Citation

Kulkarni S. Affilia 2007; 22(1): 9-22.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886109906295765

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Ethnographic interviews with 30 young mothers examined the ways in which contextual factors affected the mothers' developmental passages. Themes associated with gendered influences from the larger culture emerged across the interviews, including intense feelings of love, stigmas associated with teenage motherhood, and social pressures to be with their children's fathers. Some mothers described challenging and letting go of romantic illusions and adopting more realistic appraisals of their partners and relationships. Because cultural filters influence adolescent mothers' perceptions and choices in significant ways, social workers must acknowledge and integrate these gendered influences to engage and intervene more effectively with adolescent mothers.