Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Social Constructions Of Teen Pregnancy: Implications For Policy And Prevention Efforts, Stephanie Jimenez

Scripps Senior Theses

Over the past few decades, teen pregnancy has been framed as one of society’s most pressing ills. It has been understood as a “crisis” by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and a number of other cultural, religious, and governmental institutions. In this thesis, I analyze three constructions of teen pregnancy: 1) the construction of teen mothers as social “burdens” 2) the construction of teens as “unfit” to be parents 3) the construction of teen mothers as collectively “rational” actors reacting to contexts of structural inequality. While the first and second constructions draw upon the conception of …