Social needs of teenage mothers in the rural communities of Ongoye and Enseleni districts
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Date
1995
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Abstract
Teenage motherhood has always been an area of concern for social welfare workers. The welfare of the teenage mother herself and the offspring is always at stake especially when there are no supportive structures to deal with the problem. Observation indicates a growing phenomenon, that is, teenage motherhood in the rural communities. In a nutshell, the investigation focused on the social needs of teenage mothers and the circumstances of their life and the exploration of the alternative helping measures to assist these teenage mothers cope with the problem of teenage motherhood.
Two hundred (200) teenage mothers in the Ongoye and Enseleni districts were involved in the study. These were purposively sampled from the population of the teenage mothers who patronise the ante-natal clinics for immunisation purposes. Data was gathered by means of interviews.
The study advocates that the teenage mothers are a social population group with specific social needs. These social needs are the requirements necessary for the teenagers' survival, growth and fulfilment. It is concluded that there is a standard of quality of life to be maintained. Teenage mothers are young persons who have become victims of labelling by an inadequate service. Teenage motherhood is symptomatic to the disintegration of the traditional societal structures and consequently social values as a result of social change. The rural communities of Ongoye and Enseleni have fallen victim of such change. The societal function in assisting teenagers through their rites of passage has weakened and no social institution has assumed full responsibility for this.
The study emphasises a need for a structured youth service. Both preventive and curative action is essential. There is a need for social work services that not only aims to bring comfort in a distressing situation but also to seek to prevent a deterioration that may lead to a young person being labelled as "a teenage mother". A clue to alternative strategies of alleviating the problem of teenage motherhood is given. These strategies are in the following areas:
(i) Social work with the community in looking at teenage motherhood.
(ii) Development of the therapeutic and the self development programmes for the
teenage mothers.
(iii) Youth care programmes in the rural areas as a focus of social work.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Master in the Department of Social Work at the University of Zululand, 1995.
Keywords
Teenage mothers., Social problems.