Examines the symbolic reality of unmarried mothers using Bormann's fantasy theme analysis and Q-methodology. Identifies three rhetorical visions with a dramatistic humanistic analysis produced by and about unmarried mothers: the Down and Out Vision, the Making the Best Vision, and the Yummie Vision. (MS)

This article investigates the reasons why young single girls are keeping their babies far more often than they did a few years ago, and the role of the helping professions in dealing with these young mothers. (BW)

Adolescent pregnancy is examined from 2 viewpoints: (1) the marital status of young adolescent girls who become mothers at a too young age is less relevant to the social problem of adolescent pregnancy than the attendant adverse effects, i.e., adolescent pregnancy, per se, rather than illegitimacy is the social problem; and (2) too early marriage…

The aim of the project was to demonstrate a deliberate effort to reach illegitimately pregnant teenage girls, using the period before and after birth to help the girl achieve a future pattern of behavior that would meet her needs constructively. The period before the birth of the baby was used to reduce immediate life pressures, to provide a…

A hearing before the Subcommittee on Select Education of the House Committee on Education and Labor is transcribed. A discussion is presented which centers on H.R.12146, whose purposes are: (1) to establish a program for developing networks of community-based services to prevent initial and repeat pregnancies among adolescents; (2) to provide care…

Factors that might allow prediction of the unwed mother's decision to keep her child or to surrender it for adoption are examined in this study of 137 white and black clients of a social agency. (NH)

Used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine relationship between welfare and teenage out-of-wedlock childbearing in the 1979-84 period. The results indicated a relationship between welfare policy and out-of-wedlock childbearing for White and Black, but not for Hispanic, adolescents, although the evidence was not strong…

Discusses the research on illegitimacy in the United States and welfare's role in promoting it. The author examines where analysts agree and disagree in the debate and concludes with a discussion concerning black illegitimacy rates compared with the rise in welfare payment amounts. (GLR)

In attempting to understand the causes of illegitimacy, article analyzed the personalities of unwed mothers and fathers as well as their parents, and investigated various aspects of family background and interaction. (Author/RK)

An exhaustive analytic review of large bodies of research indicates that rates of premarital intercourse among teenagers have risen sharply since 1966. This is particularly true for white females, for whom the rate is probably about three times that of the 1920's thru the mid-1960's; for white males the rate seems to have risen about 50%. By age…

There is still the tendency of many schools to exile the pregnant school age girl from the classroom and from contact with other students although such a girl needs considerable help from the schools and other community agencies. (Editor/CB)

Pregnancy among single college women is cause for much concern. This article suggests that the college should take the initiative in offering help and in seeking new ways of prevention. Institutions should provide medical care, counseling, and educational programs in an atmosphere of understanding, compassion, and trust. (Author/BY)

Examined gender differences in adolescents' personal views about pregnancy resolution and family formation. Surveyed adolescents (n=577) using vignette involving unplanned pregnancy. Findings showed similar percentages of males and females preferred abortion and adoption as strategies for handling pregnancy, but females were more likely to select…

Adolescent pregnancy and parenthood have become increasingly important public policy issues in recent years for many reasons, including concerns about their prevalence, about the economic and social problems faced by young mothers and their children, and about the budgetary effects of adolescent parents' reliance on public assistance programs.…