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Teenage Pregnancy What is a Social Problem? Essay

Crone (2010, p.2) defines a social problem as a problem that “exists when people subjectively perceive and have empirical evidence to show that social conditions combine at a local, societal, or global level to cause personal problems.” There are some social problems that most of the members of the society feel disagreeable such as robberies, bank fraud, rape, and the like; and, there are other problems that only certain group of people regard as objectionable, for example, high school students might take it as their right or feel enjoyable in binge drinking but this is something that most of the society regards as a seriously displeasing issue. Thus, to call a problem a social problem, there should be a collective unwelcoming to the problem from most of the community. One such social problem is teenage pregnancy which has put the society into a dilemma of what to do with the mother and the unborn or born child, and how to treat with those involved. The increase in the rate of unwed teenage births weakens the integrity of a country. Research suggests that millions of teenage girls get pregnant in the United States every year most of which are those who did not use any contraceptive, as is found by Jewell, Tacchi and Donovan (2000) who asserted in their study that “young mothers revealed more difficulties getting access to reliable contraceptive services, and dissatisfaction with sex education in schools” (p.522). Gillham (1997, p.10) states that whether one sees teenage pregnancy as a social problem is entirely one’s own perspective. To some teenagers, getting pregnant would be a total disaster of their personalities if they want to step ahead in their professional lives; while, there are other teenagers who find themselves enjoying the situation. Statistics According to Gillham (1997, p. 1), the perception that the out-of-wedlock teen pregnancies are increasing with every passing year is not correct. He asserts that 1991 saw “10,000” fewer teenage maternities than 1981, while the rate was higher in 1971 and was highest in 1961. Gillham however draws a line between conception rate and maternity rate, and states that since the increased use of contraceptive measures and high trend of pregnancy termination or, in other words, abortion, the conception rate has increased with passing years but the maternity rate has lowered. Research suggests that 4 out 10 girls get pregnant every year which makes up around one million of teenage girls in the United States. Gillham (1997, p.10) mentions a study according to which 23 percent of the participants of the study intended for pregnancy, and the rate has increased to 40 percent in a recent such study. Boonstra (2002) conducted a survey and the study revealed that the rate of unmarried childbirths in teenagers has increased “from 13 in 1950 to 79 in 2000”. Moralization


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