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The social construction of teenage pregnancy: a problem in the ideologies of childhood and reproduction
Author(s) -
Murcott Anne
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9566.1980.tb00198.x
Subject(s) - ideology , reproduction , social reproduction , pregnancy , sociology , gender studies , social psychology , social science , psychology , political science , politics , biology , law , ecology , social capital , genetics
There is a commonsense assumption that‘teenage pregnancy’constitutes some sort of a social problem. A neglected aspect of this social construction is explored. It is suggested that ideologies of reproduction go only so far in convincingly accounting for ambiguities contained in social constructions of teenage pregnancy and that appreciation of contemporary ideologies of childhood is also needed. Expressions of teenage pregnancy as a problem may then be understood as a matter of social pollution, located at the intersection of ideologies of reproduction on one hand and ideologies of childhood on the other.