Teen Pregnancy Among Latinas - Research Paper Example

Teen Pregnancy Among Latinas Teen pregnancy is a big social problem all over the world and United Sates is also not an exception. Even though all the ethnic groups in America are vulnerable to this problem, Latina community seems to be the most vulnerable community to this problem. Teen pregnancy is not good for the proper development of teenagers as they forced to take the burden of looking after the children before they attain enough maturity. Most of the teenage pregnancy is happening because of a momentary lapse of control of emotions and feelings. This paper reviews the literature available for getting deeper insights into the topic related to Teen Pregnancy among Latinas. Literature Review: Teen Pregnancy among Latinas The Latino population is the largest and fastest growing ethnic group in the United States today, representing 13 percent of the total population. Cultural and economic barriers, however, have limited access to health care and teen pregnancy education and prevention programs for the Latino population. Consequently, Latinas have the highest teen birth rate of all major racial/ethnic groups in the U.S., resulting in an increasing number of young Latina mothers and children who are especially vulnerable to poverty, lack of health care, and welfare dependence (Dickson, 2004, p.1). Latina community is the most underdeveloped community in United States. Because of the cultural traits and pleasure seeking life attitudes, teenagers in Latina community is not taking life as seriously as others. For them, life is for enjoyment purpose. Education is perceived as a burden by many of the teenagers in Latina community. Lack of education is the major reason for the increasing teen pregnancy among Latinas. Lack of education prevents them from knowing more about the consequences of crazy life styles. It should be noted that adolescence is a period during which sex hormones are hyperactive and strong mental power and control over emotions and feelings are necessary during this period to overcome the temptations of the sexual energy developed as a result of sex hormones. Education is the only way to control sexual energy during the teenage period. It should be noted that many of the teenage mothers forced to stop their education as a result of the untimely or unwanted pregnancy. Lack of education prevents them from getting decent jobs in future and therefore they forced to live in poverty throughout their life because of teen pregnancies. In his famous chapter, "Eight Stages of Man," Erikson (1950) modifies and expands the Freudian stages of psychosexual development by placing much greater emphasis on the social context of development. His modifications were inspired by anthropological findings and a concern with the social origins of these stages, which contribute to a shift from the sexual nature of man to a theory of psychosocial development. The core concept in this theory is the acquisition of an ego-identity, and the exploration of identity issues becomes the outstanding characteristic of adolescence (Erik Erikson’s Theory of identity Development, n.d. p.43). According to Erickson’s psychological theory of development, social context plays an important role in the shaping the life principles and behaviors of teenagers. Latinas do not visualize sex or premarital sex as a sin. Latina community is a much liberal community as far as their social life is concerned. Children who develop in such communities may naturally develop a tendency to treat life without much seriousness. Erickson pointed that a person’s identity is developed in a social context and therefore culture plays an important role in the development of a child or teenager. Erickson has pointed out that autonomy is an important issue during teenage development. Autonomy has definite roles to play in the development of self-esteem. Since autonomy is much respected in Latina community, teenagers try to become independent as early as possible. In other words, teenagers among Latina community are enjoying much freedom than teenagers in other community which encourage them to lead a life controlled by feelings rather than wisdom. Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory suggests that behaviour is learned by observing role-models either through media or in real life. Whether the behaviour is imitated depends on several factors, including the observed outcome for the model. Many TV programmes only depict the positive consequences of sexual behaviour. New researches found that American adolescents who have high levels of exposure to television programs that contain sexual content are twice as likely to be involved in a pregnancy over the following three years as their peers who watch few such shows (Sexual Content on TV Leads to Teenage Pregnancies, 2008) As per Bandura's Social Learning Theory, teenagers take inspirations from the society. They always seek role models from society. Many of the celebrities in Latina society have crazy sexual life styles which inspired the teenagers to adopt such a life style in their life also. Perspectives Teen pregnancy should be analysed through perspectives. First of it should be analysed based on the psychological aspects of child development and teenage development. Since the mental development takes place in society or environment, social contexts of adolescence development also should be analysed in order to get deep insights into the teen pregnancy problems among Latinas. Economy, lack of education, poverty and changing life styles are some other perspectives which can be attached to teenage pregnancy. Research approach Both qualitative and quantitative researches are necessary to identify the teenage pregnancy problem more deeply. Qualitative researches such as interviews with the teenage mothers will provide more understandings into the topic. However, qualitative methods alone may not provide enough data to understand this topic properly because of the fact that some teenage mothers may not disclose the facts publicly. Those who are reluctant in disclosing the matters publicly may disclose it privately if a survey is conducted. So, quantitative research methods such as survey and questionnaire are also needed to learn this topic well. Conclusions Teenage pregnancy is a big problem among Latina community because of the liberal views of Latina community with respect to sexual life. Apart from cultural reasons, lack of education and poverty are also intensifying the teenage pregnancy problem among Latinas. References Dickson M. (2004), Latina Teen Pregnancy: Problems and Prevention, Retrieved from http://www.prcdc.org/files/Latina_Teen_Pregnancy.pdf Erik Erikson’s Theory of identity Development. (n. d), Retrieved from http://www.aui.ma/VPAA/cads/1204/cad-course-1204-rdg-erikerikson.pdf Sexual Content on TV Leads to Teenage Pregnancies (2001), Retrieved from http://alevelpsychology.co.uk/news/social-psychology/sexual-content-on-tv-leads-to-teenage-pregnancies.html Read More