Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Unmarried mothers'
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Lui, Lei-lei Lillian. "The application of attachment theory to unwed mothers /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1994. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B13991644.
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Lipsmeyer, Kara Elizabeth Abell Ellen Elizabeth. "Adolescent co-parenting relationships and their effect on parental self-efficacy." Auburn, Ala., 2005. http://repo.lib.auburn.edu/2005%20Fall/Thesis/LIPSMEYER_KARA_55.pdf.
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Konkle, Amy S. "Biblical compassion and the emergency housing of single pregnant women." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1985. http://www.tren.com.
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Farrar, Patricia Doreen. "Relinquishment and abjection : a semanalysis of the meaning of losing a baby to adoption /." Electronic version, 1999. http://adt.lib.uts.edu.au/public/adt-NTSM20030707.110837/index.html.
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Liu, Ching-han Rosannia. "A study on unwed mothers' decision-making concerning adoption and parenting." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 1996. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B42574560.
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Lui, Lei-lei Lillian, and 呂莉莉. "The application of attachment theory to unwed mothers." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1994. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31249875.
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Gulotta, Charles S. "Predictors of a young woman's pregnancy decision : application of the theory of planned behavior /." Thesis, This resource online, 1994. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-01242009-063202/.
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Morrison, Emory. "Within wedlock and out-of-wedlock county-level birthrates, 1980 and 1990 /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/8860.
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Jorgensen, Julie Ann. "EARLY RECOLLECTIONS OF UNWED, PREGNANT ADOLESCENTS WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO KEEP THEIR BABIES AFTER BIRTH." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/276354.
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Liu, Ching-han Rosannia, and 廖靜嫻. "A study on unwed mothers' decision-making concerning adoption and parenting." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1996. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B42574560.
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Cheung, Suk-chong, and 張淑莊. "An exploratory study of the life situation and coping responses of unwed mothers." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1989. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3124838X.
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Nichols, Linda Adams. "Single and Married Mothers: A Comparison of Parenting Stress, Parenting Skills, and Self-Esteem." Thesis, North Texas State University, 1987. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc332035/.
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This study compared divorced custodial mothers and mothers married to the biological fathers of their children on parenting stress, parenting skills, and self-esteem. The relationship between parenting stress, parenting skills, self-esteem, marital status, and life satisfaction was also examined. A total of 63 subjects, including 31 married mothers and 32 single mothers, was administered the Parenting Stress Index, the Parenting Skills Inventory, and the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. Subjects also completed a Demographic Data Sheet that included a Likert-type scale designed by the researcher to measure current life satisfaction. All subjects either attended church or lived in a geographic area of North Central Texas that is generally recognized as being somewhat affluent.
No significant differences were found on the t-tests comparing the mean total scores of the married and divorced mothers on levels of parenting stress, parenting skills, and self-esteem. A post hoc t-test revealed, however, that the group of married mothers had significantly higher mean total scores on the life satisfaction measure than the group of divorced mothers. Additionally, life satisfaction was found to be associated with parenting stress, parenting skills, self-esteem, and marital status. Specificallly, (a) as parenting stress increases, life satisfaction decreases, (b) as parenting skills increase, life satisfaction increases, (c) as self-esteem increases, life satisfaction increases, and (d) being married is associated with increased life satisfaction.
The results of this study would seem to indicate that single mothers have no more difficulty in overall coping than their married counterparts although they are less satisfied with their current life circumstances than the group of married mothers. Additional comparisons of the data suggested that neither group of mothers regarded their children as interfering with their social lives in a major way. Like most previous research, the data also indicated that the single mothers worked longer hours and had less money available for their families' use than the married mothers.
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Jordal, Malin, Kumudu Wijewardena, and Pia Olsson. "Unmarried women's ways of facing single motherhood in Sri Lanka : a qualitative interview study." Uppsala universitet, Internationell mödra- och barnhälsovård (IMCH), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-200448.
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Background: In Sri Lanka, motherhood within marriage is highly valued. Sex out of wedlock is socially unacceptable and can create serious public health problems such as illegal abortions, suicide and infanticide, and single motherhood as a result of premarital sex is considered shameful. The way unmarried women facing single motherhood reflect on and make use of their agency in their social environments characterised by limited social and financial support has consequences for the health and well-being of both themselves and their children. The aim of this study was to explore and describe how unmarried women facing single motherhood in Sri Lanka handle their situation. Methods: This qualitative study comprised semi-structured interviews with 28 unmarried pregnant women or single mothers. The data were analysed by qualitative content analysis and the results related to the conceptual framework of social navigation. Results: The women facing single motherhood expressed awareness of having trespassed norms of sexuality through self-blame, victimhood and obedience, and by considering or attempting suicide. They demonstrated willingness to take responsibility for becoming pregnant before marriage by giving the child up for adoption, bringing up the child themselves, claiming a father for their child, refraining from marriage in the future, permanently leave their home environment, and taking up employment. Throughout the interviews, the women expressed fear of shame, and striving for familial and societal acceptance and financial survival. Conclusions: A social environment highly condemning of unmarried motherhood hindered these women from making strategic choices on how to handle their situation. However, to achieve acceptance and survival, the women tactically navigated norms of femininity, strong family dependence, a limited work market, and different sources of support. Limited access to resources restricted the women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, including their ability to make acceptable and healthy choices for themselves and their children.
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Moor, Merryl, and n/a. "Silent Violence: Australia's White Stolen Children." Griffith University. School of Arts, Media and Culture, 2006. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20070111.172012.
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This thesis makes a significant contribution to the existing knowledge on 'unmarried mothers'. Much of the literature on 'unmarried mothers' has been written by white, male, middle-class professionals who assume that unwed mothers are happy to place their babies for adoption so that they can be free to pursue other interests, meet other men and make a new life. However, after interviewing many of the mothers who gave up their babies in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s in Australia, I found this was not the case. Many of the mothers had wanted to keep their babies but were forced to relinquish them by their families and the wider society who seemed more intent on upholding nuclear family values than making available the resources needed to keep natural mothers and their babies together. My argument throughout this thesis is that given a choice - a viable economic and socially supported choice - many of the unmarried mothers, typified by those whom I interviewed, would not have parted with their babies. Most mothers interviewed, and presumably many of those in the community at large, have experienced much pain and grief as a result of the separation - a grief which is profound and lasts forever. Using Marxist feminist theories of the state and post-structural theories, my thesis highlights the perceptions and memories of birthmothers about the birthing experience and adoption as experience, process and life consequence. I also argue that the removal of white, working-class babies from their mothers compares in some small way with the removal of the indigenous 'stolen children' in the same period. The removal of Aboriginal children from their homes and cultures has been referred to by some scholars and activists as a form of cultural genocide. While the removal of babies from white, working-class, unwed mothers was different in that it had few racial implications, I argue that the system in place at the time was patriarchal and class-based and as such left the young, unwed women with no options but adoption. The thesis makes a very important and socially significant contribution to our understanding of unmarried mothers in that it presents a largely unwritten history of women. Rich in the voices of unmarried mothers, there are important conceptual, empirical and practical policy implications flowing from the research findings.
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Moor, Merryl. "Silent Violence: Australia's White Stolen Children." Thesis, Griffith University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365291.
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This thesis makes a significant contribution to the existing knowledge on 'unmarried mothers'. Much of the literature on 'unmarried mothers' has been written by white, male, middle-class professionals who assume that unwed mothers are happy to place their babies for adoption so that they can be free to pursue other interests, meet other men and make a new life. However, after interviewing many of the mothers who gave up their babies in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s in Australia, I found this was not the case. Many of the mothers had wanted to keep their babies but were forced to relinquish them by their families and the wider society who seemed more intent on upholding nuclear family values than making available the resources needed to keep natural mothers and their babies together. My argument throughout this thesis is that given a choice - a viable economic and socially supported choice - many of the unmarried mothers, typified by those whom I interviewed, would not have parted with their babies. Most mothers interviewed, and presumably many of those in the community at large, have experienced much pain and grief as a result of the separation - a grief which is profound and lasts forever. Using Marxist feminist theories of the state and post-structural theories, my thesis highlights the perceptions and memories of birthmothers about the birthing experience and adoption as experience, process and life consequence. I also argue that the removal of white, working-class babies from their mothers compares in some small way with the removal of the indigenous 'stolen children' in the same period. The removal of Aboriginal children from their homes and cultures has been referred to by some scholars and activists as a form of cultural genocide. While the removal of babies from white, working-class, unwed mothers was different in that it had few racial implications, I argue that the system in place at the time was patriarchal and class-based and as such left the young, unwed women with no options but adoption. The thesis makes a very important and socially significant contribution to our understanding of unmarried mothers in that it presents a largely unwritten history of women. Rich in the voices of unmarried mothers, there are important conceptual, empirical and practical policy implications flowing from the research findings.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Arts, Media and Culture
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Mojapelo, Tshepiso D. "The lived experiences of single teenage mothers in Botswana : a phenomenological study." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1997. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/890.
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This study was designed to explore-the lived-experiences of single teenage mothers in Botswana, as perceived by them. The participants were teenage mothers who had to leave school due.to pregnancy. They had either completed year one in secondary school or were in year two. Their ages ranged between 16 and 19 years. The ages of their babies range from five to 10 months, with the exception of one child who was three years old. All teenage mothers came from low socio-economic backgrounds with families whose parents were either not working, or were working in the lowest paying jobs as cleaners or drivers. Some were from single parent families with the mother working as a cleaner in government offices. They all lived in the high population density area of Gaborone such as Old Naledi and Broadhurst Self Help Agency, where many illicit behaviours are observed. The study• is undertaken through a phenomenological approach which is guided by the reality of lived experiences to a theoretical construct. This research was conducted to uncover young single experiences .concerning motherhood.
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Russell, Kathryn M. "The construction of wellbeing for solo mothers: An exploration of the relationship between work, welfare, social justice and wellbeing for solo mothers." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2012. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/490.
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Using a sequential transformative mixed methods approach prioritising qualitative data, the construction of subjective wellbeing of Australian solo mothers was explored in relation to work, welfare and social justice. A purposive sample of 73 solo mothers was recruited for the quantitative part of the study and 15 solo mothers were selected from the sample to interview for the qualitative component. The study was undertaken on a background of welfare reform announced in the Federal Budget for 2005-2006 with changes taking effect from July 1, 2006 affecting many solo mothers with young children. Initial analyses of data obtained through the Personal Wellbeing Index confirmed the hypothesis that the solo mothers in the current study have significantly lower levels of subjective wellbeing compared to the general population of Australia t(72) = -10.28, p < 0.01. Multiple Analysis of Variance identified the variable of “income” to have a significant effect on the four domains of “standard of living” (F(2,35) = 3.61, p < 0.05), “achievements in life” (F(2,35) = 3.67), “sense of safety” (F(2,35) = 3.44, p < 0.05), and “future security” (F(2,35) = 3.97, p < 0.05). Multiple regression analysis also identified income as a significant predictor of subjective wellbeing t = 2.42, p < 0.05. There was no statistically significant difference in subjective wellbeing between solo mothers who worked and those who did not work despite inferences made by other researchers that work has a positive effect on levels of subjective wellbeing.
The qualitative part of the current study utilised social constructionism from a feminist theoretical perspective and form of enquiry to explore in depth, the ways in which meanings are attached to experiences and events thus impacting subjective wellbeing. The findings are discussed in light of knowledge presented in the literature review. Similar to results in the quantitative part of the study, qualitative findings revealed income to be a very important factor in the level of happiness, wellbeing and ability to cope as a solo mother. The solo mothers also reported role conflict that was exacerbated by lack of supportive relationships and perceived stereotyping. Perceived lack of consultation by the Federal Government; perceived lack of empathy by politicians; and a sense of powerlessness to influence government decisions, all detracted from the solo mothers’ sense of wellbeing.
Limitations of the current study are outlined as are the implications and recommendations for future action by government and community sectors. Future research opportunities are also presented, including alternative research methods to monitor the subjective wellbeing of solo mothers over time.
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Maldonado, Alfred C. "Sources of Support and Parental Performances a Descriptive Study of Mexican-American Female Single Parents." Thesis, North Texas State University, 1987. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc331344/.
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This is a descriptive study of the statistical association between the amounts of financial—emotional supports available and their impact on the degree of difficulty in the performance of the parental roles of a nonrandom sample of eighty-six Mexican-American female single parents from McAllen, Texas. The sample was divided into four socioeconomic status categories.
A total of twenty-nine variables were correlated: twenty independent, financial-emotional and nine dependent parental performance variables. The twenty variables were defined in terms of socioeconomic resources: child-care availability and satisfaction, nature of personal/children problems, and frequency of interaction with significant others defined emotional supports. Parental role performances were defined in terms of having children with medical, learning or emotional problems, and the degree of difficulty in caring for sick children, spending time with them, yelling and screaming, use of corporal punishment and feeling overwhelmed by parental demands.
Analyses indicated that these families functioned in a stable and viable manner, with little evidence of disintegration or "pathology." The parents had extensive social networks comprised of kin# coworkers, and friends, and they interacted with these support people on a regular basis, usually several times per week, but at the same time the parents rarely interacted with the ex-husbands or ex-in-laws, The majority of ex—husbands had never made any support payments and rarely saw their children.
The single parents did not evidence unmanageable problems in caring for their children, or in asserting control and authority over them. Corporal punishment, yelling and screaming, and other discipline problems were minimal issues, and were not more severe or serious than before the divorce. The mothers were satisfied with the available child-care and the general growth of their children, but felt they continuously carried a tremendous burden, and all indications are that, even with sources of different kinds and levels of support. Finally, a number of recommendations were made for further research hypotheses, issues, and public policy formulations.
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Sodi, Edzisani Egnes. "Qualitative reflections on teenage motherhood experiences." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/50433.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University 2005ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of the current study was to undertake a phenomenological investigation on teenage motherhood and to learn how this experience forms part of the teenage mother's life. Using the snowball sampling method, five women aged between 26 and 35 years were selected to participate in the study. All the five women became mothers during their teenage years. Indepth interviews were conducted in Northern Sotho and Tshivenda depending on the language preference and fluency of the participant. The interviews were audio-taped, and later transcribed and translated. A phenomenological method of analysis was used to transform the original data into natural meaning units (NMUs) which were further interrogated so as to distil central sociological themes that were associated with the experience of teenage motherhood. Apart from the finding that the participants got pregnant when they were aged between 16 and 18, five sociological themes associated with teenage motherhood were identified. These are: • Lack of knowledge about sexual relationships contributes to teenage pregnancy and motherhood. • Early childbearing has a negative impact on the teenage mother's social relationships. • Teenage mothers tend to experience emotional problems after delivery of their babies. • Teenage motherhood has a long term disruptive effect on the teenage mother's educational and occupational opportunities. • Teenage motherhood leads to significant lifestyle changes for those who have been through the experience. In view of the above themes, sexual education both at school and at home, is suggested here as a more viable option to help minimise the risk of teenage motherhood in society. Whilst other options like abortion and the newly introduced child support grant are also available to the teenage mother, these are not considered favourable.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van die huidige studie was om 'n fenomenologiese ondersoek oor tienermoederskap te doen en uit te vind hoe hierdie belewenis deel uitmaak van die tienermoeder se bestaan. Deur die sneeubaltoetsingsmetode is vyf vroue tussen die ouderdomme van 26 en 35 jaar gekies om deel te neem aan die studie. AI vyf vroue het tydens hulle tienerjare moeders geword. Diepteonderhoude is in Noord-Sotho en Venda gevoer, afhangende van die taalvoorkeur en -vlotheid van die deelnemer. Klankopnames is van die onderhoude gemaak wat later getranskribeer en vertaal is. 'n Fenomenologiese analisemetode is gebruik om die oorspronklike data na natuurlike betekeniseenhede (NMUs - natural meaning units) te herlei wat verder ondersoek is om sentrale sosiologiese temas geassosieer met die belewing van tienermoederskap te identifiseer. Behalwe vir die bevinding dat die deelnemers swanger geraak het toe hulle tussen die ouderdom van 16 en 18 jaar was, is vyf sosiologiese temas geassosieer met tienermoederskap geïdentifiseer. Hierdie temas is: • 'n Gebrek aan kennis oor seksuele verhoudings dra by tot die voorkoms van tienerswangerskappe en -moederskap. • Vroeë kinderbaring het 'n negatiewe impak op die tienermoeder se sosiale verhoudings. • Tienermoeders is geneig daartoe om emosionele probleme te ondervind na die geboortes van hulle babas. • Tienermoederskap het 'n langtermyn ontwrigtende effek op die tienermoeder se opvoedings- en werksgeleenthede. • Tienermoederskap lei tot betekenisvolle veranderinge in lewenstyl vir diegene wat die ondervinding deurgemaak het. Met inagneming van bogenoemde temas word hier voorgestel dat seksuele opvoeding beide op skool en by die huis 'n meer lewensvatbare opsie is om die risiko van tienermoederskap in die samelewing te verminder. Alhoewel ander opsies soos aborsies en die nuutingestelde toekennings van kinderonderhoud ook vir die tienermoeder beskikbaar is, word hierdie opsies nie as bevorderlik beskou nie.
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Huttlinger, Kathleen Wilson. "The experience of pregnancy in teenage girls." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/184453.
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Pregnancy in unmarried teenaged girls in America today is a growing concern to health care workers, educators, government officials and parents. Pregnancy during adolescence is not an issue because births to teenagers are increasing but because teenage pregnancy is no longer a societal option. This paper describes adolescent pregnancy from within the context of the subculture of adolescence and from the perspective of 16 pregnant, teenaged girls. The findings revealed a description of the life experiences of pregnant teenagers and introduced health-care issues that were not previously disclosed in other research studies of pregnant teens. The anthropological concepts of liminality, the double-bind, social labeling, and schizmogenesis served to guide the research. The concepts also helped to explain many behaviors and observations that were made of the informants throughout the research. An ethnographic approach using participant observation and ethnographic interviews was used to collect data from 16 pregnant, unmarried, teenaged girls in a large Southwestern, urban area. The informants ranged in age from 14 through 19 years and represented various backgrounds. Nine informants resided in a home for unwed, pregnant teenagers with the remainder residing in diverse locations. Data analyses occurred concurrently with data collection as part of an ongoing process. Data were ordered and transcribed within a framework designed to enhance thematic analysis. Transcribed interview and observational data were transferred onto the Ethnograph, a data-management software program. Data were coded using substantive and conceptual codes. Codes were linked according to patterns of association and frequency of occurrence which in turn led to the revealing of recurrent thematic patterns. In all, eight themes were revealed: (1) pregnancy is bad; (2) loneliness; (3) waiting it out; (4) dependency; (5) looking bad; (6) giving up baby; (7) losing what was; and (8) losing control. Thematic content also disclosed many inconsistencies and double-binds between the larger Western macroculture and adolescent subculture. Ethnographic themes and expressions of these themes provided new information for constructing health-related interventions with pregnant teens.
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Jordal, Malin. "Living Up to the Ideal of Respectability : Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Implications for Unmarried Migrant Workers, Single Mothers, and Women in Prostitution in Sri Lanka." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala universitet, Internationell mödra- och barnhälsovård (IMCH), 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-221584.
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This thesis aims to gain a deeper understanding of relationships and sexuality of women at risk of social exclusion in Sri Lanka and the risk of violations of their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) that they might face. Individual qualitative interviews with migrant women workers (n=18) and men (n=18) in the Free Trade Zone (FTZ), women facing single motherhood (n=28) and women formerly involved in prostitution (n=15) were conducted. Conceptual approaches included gender, social navigation and SRHR. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis. Findings revealed that the migrant women workers negotiated norms of respectability in a society that highly stigmatizes FTZ women workers, while the men identified conflicting constructions of masculinity existing in the FTZ. The women facing single motherhood navigated oppressive and stigmatizing social forces, and the women in prostitution constructed themselves as respectable in opposition to their societal disvalue and marginalization. In order to retain an image of sexual innocence, unmarried women are likely to refrain from demanding or demonstrating SRHR knowledge and accessing services. Furthermore, gender power imbalances leave the women vulnerable to sexual persuasion, coercion and violence. Once pregnant, social, legal, and knowledge barriers hinder or delay them in accessing abortion services. Unmarried pregnant women are thus left with the alternatives of adoption, infanticide, and suicide or become stigmatized single mothers with risks of health and social exclusion for mother and child. Extreme marginalization and limited power make women in prostitution vulnerable to unsafe sex, rape and violence. In conclusion, these women are likely to face numerous and serious SRHR hazards. The complexity of gendered social circumstances and the SRHR implications demonstrated in this thesis, add to the SRHR knowledge in Sri Lanka, and should inform politicians and policy makers about the need to improve the situation of all women in Sri Lanka.
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Nel, Elizette. "Tienermoeders se perspektiewe oor ondersteuning : die stemme van ses tienermoeders uit 'n benadeelde gemeenskap." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/16502.
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Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2004.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study was undertaken to investigate the perspectives of a group of teenage mothers from a disadvantaged community, on their need for support and suggestions for a community support programme. This study forms part of a community support project in which the Department of Educational Psychology of the University of Stellenbosch is currently involved. The findings of this study will be applied to plan effective interventions for teenage mothers. I made use of a qualitative research design and approached the study from an interpretive paradigm to gain insight in and an understanding of the participants’ perspectives. The focus group interview was my primary method of research. The data generated by six focus group interviews were verified through individual interview data. I also used a biographical questionnaire to obtain background information from each participant. Furthermore, I made comprehensive notes on my personal reflections and observations about the research process, and this became part of the research data. Through the process of data analysis, seven themes were identified. These themes are: material support; financial support; contact between the father and his child(ren); knowledge, advice and information; emotional support; practical support and access to employment. The participants also made suggestions for a support programme. The findings of the study indicate that programmes aimed at job creation, the accessibility of the government grant and support groups in the community could lead to enhanced support for teenage mothers.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie is onderneem om 'n groep tienermoeders uit 'n benadeelde gemeenskap se perspektiewe oor ondersteuning te ondersoek, veral ten opsigte van hulle behoeftes aan ondersteuning en hulle voorstelle vir 'n gemeenskapsondersteuningsprogram. Die studie vorm deel van 'n gemeenskapsondersteuningsprojek waarby die Departement Opvoedkundige Sielkunde van die Universiteit Stellenbosch tans betrokke is. Die bevindinge van die studie sal aangewend word om effektiewe intervensies vir tienermoeders te beplan. Ten einde insig en begrip vir die deelnemers se perspektiewe te ontwikkel, het ek van 'n kwalitatiewe navorsingsontwerp gebruik gemaak en die studie vanuit 'n interpretivistiese paradigma benader. My primêre metode van ondersoek was ses fokusgroeponderhoude. Die data wat op hierdie manier gegenereer is, is deur middel van individuele onderhoude geverifieer. Ek het ook gebruik gemaak van 'n biografiese vraelys om agtergrondinligting oor elke deelnemer te verkry. Omdat ek binne ‘n kwalitatiewe navorsingsproses werk, was my persoonlike refleksies en waarnemings deel van die navorsingsproses. Deur middel van die proses van data-analise het sewe temas uit die data na vore gekom. Die volgende temas is geïdentifiseer: materiële ondersteuning; finansiële ondersteuning; kontak tussen die pa en sy kind(ers); kennis, raad en inligting; emosionele ondersteuning; praktiese hulp en toegang tot werk. Die deelnemers het ook voorstelle vir 'n ondersteuningsprogram gemaak. Die bevindinge van die studie dui daarop dat programme ten opsigte van werkskepping, die toeganklikheid van die staatstoelaag en ondersteuningsgroepe in die gemeenskap moontlik tot groter ondersteuning van tienermoeders sal bydra.
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Liu, Li-Hsion. ""Is She Going to Die or Survive with Her Baby?": The Aftermath of Illegitimate Pregnancies in the Twentieth Century American Novels." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2006. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5316/.
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This dissertation is mainly based on the reading of three American novels to explore how female characters deal with their illegitimate pregnancies and how their solutions re-shape their futures and affect their inner growth. Chapter 1 discusses Dorinda Oakley's premarital pregnancy in Ellen Glasgow's Barren Ground and draws the circle of limits from Barbara Welter's "four cardinal virtues" (purity, submissiveness, domesticity, and piety) which connect to the analogous female roles (daughter, sister, wife, and mother). Dorinda's childless survival reconstructs a typical household from her domination and absence of maternity. Chapter 2 examines Ántonia Shimerda's struggles and endurance in My Ántonia by Willa Cather before and after Ántonia gives birth to a premarital daughter. Ántonia devotes herself to being a caring mother and to looking after a big family although her marriage is also friendship-centered. Chapter 3 adopts a different approach to analyze Charlotte Rittenmeyer's extramarital pregnancy in The Wild Palms by William Faulkner. As opposed to Dorinda and Ántonia who re-enter domesticity to survive, Charlotte runs out on her family and dies of a botched abortion. To help explain the aftermath of illicit pregnancies, I extend or shorten John Duvall's formula of female role mutations: "virgin>sexually active (called whore)>wife" to examine the riddles of female survival and demise. The overall argument suggests that one way or another, nature, society, and family are involved in illegitimately pregnant women's lives, and the more socially compliant a pregnant woman becomes after her transgression, the better chance she can survive with her baby.
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Dixon, Joanna K. "Singularly single : cultural representation and experience of the ‘spinster’ and the unmarried mother in the long 1950s." Thesis, University of Leicester, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/10258.
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This is a study which investigates the forms of femininity both available to, and created by, certain unmarried women in the immediate post-war period 1945-1965 in Britain. Utilizing varied historical and literary approaches the study conducts a detailed analysis of a variety of contemporary texts and sources including film, fiction, autobiography and oral testimony, as well as archival material. It examines how portrayals of the post-war unmarried woman increasingly resisted or re-articulated traditional notions of femininity and the feminine role, and how different types of independent women (‘spinsters’, single-mothers, career/working women) were able to develop and explore potential femininities through the creative use of cultural texts and other opportunities available to them. The study questions prevalent assumptions that the era was a low point for feminism, evidencing instead a contemporary awareness amongst many women that the war, and certain developments in the preceding two decades, had significantly challenged the validity of traditional gender dynamics. The study demonstrates how, as opportunities for employment and social provision expanded for post-war women, the feminine norm of the stay at home ‘wife and mother’ became unstable, producing conditions in which unmarried women might imagine alternative feminine identities and Second Wave Feminism might come into being.
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Rivière, Antoine. "La misère et la faute : abandon d’enfants et mères abandonneuses à Paris (1876-1923)." Thesis, Paris 4, 2012. http://www.theses.fr/2012PA040128.
Full textAbstract:
Du début de la Troisième République au lendemain de la Grande Guerre, environ 3 000 enfants sont abandonnés chaque année à Paris et recueillis par l’Assistance publique. Dans la très grande majorité des cas, les parents qui se séparent de leur progéniture sont des femmes seules. Délaissées du père de l’enfant, soucieuses de cacher leur faute à leurs propres parents ou sommées par ceux-ci de réparer le déshonneur que leur maternité hors-mariage inflige à la famille, les filles-mères sont les abandonneuses emblématiques. Leur histoire est celle de la misère féminine et de l’opprobre social qui s’abat sur la maternité solitaire. À la Belle Époque, l’Assistance publique de Paris s’efforce de faciliter les abandons et d’en garantir l’anonymat, afin de dissuader les femmes désireuses de dissimuler une grossesse honteuse de recourir à des pratiques criminelles, avortement ou infanticide. Quant aux rejetons de la misère, l’administration parisienne les accueille volontiers, avec l’ambition de les arracher définitivement au milieu corrupteur qui les a vu naître, et rêve de les régénérer moralement et physiquement. Si elle ne peut que blâmer les parents qui abdiquent leurs devoirs, elle comprend pourtant de mieux en mieux leur détresse matérielle, notamment à la faveur de la grande dépression économique de la fin du XIXe siècle, et, soutenue par l’État providence naissant, elle diversifie ses politiques de prévention du délaissement d’enfants. Si, à l’aube des années 1920, elle parvient ainsi à contenir tant bien que mal les abandons de la misère, elle peine en revanche à juguler les abandons de la fauteFrom the beginning of the Third Republic to the days following the Great War, about 3,000 children were abandoned each year in Paris and taken in by the public care services (Assistance publique). In the vast majority of cases, the parents who gave up their off-spring were single mothers. Forsaken by the father of their child, they were keen on hiding their shame from their own parents or sternly ordered to redeem the dishonour their out-of-wedlock pregnancies had visited on their own families; unmarried mothers epitomized abandonment. Their stories are those of feminine misery and the social infamy attached to single motherhood. Throughout the Belle Epoque (1870-1914), the Assistance publique services strove to facilitate abandonments and to guarantee their anonymity in order to keep the women willing to hide their shameful pregnancies to resort to criminal practices (abortion or infanticide). As for the progeny of misery, the Parisian child welfare authorithy willingly took them in as a means to the avowed goal of removing them from the corrupting milieu where they were born; and with the express dream of regenerating them both morally and physically. The Assistance publique services could not but blame the parents who shirked their duties, still they took into better account their dire straits – especially during the great economic depression of the end of the 19th century – and, supported by the budding welfare state, they varied their policies towards the prevention of child-abandonment. If, at the dawn of the 1920s, they more or less managed to contain the numbers of misery-induced abandonments, they failed to curb those induced by guilt
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Radey, Melissa Anne DiNitto Diana M. Padilla Yolanda C. "The contribution of social support to patterns of employment among unmarried mothers with young children a comparative analysis of hispanics, blacks, and whites /." 2005. http://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/2053/radeyd71142.pdf.
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Kim, Eunjeong. "Maternal employment and parenting stress among unmarried mothers with a welfare history." Thesis, 2003. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/fullcit?p3116099.
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Musick, Kelly A. "Nonmarital childbearing and the changing American family." 2000. http://www.library.wisc.edu/databases/connect/dissertations.html.
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"A psychoeducational profile of the unmarried mother." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/17028.
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Radey, Melissa Anne. "The contribution of social support to patterns of employment among unmarried mothers with young children: a comparative analysis of hispanics, blacks, and whites." Thesis, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/2053.
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"Relinquishment and abjection: a semanalysis of the meaning of losing a baby to adoption." University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Health, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/2100/295.
Full textAbstract:
Between 1960 and 1975 more than 38,000 mothers lost babies to adoption in New South Wales, Australia, a pattern which was replicated in other Western societies. Various theories were proposed for women's exnuptial pregnancies which resulted in their babies being taken for adoption, culminating in the discursive construction of the unmarried mother as 'mad, bad, or stupid'. Until the 1990s, the voices of women whose babies had been taken for adoption had been silenced by the social order which adoption practices served. It is through their voices, and through the voices of other women who remember the era of the adoption bounty, that another meaning for the loss of a baby to adoption, through the process of semanalysis, has been sought. This thesis is informed primarily by the writings of the French postmodern feminist, Julia Kristeva. In addition the works of the post-structuralist philosopher, Michel Foucault, the German socialist feminist, Frigga Haug, and the American feminist psychologist, Michelle Fine are used as an heuristic lens through which to examine the phenomenon of losing a baby to adoption. A qualitative research methodology, incorporating feminist praxis and feminist multiple methods, has been employed. The framework for this thesis is that of a double helix which depicts two orders, the symbolic and the semiotic, which intertwine and intersect. The symbolic order is analogous to the public social order which through its hegemonic discourses constructed the unmarried mother and adoption. The semiotic order refers to the personal space where the voices of women are heard through counterdiscourses. At the scission of the two helical strands sits the thetic phase, a point of rupture by the semiotic into the symbolic where the voices of mothers are expressed through their poetry and art. Through the process of semanalysis, the tensions which simultaneously resist and challenge the semiotic and symbolic orders are exposed: tensions between discourse, discipline and docility; power and knowledge; sexuality and silence; power of / as sexuality; power and resistance; and resistance and / as silence. Furthermore, I examine the manifestations of mothers' resistance to silence, and their resistance as activism. My concluding analysis involves the notion of abjection as it binds together the threads of the loss of a baby to adoption: abjection as entrapment; abjection as infertility; and abjection as / in reunion. For mothers who lost babies to adoption, their loss finds meaning in the ultimate horror: it is abjection.
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Li-Hua, Chen, and 陳麗華. "The Breakthrough in Difficulties:in the Life Experiences of Unmarried Single Mothers." Thesis, 2003. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/55053876108619357573.
Full textAbstract:
碩士東吳大學
社會工作學系
92
Single parent families seem to be an irrevocable trend, on which the publics impose a negative stereotype impression, thus causing unmarried single mothers moral persecution. And with the change of society, family structures, and sex liberation, once the unmarried woman turns out to be pregnant, she more often than not chooses to be an unmarried single parent due to her fear of marriage, sterility resulting from abortion as well as to her preparation for old age. In the mean time, social welfare workers are worried that unmarried females always depend on social resources, and that females, under the influence of traditional family concepts, are discouraged from becoming unmarried single parents. So the social workers manage to limit their access to social resources, neglecting the services supposedly provided to the single parent families of different types. This indeed imposes more social and mental pressures upon the unmarried single female. In the past, many of the traditional studies focus on “the orientation of problems,” discussing the reasons leading to the single parent families. However, nowadays, more important is that we’ve got to make single parent families conscious of their supremacy, thus helping them make the most of their advantages to cope with crises, to settle problems, and to become more mature. In addition, in the light of the difficulties and adaptation which unmarried single parents face in their life experiences, researchers would like to, in the strengths perspective, discuss their adaptation process. This study is a quality-oriented research. By using the purposive sampling method to select and interview with five unmarried females, each of whom has at least one child below 18-year-old (living together with his/her parent, who is also his/her guardian), and who subjectively think that they can accept in-depth interviews by the researchers, who later, by means of in-depth interviews, the analysis of secondary-level documents, and personal observations, sort out the notes and related institutional documents combined with their own papers, and consequently demonstrate the research outcome. In the wake of the breakthrough of the unmarried single mothers’ life experiences, this study is expecting to arouse those service demands whether in practical affairs or in policies for the unmarried single mothers. And in the strengths perspective, it can be enriched the internal resources that needed to the unmarried single females, as well as with the help of external social resources, they can show their supreme qualities while facing difficulties, thus creating a brighter future by themselves. Key Words: unmarried mother, unmarried single parent family, the strengths perspective, the empower theory
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Wildsmith, Elizabeth Maxfield. "Non-marital fertility among Mexican American women: exploring the role of social context." Thesis, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/1435.
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Lopoo, Leonard M. "Does the cost of child care affect the timing of childbearing? /." 2001. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3006528.
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Wildsmith, Elizabeth Maxfield Raley R. Kelly Powers Daniel A. "Non-marital fertility among Mexican American women exploring the role of social context /." 2004. http://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/1435/wildsmithd60319.pdf.
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Nxumalo, Zamokuhle Emmanuel. "Teenage pregnancy : psychosocial and educational implications." Thesis, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/5925.
Full textAbstract:
The present study explored the psychosocial and educational implications of teenage
pregnancy for a group of school going mothers. A questionnaire was administered to 20
teenage mothers who are school going. These mothers attended a traditionally African
school and are in grade 12. Issues covered by the questionnaire were subjects' prior
exposure to sexuality education, attitudes towards such education in schools, the role played
by their parents in imparting sexuality education to them, social-emotional-health and
educational risk factors of teenage mothers. Possible support structures were also explored.
A high percentage (85%) of the sample did not receive sexuality education from their
parents. The main source of sexuality education was their peer group. All of the sample
experienced socio-psychological risk factors such as shock, anxiety, frustration, loneliness,
depression and guilt. These were experienced both during and after their pregnancy. ·
Results indicated that the subjects' prior exposure to sexuality education was inadequate
They also experienced a lack of social and psychological support. The attitude of subjects
was that they favour the introduction of sexuality education into traditionally African
schools
In conclusion, it is hoped that the study will assist educators to gain insight into the needs
and problems of teenage mothers. There is an urgent need of guidance and support for
teenagers in traditionally African Schools.Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1997.
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Baruwa, Ololade Julius. "Sex of household head and pregnancy among unmarried teenagers in Malawi." Thesis, 2017. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/24499.
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The research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfilment of the requirements for awarding the degree of Masters of Arts in Demography and Population Studies, 2017GR2018
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Lin, Yu-Ying, and 林玉英. "Sweet Home Without Father: A Study of Adult Unmarried Single Mothers Experience of Motherhood." Thesis, 2010. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/62139397405120006043.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立屏東科技大學
社會工作系
98
This research aims to explore a series of choices faced by adult single mothers, how they become a parent and the essence of their motherhood experience. Embarking on a perspective of hermeneutic phenomenology approach, I try to examine and interpret the experience of adult single mothers. This qualitative research is based on thematic analysis, with two in-depths interviews held with each of the eight participants, who are above the age of eighteen and have children without being legally married to a spouse. The interview text is then analyzed based on thematic analysis approach. With the representation and interpretation of stories, nine themes of motherhood experience of these adult single mothers are concluded. A. falling madly in love-life stories of the research participants; b. love and courage breed a new life-becoming a single mother by choice; c. the gift of life-what is was like to give birth and to breast feed; d. the daily routines-taking care of their children; e. education begins at home-upbringings; f. joggling with life and work; g. support system behind their happiness; h. reflection on the choice of becoming a mother; i. future expectation and the meanings of their motherhood experience. From the nine themes, it is observed that the participants tend to experience fluctuations between positive and negative feelings in their motherhood experience, whereas learning how to be a mother and the feedback from their children is rather positive. Finally, with the conclusion, the research proposes suggestions and reflections on future research directions and also on what can be done to help adult single mothers by their families, social network, government, NGO’s and practitioners.
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Salinas, Viviana. "The baby will come, the ring can wait : differences between married and unmarried first-time mothers in Chile." Thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2010-12-2167.
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The proportion of children born outside of marriage in Chile increased from 15.9 percent in 1960 to 64.6 percent in 2008. Similar increases have been taken elsewhere as indicative of a Second Demographic Transition (SDT). In this dissertation, I study differences between married and unmarried mothers in Chile and the reasons why such a large proportion of children are born outside of marriage, with the goal of understanding whether the demographic changes we are observing in the country are part of a global movement towards the SDT. The data comes from a postpartum survey implemented in Santiago, the capital city. I analyze differences between women according to the family arrangement they live in, including married women in nuclear households, married women in extended households, cohabiters in nuclear households, cohabiters in extended households, visiting mothers, and single mothers. I consider women’s socioeconomic wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, social support, attitudes and values, and reproductive health. The results show large demographic and socioeconomic differences, marking the socioeconomic advantage of married women in nuclear households, who are the oldest, and the disadvantage of cohabiters in extended households, visiting and single mothers, who are the youngest women in the sample. Married women in extended households and cohabiters in nuclear households are between these two poles. Differences in emotional wellbeing exist, benefiting married women in nuclear households, but they are not so large. Differences in social support continue delineating married women in nuclear households as a privileged group, but visiting mothers appear as a highly supported group too. There are not large differences in attitudes and values, as most women continue holding conservative attitudes on family issues, and most unmarried mothers plan to marry. Differences in reproductive health are large, showing that unplanned births and contraceptive failure are high in the underprivileged and youngest groups. Unmarried women seem to accept their pregnancies with no pressure to marry, and to give priority to other goals, such as their careers and homeownership, before the wedding, which they do not discard for the future. Under these circumstances, it is hard to interpret recent demographic changes in Chile as a SDT.text
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Nyathi, Cassandre Simphiwe. "Factors predisposing never-married women to have children in Namibia." Thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/19388.
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A RESEARCH REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES, SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND, JOHANNESBURG, IN THE PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE FIELD OF DEMOGRAPHY AND POPULATION STUDIES
17 September 2015Context: Generally, marriage has been early and almost universal phenomenon in Sub-Saharan Africa, and this can be seen as an important factor in determining fertility. However, fertility among never-married women is no longer negligible. Non-marital childbearing has increased, as women spend much of their reproductive lives unmarried, while remaining sexually active. Although a number of studies have examined non-marital childbearing, the exploration has been largely on teenagers and adolescent youths. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors predisposing never-married women aged 25−49 to have children. Methodology: This study was a secondary data analysis of the 2006-07 Namibian Demographic and Health Survey data. The study population was never-married women, aged 25−49, with a total weighted sample of 2,121. The dependent variable was never-married fertility, categorised into women who have had no birth and those who have had at least one birth. Age specific fertility rates were calculated using the TFR2 module. Bivariate and multivariate binomial logistic techniques were used to examine the association between independent variables of interest and never-married women’s childbearing experience. Results: The study showed that 79% of never-married women, aged 25−49, had at least one child. Respondents from poor households, less educated respondents, rural dwellers and women from the Herero ethno-linguistic group, were more likely to be never-married mothers. The odds of being a never-married mother increased with age. The results further showed that the likelihood for being a never-married mother was higher among those women who reported ever having used contraception. Furthermore, the results showed that delaying age at sexual debut decreases the probability of being a never-married mother. Conclusion: Childbearing among never-married women is common in Namibia, and with increasing age, the risk of having children outside of marriage increases. The consequences of never-married women’s childbearing should be studied, with a focus on the factors identified to influence their childbearing. Furthermore, policies and programmes addressing never-married women’s fertility should reflect the factors associated with never-married women’s fertility in a context where marriage levels are decreasing and fertility is happening outside of marriage.
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Weinberg, Merlinda. "Pregnant with possibility : reducing ethical trespasses in social work practice with young single mothers /." 2004. http://link.library.utoronto.ca/eir/EIRdetail.cfm?Resources__ID=94595&T=F.
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Ramalebana, Masilo Euclid. "Problems related to the learning situation of schoolgirl mothers in Venda secondary schools." Diss., 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/15855.
Full textAbstract:
It is not an uncommon feature anymore to find young mothers in Venda secondary
schools busy with their studies. These young mothers, referred to as schoolgirl
mothers in this investigation, do however, battle in general with their studies and
experience problems different from those of ordinary schoolgirls. It was, therefore,
decided to launch an investigation into the problems related to the learning situation
of such schoolgirl mothers.
The formation of relationships by the adolescent has been used as a point of
departure for this study. Contrary to expectations, the empirical investigation has
revealed that schoolgirl mothers maintain basically good relationships with themselves,
their studies and others. On the other hand, their academic achievements are
significantly lower than those of ordinary schoolgirls. Further research is necessary
to shed more light on the situatedness of schoolgirl mothers in general and in Venda
secondary schools in particular.Psychology of Education
M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)
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Pitso, Joseph M. N. "Marriage and non-marital childbearing in Botswana : the case of Thamaga village." Phd thesis, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/145977.
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Ngcobo, Bongiwe Fidelma. "The psycho-social experiences of unwed teenage mothers in faith communities : a qualitative study." Thesis, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/178.
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The current study investigated the experiences of unwed adolescent mothers in faith communities, the Roman Catholic Church in particular. The study was motivated by the fact that, despite the Christian sexual ethic, which prohibits sex outside wedlock, many young unmarried women in faith communities do become pregnant. The study thus sought to investigate the lived experiences of these young women, their psychological and social experiences of unwed motherhood in the church community. Factors contributing to teenage pregnancy, sources of social support and possible intervention mechanisms were also explored. A semi-structured interview schedule was developed, and thirteen (13) participants ranging in age from 18-22 years were interviewed individually and in focus groups. The results indicate that unwed teenage mothers in faith communities experience a range of psychological and social experiences, including frustration, feelings of depression, social exclusion and discrimination by fellow church congregants. Stigma theory and stigma consciousness were used to account for these experiences. Peer pressure and gendered power relations were cited among the causes of unwed teenage pregnancy, while payment of damages and re-admission to the community of believers following a confession were cited among the sources of social support. The study concludes that sex education and communication between parents and their teenage girls are essential in dealing with the problem of unwed teenage pregnancy. The study concludes with recommendations for practice and further research.Thesis (M.A.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.
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Cole, Christine A. "Stolen babies - broken hearts : forced adoption in Australia 1881-1987." Thesis, 2013. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/530719.
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A hidden history of government intervention into the lives of unwed, white mothers is beginning to emerge. Most Australians are unaware that thousands of white babies were forcibly taken under a policy of assimilation during the 20th Century. This research project has attempted to explain this phenomenon by contextualising it within an historical account of ‘child removalist’ polices that were imported into Australia with British settlement. It also makes a linkage between the British treatment of its destitute, unwed mothers under the Poor Laws, the forced removal of their children and Forced Adoption/white stolen children in 20th Century Australia. From the beginning of colonial history motherhood has been constructed by the structures of patriarchy and capitalism imported along with the rigid, hierarchal legal system of Britain, and the ideology that underpinned it. In the 1800s the babies of convict mothers were taken and placed in Orphan Asylums, whilst they were sent back to work. During the late 19th century unsupported, unwed mothers had their babies forcibly taken and fostered out to country areas in order to be separated from their ‘contaminating’ influence and that of their ‘pauper’ families. Hence the beginning of the child welfare system was grounded in child removal practices, not in supporting vulnerable families stay together. By the early 1900s, a population policy moulded by two forces: eugenics and pronatalism had emerged. It was directed by the Commonwealth and enacted by State institutions. Its particular focus was to populate Australia with ‘good white stock’: legitimately born white infants, who could be called upon to defend the Empire. White Australians were not considered a homogenous grouping, but a continuum that ranged between the ‘racially superior’ elite and ‘racially inferior’ ‘degenerates’. The latter category included white, unwed mothers and their infants. Illegitimacy was seen as a threat to ‘race improvement’, and presumed to be the root of racial decay. It was assumed that if children were removed and assimilated with white, married, employed couples, their tainted biology would be neutralised. It was also a measure to expand the white, middle and upper classes. A little known fact is that there was resistance to the forced removal/assimilation policy at a grass roots level and that the majority of white unmarried mothers kept their infants. Therefore this research project hypothesised that there were two discourses that regulated the lives of unwed mothers. Mothers who had their infants taken were exposed to an institutional discourse that was comprised of motherhood, medical and eugenic discourses, imported from the ‘mother country’ and the United States. They were articulated through maternal and infant welfare representatives and their practices which included Forced Adoption. At the same time a lay discourse that had co-existed for hundreds of years was also imported. This was expressed in the language, the practices and the support given to daughters and grandchildren by their kin and was a backlash against the autocratic State practice of forced removal. The discourse that framed the mother’s pregnancy and birth experience determined whether or not she kept her infant or had it taken for adoption. Both discourses were grounded in patriarchy as the mother who kept had the protection and support of her patriarchal structured family. The unsupported unwed mother stood outside the norms of what was considered right and proper by the social work and medical elite. Her pregnant body challenged the power structure on which patriarchy rests: control of the reproductive labour of women. The language used for the justification of forced removals has evolved over the centuries. The 18th century ‘pauper’ was ‘vicious’ and wanted to rid herself of her burden, the 19th century feebleminded mother was incapable of providing a ‘moral’ environment. The rise of Freudian based social casework theory that dominated social work in Australia (1940-1970s) labelled her as too ‘immature and neurotic’ to rear her ‘unwanted’ infant. It was considered to be in ‘its best interest’ to be removed and placed with a ‘normal family’ with a ‘real’ mother and father. Unsupported, unwed white mothers did not have the same maternal rights as their married counterparts. They did not have access to their rights of citizenship, which led to major violations of their human and civil rights. The most brutal, being separated from their newborns at birth.
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Chiou, Shwu-Mei, and 邱淑美. "Unmarried Mother''s Parenting Process After Giving Birth." Thesis, 2012. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/33503962250405687606.
Full textAbstract:
碩士朝陽科技大學
社會工作系碩士班
100
According to the survey of Taiwan Happiness Education Society (2009), the contraceptive knowledge among adolescents was fail in Taiwan. Almost 10 per cent of them indicated that un-married pregnant might be able to get married with the loved one. The proportion of un-married pregnant or unmarried mothers is getting higher nowadays. However, because most of adolescents are not ready for being mothers, once they are pregnant and it is still a stigma for unmarried mothers in this society, they are struggling for the life course of raising kids. The purposes of this research are stated as follows: 1. To understand the feeling about the contents of and needs for parenting among unmarried adolescent mothers.2. To explore the coping experiences and dilemmas of unmarried adolescent mothers. 3. To explore the feeling with social network and support to unmarried adolescent mothers, once they decide to raise their own child. In the research, the findings were illustrated as follows: 1. In terms of their perspectives of parenting, through education and allowing children emotional expression, it helped children to develop maturely. In addition, through daily living accompanying and interaction with children, it helped their parent-child relationships. 2. The most of the way to present parenting was the parents supplementary model. 3. Most of the personal feelings of parenting course were about their children. 4. The ways of coping experiences on parenting were day-care and nursery. The dilemmas of parenting were the impacts of environmental changes on children physical and psychological adaptation, schooling support, children’s nutrition, the stigma from main-stream society and eligibilities to apply social welfare resources. Finally, the informal sector gave information supports, emotional supports and instrumental supports whereas the formal sector gave information supports and instrumental supports only. In the final section, suggestions are proposed to the government practioners and researchers as well.
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Skobi, Freddy. "Social work services for pregnant teenagers in the Capricorn District, Limpopo Province." Diss., 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/20814.
Full textAbstract:
Teenage pregnancy is a global problem and its prevalence in South Africa poses a serious concern to the government, health workers, parents, teachers, communities, and social workers in particular. As such, social work services are crucial in assisting pregnant teenagers to be self-reliant. Social workers employ three primary methods of social work practice when providing services to pregnant teenagers, namely casework, group work, and community work. This study sought to explore social work services for pregnant teenagers. A qualitative research method using an exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research design was employed to gather data from 12 social workers working in both rural and urban settings in the Capricorn District, Limpopo Province. A non-probability, purposive sampling method was used to select a sample. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews, consisting of a list of open-ended questions included in an interview guide. Data was also analysed following Tesch eight steps while Lincoln and Guba’s model was used for data verification.
There are several stumbling blocks to effective service delivery, such as complex social problems experienced by pregnant teenagers, lack of formal and informal support, high caseloads, lack of resources, and little cooperation from other disciplines and agencies. Based on these findings, recommendations are made for education, practice, policy, and further research in an attempt to provide solutions to these challenges.Social Work
M.A. (Social Science)
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Netshikweta, Mutshinyalo Lizzybeth. "The problems associated with pregnancy amongst student nurses in the Northern Province." Diss., 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/15617.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this study was to explore possible problems associated with pregnancy amongst student nurses in the Northern Province, and to determine whether their studies were adversely affected by their pregnancies. This study was designed as a quantitative, exploratory descriptive survey to look into the pregnancies of a specific group of students exploring their experiences in the classrooms and in the clinical areas. During 1998 data was collected by distributing questionnaires to ninety three pregnant . student nurses. Sixty-seven (71,0%) of student nurses fell pregnant because they lacked knowledge about contraceptives. Four-six (49,5%) of the respondents delayed seeking antenatal care, although they needed advice and support. Whilst fifty-eight (62,4%) of the respondents suffered from minor ailments such as
tiredness, pre-eclampsia, early bleeding prior to three months pregnancy, and dizziness. Fifty-eight (62,4%) of the respondents encountered problems with their academic progress, as revealed by decreasing marks scored before, during, and after delivery. Student nurses would willingly avail themselves of guidance, advice and support during their pregnancies if they could access such services.Advanced Nursing Science
M.A.(Nursing Science)