Research Paper Example on Teen Pregnancy: Global Issue with Disadvantaged Societies

Introduction

In developing countries, almost 20 million girls ranging from 15 to 19 years, were around 12 million giving birth (Solomon-Fears & Ronquillo, 2015). Teens’ pregnancies are an issue that affects the entire universe because it happen in middle, low, and middle-income countries. Across the globe, youth pregnancies have high chances to occur in disadvantaged or marginalized societies due to a lack of employment education and poverty. Thus, multiple factors may result in adolescent pregnancies and birth. In various communities, girls are forced to bear children or marry at an early age. For instance, multiple studies indicated that around 39 percent of girls marry under 18 years in the least developing nations (Chisholm, Bullock, & Ferguson II, 2017). Also, in some regions, girls may prefer to get married since they lack job opportunities and education. In those communities, motherhood and union or marriage, as well as childbearing, may be valued. However, teen pregnancy may be avoided, although it becomes difficult due to misconceptions and knowledge gaps in acquiring and use contraceptive methods. For instance, adolescents are restricted by the law to employ contraceptives due to their marital status and age. Therefore, the paper reviews the literature associated with the cause and impacts of adolescent pregnancy on society.

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Literature Review

Causes of Teen Pregnancy

Some various customs, traditions, and cultures influence early marriages, which could result in young pregnancies. Multiple reasons facilitate the increase in pregnancies among adolescents, such as alcohol and drugs. For instance, during teenagers, girls may experiment with drugs with their acquaintances at parties and social gatherings where they fail to realize the effect of alcohol on their brains resulting in an unintentional and unwanted pregnancy. The substances affect adolescents' cognitive abilities making them involved in unsafe and unprotected sexual activity. Multiple studies indicated that poverty increases significant changes of pregnancy among teens. The evidence has shown that girls who become pregnant mostly originate from low-income earners families since they grew in a family which experiences suffering associated with financial constraints. These teens lack knowledge of the educational goals they would pursue in the future due to parental neglect and denial. Hence, these adolescents are predisposed to adverse environments, making them have fewer ambitions to progress in school and begin creating friendships with their peers who face the same situations where they drop from schools or indulge in delinquent acts like drug consumption. Poverty is associated with family connectedness meaning children from those households lack role models since abuse predisposes them to be in troubling and unsafe conditions. For instance, when a child is abused or witnesses, domestic violence has a high risk of making poor decisions because a lack of parental connectedness makes them involved in harmful acts. Also, inadequate knowledge and education about reproduction make girls engage in unsafe unprotected sexual acts since they don’t understand how to use contraceptives.

Accordingly, different researchers argued that peer pressure causes an increase in teen pregnancy because girls might be pressured by their peers to have unprotected and unsafe sex to express true feelings and love to their partners, leading to unplanned pregnancies. Also, media influences adolescent pregnancy, mainly show operas, which reiterates the importance of romantic relationships (Mollborn, 2017). Watching soaps makes children admire engaging in sexual activity, leading to unsafe and unprotected sex, which results in early pregnancies.

Adverse Impacts of Teens’ Pregnancy

Early pregnancies among teens impose health issues on babies and their mothers due to childbearing and pregnancy complications resulting in the death of almost 99 percent of girls aged between 15 to 19 years in the entire world. Girls with 10 to 19 years may encounter a high chance of systematic, eclampsia, and puerperal endometritis infections compared to women over 20 years (Chisholm, Bullock, & Ferguson II, 2017). Also, around 4 million engage in unsafe abortions every year, leading to morbidity, maternal mortality, and health problems.

According to researchers, early childbearing can raise a threat for newborns, and young mothers since babies born may have low birth weight and neonatal disorders. Secondly, various studies have argued that adolescent pregnancy imposes economic and social problems (Solomon-Fears & Ronquillo, 2015). For example, unmarried pregnant teens may develop a stigma associated with violence or rejections from peers, parents, and partners because girls who give birth less than 18 years have a high likelihood of encountering violence within partnerships or marriages. Also, childbearing and teen pregnancy make more girls drop out of school affecting their future career empowerment and education. However, different studies argued that preventing teen pregnancy is linked with reducing HIV, morbidity, and mortality. So, every organization needs to showcase effort in eliminating early pregnancy by introducing teens to innovative projects (Alabi & Oni, 2017).

Research Designs

Based on the research topic, on causes and impacts of teens pregnancy in society, the study relied on descriptive design for recording and observing behavior. It involved observation where the researcher observed how teens behaved, especially those originated from marginalized areas since the information gathered revealed the progress trends and patterns. In correlational design, the research collected data without manipulating participants experience since it indicated the relationship between variables. For example, the study showed negative correlations because the increase in teens pregnancy resulted in low national building due to high school dropouts. Also, the survey techniques were employed to collect information from a large population since the opinions of children who experienced early pregnancy were taken and analyzed to give a valid and reliable data. Hence, the data were gathered using questionnaires, structured and pretested which assessed the reproductive and sexual health of teens

The research employed quantitative techniques where it gathered information required measurement. The data collected were analyzed using correlation coefficients, percentages, and various statistical methods.

The quantitative method employed offers precise descriptions of ranges, ratios, percentages, and averages. Qualitative research gathers information that indicates how individuals in an environment could function in a society. The data gathered consisted of opinions, feelings, views, norms, aspirations, problems, and achievements of community members (Mollborn, 2017). Qualitative techniques assist in building an in-depth picture of how a certain population relates and behaves in a social setup. For instance, the research gathered information on how teens, especially those from low-income earners, behaved, and associated with other peers either through empowering their career or involving in delinquency acts like drug and alcohol consumption. Therefore, the research employed dependent variables that are teen pregnancy and independent like sex, age, education, occupation, income, and marital status, which were considered. The history of family income, peer pressure, contraceptives and sexual intercourse were assessed.

Conclusion

The study focused on the causes and impacts of teen pregnancy in society. Across the globe, adolescent pregnancies have high chances to occur in marginalized communities due to a lack of employment and education and poverty. Besides, childbearing and teen pregnancy make more girls drop out of schools affecting their future career empowerment and education. Early pregnancy imposes economic and social problems because young marriages increase domestic violence and child neglect. Also, girls who become pregnant at an early age fail to adequately achieve careers and education, leading to low economic growth. The research applied various research designs such as surveys, descriptive, correlation, and qualitative and quantitative techniques. Therefore, the data collected were analyzed using percentages, tables, charts, and correlational co-efficiencies.

References

Alabi, O. T., & Oni, I. O. (2017). Teenage pregnancy in Nigeria: Causes, effect and control. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(2), 17-32. http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v7-i2/2610

Chisholm, C. A., Bullock, L., & Ferguson II, J. E. J. (2017). Intimate partner violence and pregnancy: epidemiology and impact. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 217(2), 141-144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2017.05.042

Mollborn, S. (2017). Mixed messages: Norms and social control around teen sex and pregnancy. Oxford University Press.

Solomon-Fears, C., & Ronquillo, R. (2015). Teenage pregnancy prevention: Statistics and programs. Congressional Research Service. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-020-01356-9