Teenage pregnancy is an international phenomenon with girls falling pregnant from as early as 14 years of age. In South Africa teenage pregnancies are also on the increase (Kaiser, 2000:18; Statistica SA, 2006:5;). Teenage pregnancy may have negative effects for the teenager in that it can force the teenager to drop out of school prematurely as well as shortening her educational career which might limit future career possibilities. It also predisposes both the mother and the child to health risks. Finally, teenage pregnancy also leads to family destabilisation. Within the Xhosa communities family destabilisation becomes even more severe as it is culturally and traditionally related. Traditionally, teenage pregnancy in the Xhosa communities is stigmatized. The family suffers from embarrassment and disappointment and the effects of these experiences can manifest in outrage on the part of the parents towards the pregnant teenager resulting in non-communication with her and ultimately rejection (Boult & Cunningham, 1991:36). This results in no or minimal support from the family (Nxumalo, 1997:16). The research design and method to achieve the objective of the study was a theory-generative design based on a qualitative, phenomenological, explorative, descriptive and contextual research approach utilizing the four steps of theory generation. During the step of concept analysis, which is the first step of the process of theory generation, data was collected by means of individual interviews with the pregnant Xhosa teenagers, parents and grandparents. The interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. The sample for the study was selected purposively to ensure indepth information.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:10043 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | James, Sindiwe Valencia |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Health Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MCur |
| Format | 351 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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