Thesis (MTech. degree in Nursing)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2010. / Teenage pregnancy is a major public health problem for this age group in many countries. The consequences of early childbearing are a reduced likelihood of school completion and a decreased opportunity of a high earning career. The motivation of this study was twofold, the increase in the terminations of pregnancies in Soshanguve and the lack of guidelines for health professionals to prevent teenage pregnancy. The research question for the study was using the Johnson Behavioural System Model as basis.

A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Anthropology Department of Anthropology Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand March 2017 / This study explores the experiences of teenage pregnancy and motherhood among two generations of mothers living in Johannesburg, South Africa. This engagement with gendered subjectivity took the form of ethnographic fieldwork conducted with three older women (35 to 42 years old) who gave birth between the ages of 16 and 18; as well as five young women aged 18-19 who became mothers during their teenage years. Using a social constructionist framework, the study explores the gendered nature of teenage pregnancy by discussing the narratives of women before and after having their first child. It argues that gendered experiences of teenage pregnancy play a crucial role in local understandings and practices of good motherhood. In particular, being a good mother for the older women in the study meant doing their best as parents to prevent teenage pregnancy in the younger generation. The women saw this as the best way to safeguard their daughters’ social reputations and educational futures in a context that considers teenage pregnancy to be unacceptable. When their attempts at preventing pregnancy proved unsuccessful, the older women were cast as inadequate parents who were partly to blame for their daughters’ pregnancies. / MT2018

Teenage pregnancy in South Africa, especially amongst teenage learners has become a national crisis with an estimated average of 5000 girls between the ages of 12 and 19 falling pregnant in one school year (Headlines Africa, 2012). This study focused on how process drama was applied with adolescent learners at Supreme Educational College in Johannesburg, to investigate the causes and consequences of teenage pregnancy. Process drama requires participants to create and assume roles, identify and explore images and stories drawn from fictional worlds that relate to the participants’ own personal experiences. Through process drama workshops, teenagers were able to engage with challenging situations as a way of acquiring new knowledge about teenage pregnancy. Three major themes emerged as contributing factors to teenage pregnancy, namely, parental negligence and abuse, negative peer pressure and poverty. The learner’s engagement within the dramatic process was enhanced by means of dialogue, negotiation and reflection with the teacher adopting the role of facilitator and co-participant. The fictional world created by the drama enabled the learners to relate and identify with problematic aspects of teenage pregnancy. The study concludes that process drama offers an aesthetic space for teenagers to develop a deeper understanding of themselves in relation to their lived experiences. The study recommends process drama as a powerful interactive medium that needs to be implemented in schools to grapple with intractable issues such as teenage pregnancy.

Thesis (M.A) -- University of Limpopo, 2008 / Refer to document

This piece of research explores the problem of schoolgirl pregnancies and suggests a role which the school might play in their prevention. Concern over the growing number of unplanned pregnancies under the age of eighteen years at the author's school, culminated in the .present study. Experts on the subject often perceive the problem to be self-defeating to the young girls, medically contra-indicated and socially disruptive. The purpose of this investigation was to determine attitudes towards the description of the problem, to identify causative factors predisposing to pregnancy, and to obtain views on how the school can reconcile efforts to address the problem. The relevant research data was obtained through a comprehensive 64 item attitudinal and knowledge-base questionnaire which was administered to a sample of 187 subjects. The sample comprised seven different occupational groups namely, senior schoolgirls, parents of senior schoolgirls, ex-schoolgirl primigravidae, parents of ex-schoolgirl primigravidae, school teachers, members of the clergy and various health care professionals. The appendices contain full statistical tables as well as full responses to the open-ended essay based on the research questionnaire so that the reader is free to check the reasonableness of the conclusions drawn. In the final chapter the author provides a brief summary of findings, offers justification why the teaching of sex education should be a priority in public schools, and makes recommendations, in the main, for the inclusion of school-based sex education as a component of Guidance in terms of rationale and implementation. In addition, suggestions are made with regard to school policy formulation and networking with parents and other community resources. Finally, a choice of four current model programmes for sex education are proposed in an effort to improve and build upon existing programmes in the present South African curriculum. It is the author's belief that this investigation may contribute to course design and perhaps provide hypotheses for more specific studies in the future.

This study investigates the causes, consequences and possible solutions of teenage pregnancy. It indicates that socio-economic factors play an important role in the occurrence of teenage pregnancies. In addition the study suggests that a range of factors, including, cultural norms and individual needs, impact on the childbearing decisions of teenage females. The study demonstrates that the most important negative consequences of teenage pregnancy include dropping out of school, unemployment, single parenthood and higher levels of poverty. An important finding of the study is that policies and programmes aimed at reducing teen pregnancy rates, and eliminating the negative consequences experienced by teen mothers and their children, are unlikely to be fully effective unless they realistically address socio-economic imbalances faced by many young women in South Africa.

MCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Science

Department of Advanced Nursing Science / MCur

Department of Curriculum Studies and Education Management / DEd

MA (Psychology) / Department of Psychology / See the attached abstract below