Teenage Sexuality, Pregnancy, and Childbearing

Published by University of Pennsylvania Press 1981

Teenage Sexuality, Pregnancy, and Childbearing

Edited by: Frank F. Furstenberg Jr. , Richard Lincoln and Jane Menken

In the series Anniversary Collection

https://doi.org/10.9783/9781512802009

Overview
Contents

About this book

Examining the social consequences of teenage childbearing, the editors explain the effects on adolescent parents themselves, their offspring, and their families, and discuss ways of preventing or tempering those effects.

Why have Americans suddenly become troubled about teenage sexuality, pregnancy, and childbearing? These are not new problems, certainly, and the birthrate among teenagers—even the youngest of them—has been declining for some years. What has aroused public concern, according to the editors of these essays, is the increased visibility of the problem. The pregnant teenager is no longer expelled from school and forced to marry or discreetly bear a child out of wedlock. She has the option of abortion, and even if she decides to have the child, she is even more likely not to marry. Thus, the sensitivity of Americans to the issues of abortion and illegitimacy is inexorably linked to their concern about adolescent sexuality and pregnancy. The attention focused on the problem has resulted in a considerable amount of research on the causes and consequences of teenage pregnancy, and on the means of preventing it.

Over the past decade, Family Planning Perspectives has published much, if not most, of the research on the causes, consequences, and means of coping with problems associated with teenage pregnancy and childbearing. From about 100 articles, the editors have selected 28 key reports that illuminate the issue for scholars, students, and professionals who work with young people in various settings. The contributors to the first section examine historical trends in regard to teenage sexual activity, use of contraception and abortion, pregnancy, and childbirth in and out of wedlock in the context of other changes in social structure and mores.

The second section assesses the serious adverse consequences of early childbearing on the young people involved, on their children, and on society. The third section looks into what courses of action are practicable to help teenagers avert the pregnancies and births they do not wish to have, and to cope with problems resulting from early childbearing. The final section evaluates current programs and materials designed to help teenagers prevent unwanted pregnancies or deal with pregnancy when it occurs; it also reviews the state of the law involving contraception, abortion, and pregnancy among teenagers.

The book includes an overview and section introductions by the editors, which draw together the implications of the contributions and those of other investigators who have written on this subject. All articles, as well as the editors' contributions, are followed by extensive, up-to-date bibliographies

Author / Editor information

Frank F. Furstenberg is Zellerbach Family Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Richard Lincoln was Vice-President of The Alan Guttmacher Institute and editorial director of Family Planning Perspectives. Jane Menken is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	XI
Overview Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
I. Trends and Their Interpretation
1. Teenage Family Formation in Postwar America June Sklar and Beth Berkov Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
2. Teenage Illegitimacy: An Exchange Phillips Cutright, Frank F. Furstenberg, June Sklar and Beth Berkov Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
3. The Legitimacy Status of First Births to U.S. Women Aged 15–24, 1939–1978 Martin O’Connell and Maurice J. Moore Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	52
4. Sexual and Contraceptive Experience of Young Unmarried Women in the United States, 1976 and 1971 Melvin Zelnik and John F. Kantner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	68
5. First Pregnancies to Women Aged 15–19: 1976 and 1971 Melvin Zelnik and John F. Kantner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
6. Contraceptive Patterns and Premarital Pregnancy Among Women Aged 15–19 in 1976 Melvin Zelnik and John F. Kantner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	112
7. The Effect of Government Policies on Out-of-Wedlock Sex and Pregnancy Kristin A. Moore and Steven B. Caldwell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	126
8. The Risk of Adolescent Pregnancy in the First Months of Intercourse Laurie Schwab Zabin, John F. Kantner and Melvin Zelnik Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	136
9. Teenage Pregnancies: Looking Ahead to 1984 Christopher Tietze Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
10. Some Speculations on the Future of Marriage and Fertility Charles F. Westoff Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
II. The Consequences of Early Parenthood
11. The Health and Social Consequences of Teenage Childbearing Jane Menken Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
12. The Social Consequences of Teenage Parenthood Frank F. Furstenberg Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	184
13. Teenage Mothers and Teenage Fathers: The Impact of Early Childbearing on the Parents' Personal and Professional Lives Josefina J. Card and Lauress L. Wise Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
14. Marriage, Remarriage, Marital Disruption and Age at First Birth James McCarthy and Jane Menken Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
15. Early Childbearing and Subsequent Fertility James Trussell and Jane Menken Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	234
16. Economic Consequences of Teenage Childbearing James Trussell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
17. The Children of Teenage Parents Wendy Baldwin and Virginia S. Cain Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	265
18. Family Support: Helping Teenage Mothers to Cope Frank F. Furstenberg and Albert G. Crawford Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	280
III. Locating the Problem / Defining the Solution
19. Contraception, Abortion and Venereal Disease: Teenagers' Knowledge and the Effect of Education Paul A. Reichelt and Harriet H. Werley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	301
20. Guessing and Misinformation About Pregnancy Risk Among Urban Mothers Harriet B. Presser Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	317
21. Sexual and Contraceptive Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior of Male Adolescents Madelon Lubin Finkel and David J. Finkel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	327
22. Early Motherhood: Ignorance or Bliss? Harriet B. Presser Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	336
23. Psychological Vulnerability to Unwanted Pregnancy Warren B. Miller Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	350
24. Teenagers: Fertility Control Behavior and Attitudes Before and After Abortion, Childbearing or Negative Pregnancy Test Jerome R. Evans, Georgiana Selstad and Wayne H. Welcher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	355
25. Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Services in High School Clinics Laura E. Edwards, Mary E. Steinman, Kathleen A. Arnold and Erick Y. Hakanson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	372
IV. Sources of Resistance and Change
26. Misinforming Pregnant Teenagers Linda Ambrose Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	383
27. Contraceptive Services for Adolescents: An Overview Joy G. Dryfoos and Toni Heisler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	394
28. Teenagers and Pregnancy: The Law in 1979 Eve W. Paul and Harriet F. Pilpel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	409
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	421

Language: English
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 440
Keywords: Sociology

eBook

Published: January 9, 2018
ISBN: 9781512802009