Partial truths: representations of teenage pregnancy in research

Abstract

In this article the author identifies three schools of research on teenage pregnancy that were dominant from the 1980s to 2003 in South Africa. By providing a comparison with some of the research in the United States and in England, the author draws attention to the similarity in the representations of teenage pregnancy in South Africa and in the latter countries. The strengths and weaknesses of each research school are discussed. The author then provides an alternative representation of teenage pregnancy substantiated by reference to her own research in the township of Khwezi East, South Africa.