Stigmatization and Alienation of Unmarried Teenage Mothers in Subculture
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
In a bid to ensure that this study is relevant in the field of academic profession certain aims have been designed for this research work. The aim that this research was carried out has the following objectives in mind;
- To examine and determine the extent of problems facing unmarried teenage mothers in Agege in Local Government Area of Lagos State.
- To examine the impact of stigmatization faced by unmarried teenage mothers in Agege Local Government Area of Lagos State.
- To determine the cultural barriers that influence access to birth, control drugs and programmes.
- To study how media awareness, family, religious institutions, etc. has created the needed information that will help unmarried teenage mothers plan their future.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
TEENAGE MOTHERS AND STIGMA
Drawing on Erving Goffman’s work (1963) stigma is taken here to mean, an attribute that is deeply discrediting’ (Goffman 1963:3), in this case, teenage motherhood. Goffman goes on to differentiate between three distinct types of stigma; the first which stems from bodily abominations, the second from the (perceived) character of an individual and the third from race or religion. Goffman’s second type of stigma is particularly relevant here: blemishes of individual character perceived as weak will, domineering or unnatural passions, treacherous and rigid beliefs, and dishonesty’ (Goffman 1963:14) This definition helps to explain how the stereotypes of teenage motherhood function as a stigma. Firstly, teenage pregnancy (and motherhood) renders sexual activity visible (Nathanson 1991; Whitehead 2001). Young women are therefore open to be perceived as being ‘weak willed’ as a result of their engagement in ‘premature’ sexual activity. Secondly, this signifies them as having engaged in ‘unnatural passions’. This is because youthful sexual activity is considered to be inappropriate. Furthermore, female sexual desire is still rendered silent (Fine 1988) and therefore also shameful. The responsibility for teenage sexual activity is particularly aimed at young women who are perceived to be the guardians of their reproductive capabilities (Aapola et al 2005). Young men, on the other hand, are assumed to be acting in accordance with their natural masculine desires. Thirdly, the popular and enduring myth that teenage pregnancy is a cynical ploy to access social housing and welfare benefits is relevant here. The inclusion of young unmarried mothers under the definition of an ‘underclass’ (see BBC News 2009 for example) helps to define them as having a different moral code (Lister 1996). That is, holding ‘treacherous and rigid beliefs’. Furthermore, perverse incentive explanations for teenage parenthood (Selman 2003; Daguerre 2006) work to frame a perception of young parents as ‘dishonest’. Goffman therefore provides a useful understanding of how negative stereotypes translate into a stigmatising identity. However, given that there is a ‘disjuncture’ between research evidence and negative stereotypes of teenage parents (Duncan 2007) it is worth considering why teenage mothers are the subject of such stigmatising. Arai (2009:109/114) notes, ‘. . . anxiety about teenage pregnancy masks usually deep-seated social fears. . . it touches on many and various sensitive issues’.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to stigmatization and alienation of unmarried teenage mother’s subculture
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain stigmatization and alienation of unmarried teenage mothers in subculture. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of stigmatization and alienation of unmarried teenage mothers in subculture
Summary
This study was on stigmatization and alienation of unmarried teenage mothers in subculture. Four objectives were raised which included: To examine and determine the extent of problems facing unmarried teenage mothers in Agege in Local Government Area of Lagos State, to examine the impact of stigmatization faced by unmarried teenage mothers in Agege Local Government Area of Lagos State, to determine the cultural barriers that influence access to birth, control drugs and programmes, to study how media awareness, family, religious institutions, etc. has created the needed information that will help unmarried teenage mothers plan their future. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 selected residents in Agege local government area of Lagos state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made married men, married women, youths and female students were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
This paper has analyzes the stigmatization and alienation of unmarried teenage mothers in subculture. It outlines the causes of teenage motherhood as poverty, early marriages, traditional gender roles, lack of adequate information by teenagers on their sexuality, drug and alcohol abuse and peer pressure. Teenage motherhood has negative consequences to first and foremost; the teenage mother herself, her future children and the society at large. To the teenage mother she has to face the social stigma as she tries to bring up her unwanted child. Children born of teenage mothers are more likely to become teen parents themselves in addition to having low educational achievement. The society in turn is robbed of productive members of society. These negative consequences of teenage motherhood can be reverted if the society became more supportive to the teenage mothers
Recommendation
As far as practice is concerned, it is evident that the abstinence-based methods are not adequate to prevent unwanted teenage pregnancy in Agege communities. In this the postmodern era, adolescents are exposed to a number of messages from the media: many of these messages promote casual sexual engagement. It is therefore important for church communities to adopt constructive sex education strategies in their attempt to deal with the problem of unwanted teenage pregnancy. Adolescents need to be educated about their bodies, and channels of communication between teenagers and their parents also need to be opened. In the absence of such communication, friends remain the only source of information (Jewkes et al., 2001). Simply advising young women to keep their chastity till marriage is not enough, given the sexual violence endemic in Agege local government area. Rather, adolescents need to be equipped with problem solving skills to deal with peer pressure and other factors that contribute to teenage pregnancy.
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