An Analysis of Teenage Pregnancy
According to Rotter’s Cognitive Social Learning Theory, “people reaction to environmental stimuli depends on the meaning or importance that they attach to an event.” A person also expects reinforcement occurs depending on a given situation. We can also predict behaviors according to situations and need of an individual. When we talk about teen pregnancy, we can analyze the situation through Rotter’s Theory.
The burdens of early childbearing on disadvantaged teens are undeniable. Lack of parental care, educational failure, poverty, unemployment and low self-esteem are understood to be negative outcomes of early childbearing. (1). These circumstances also contribute to the likelihood of teen pregnancy. A teen who lives in a situation as I described does not feel protected, especially when parents are not around to guide and support them. These individuals then try to find protection in other situations such as trying to find a mate, that’s when pregnancy can happen. According to Rotter, an individual needs to feel protected and cared for. Many of the teenage girls that get pregnant unmarried were actually looking forward to a marriage. In 1950 when men with little education could find well paid jobs young people married if a pregnancy occurred. The loss of those jobs makes marriage less attractive today – an effect that can be seen on teens of all races.
As Rotter describes the need for protection, he explains that protection dependency occurs in our lives at all times, we always need that feeling of someone looking and caring for us.
These teenagers also have the need for love and affection, which is well explained by Rotter’s theory, Rotter explains that “is need for acceptance by others that go beyond recognition and status to include some indications that people have warm, positive feelings for them.”
Another aspect that...