnancy has risen up the political agenda with recent policies stipulating that pregnant school girls are now allowed to attend school until a certain time in their pregnancy. With legislation supporting the pregnant teens it is no wonder the problem still persists in South Africa. In July 2000 the council of education ministers pronounced that pr...

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...ung men have information needs and anxieties about sex and relationships.
• Increase awareness and acknowledge about and availability of emergency hormonal contraception, since this safe, effective and reliable method of post-coital contraception is utmost to challenge the unplanned pregnancy rates.
• Pregnancy prevention programmes with guidelines should be obtainable and used correctly in all areas where teenagers are found.
• Develop more effective preventive measures for teenage pregnancy and have resolutions that might avoid unplanned teenage pregnancy
CONCLUSION
The constant increase in the number of teenage pregnancies is causing great concern and has been a critical issue for a number of years. This situation requires the urgent attention of every section of the South African society in order to prevent family life from disintegrating completely.

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