Working With Teenage Mothers: The Prevention Pathway

Abstract

Working with adolescents today means contending with issues including teenage pregnancy, community violence, family violence, poverty, single-parent and blended families on a daily basis. Millions of children live in poverty; over a million teenage births occur annually; teenagers killing teenagers is too common an event. These stark facts leave professionals wondering what can be done to help children and adolescents overcome the odds against them. Professionals must use a variety of resources in their work with young people and families including coursework, community internships and practica, classroom role-playing, and student journal-keeping as facilitators of growth in understanding how families function, how parents can nourish mental health in infants and young children, and how adolescents can enhance their own couple relationships through increasing insights and skills relevant to communicating and caring. © 1995, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.