Teen Pregnancy 2
Pregnancy Among Teens All societies possess social standards that control the sequence and the tempo of important life occurrences. Frank Furstenberg in, Unplanned Parenthood introduces this notion of social standards through what he terms the normative schedule. According to Furstenberg normative schedules are, "prescribed life courses, it is the timing of life events"(Furstenberg pg.2). Normative schedules vary from society to society. They are precise structures imposed by cultural rules and by social constraints. Through normative schedules public as well as private experiences are 'scheduled' or structured to occur at a specific time and in specific circumstances. The scheduling of parenthood, a private behavior, is subject to a society's normative schedule. When and under what circumstances vary from one culture to another, but no society leaves it purely to biological chance. Furstenberg's normative schedules are direct results of the cultural restrictions on life that Herbert Blumer explores in his book, Society as Symbolic Interaction. According to Blumer, "social theorists have long recognized the universal existence of cultural restrictions on reproduction" (Blumer pg.50). A culture's restrictions on reproduction allow
Works Cited Anonymous. "Social policy-Sexuality, Poverty, and the Inner City". National Journal. March 25,1995 (27:771). Blumer, Herbert. "Society as Symbolic Interaction." In Human Behavior and Social Processes. Ed. Arnold M. Ross. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1962. 3-27. Campbell, Arthur. "The Role of Family Planning in the Reduction of Poverty." Journal of Marriage and the Family 30 (1968): 236-45. Furstenberg, Frank, Jr. Unplanned Parenthood. New York: The Free Press, 1976. Goldberg, Stephanie B. "Talking with attorney general Janet Reno." ABA Journal. January 1993 (79:46). Goldfarb, Wiliams. "Emotional and interlectual consequences of psychological deprivation in infancy." Psychopathology of Childhood. Ed. A re-evaluation in P.Hock and J.Zubien. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1985. 105-19. Moore, Kristin, et al. Teenage Motherhood. Washington D.C.: The Urban Institute, 1979. National Council On Illegitimacy. The Double Jeopardy The Triple Crisis. New York: NCI, 1969. Reske, Henry J. "The Baby Trap." People Weekly. October 24,1994 (42:38). Rodriquez, Cleo,Jr. "Perceptions of pregnant/parenting teens." Adolescence. Fall 1995 (30:685). Sugrue, Thomas. "Poor Vision-The War Against the Poor." Tikkun. September 1995 (10:87). Scott, Keith, et al. Teenage Parents and Their Offspring. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1981. Thorne, Barrie. "Feminism and the Family: Two Decades of Thought." Rethinking the Family Some Feminist Questions Ed. Barrie Thorne and Marilyn Yalom. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1992. 3-30. United States. U.S. Congress, Department of Labor, et al. National Longitudinial Study of the Labor Market Experiences of Young Women. Washington: 1990 for the creation of parental normative schedules. In most societies where the normative schedule is followed, individuals are allowed to experience certain behaviors, such as parenting, through the private realm as long as the 'norm' of the system is not disrupted. According to Furstenberg, "schedule disruptions are usually disadvantageous"(Furstenberg pg4). This is because cultural standards are arranged in such a fixed position that any disturbance such as teen pregnancy creates an imbalance in the 'natural' benefits of operating within the system. Teen mothers operate outside of their allowable, private, discourse in the normative schedule, thus creating an imbalance in the culture. Normative schedules dictate individuals' proper places and status in a culture. Disturbances in cultural life, such as premature motherhood, sometimes result in premature status transitions, placing people into positions for which they are unprepared or unable to assume because society is constructed to support those who follow the normative schedule of life. Arthur Campbell in, "The Role of Family Planning in the Reduction of Poverty" expresses this idea in the following way: The girl who has an illegitimate child at the age of 16 suddenly has 90 percent of her life's script written for her. Her life choices are few, and most of them are bad. Had she been able to delay the first child, her prospects might have been quite different (Campbell pg30). Barrie Thorne in her essay, "Feminism and the Family: Two Decades of Thought" explores the idea of normative scheduling, the concept of motherhood, and the consequences of entering this status through what she terms ideological constructs. Through this system one is introduced to fixed characteristics that he/she must prescribe to in order to be accepted into any given institution or community. Thorne would say teen motherhood does not support society's ideology of the family; rather it challenges it. Although early motherhood does not support the system, teen mothers are still mothers and therefore subject to su
Some common words found in the essay are:
According Sugrue, According Furstenberg, ABA Journal, NLS PSID, According Thorne, Adan Chamul, National Journal, Teenage Motherhood, Northridge California, Parents Offspring, normative schedule, teen mothers, normative schedules, teen pregnancy, social economic, family size, outside normative schedule, aba journal, economic status, indirect effects, ideology family, role family planning, market experiences women, family planning reduction, planning reduction poverty,
Approximate Word count = 2507
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
