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Moral Tales of the Teenage Parent Narratives of Changes, Personal transformation and Growth

Mantovani, N; Hollins, S; Dowling, S (2016) Moral Tales of the Teenage Parent Narratives of Changes, Personal transformation and Growth. Journal for the study of marriage & spirituality, 21 (2). pp. 170-184. ISSN 1370-6020 https://doi.org/10.2143/INT.21.2.3134527
SGUL Authors: Mantovani, Nadia

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Abstract

This paper seeks to explore the moral accounts of young people’s own interpretation of their choice of parenthood, the new meanings in their lives brought about by the responsibility of parenthood, and the transformative experience that this responsibility generated. Drawing on a study of young parents in South West London this paper considers how the participants’ moral understanding is fundamentally shaped by the social construction of the 'good' parent. This study employs an interpretative methodology with in-depth interviews and focused on their choice to become a parent at a young age. Fifteen young people were interviewed aged 16-19; of these six were young mothers, five young fathers, and four currently pregnant. A narrative method to analyse the data was employed because moral sense-making and self-interpretation take a narrative form. In the worlds in which these young parents live they negotiated their own narratives of the child and adult divide; and they positioned themselves as moral agents by accounting for their parenthood choices and through the exercise of moral autonomy. They affirmed their moral adult identity through making themselves accountable for the imperative of becoming responsible adults. The empirical findings in this study may be corrective to public discourses about teenaged parents.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: © 2015 by INTAMS review. All rights reserved.
SGUL Research Institute / Research Centre: Academic Structure > Population Health Research Institute (INPH)
Journal or Publication Title: Journal for the study of marriage & spirituality
ISSN: 1370-6020
Dates:
DateEvent
3 March 2016Published
Publisher License: Publisher's own licence
URI: https://openaccess.sgul.ac.uk/id/eprint/107820
Publisher's version: https://doi.org/10.2143/INT.21.2.3134527

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