and ultimately left both the program and school due to the challenges they faced (Silver 2008). Likewise, research into the Community of Caring program, a private organization that focuses on education for young mothers, had mixed findings about efficacy: although mothers enrolled in the program scored significantly higher on tests of parenting knowledge, they also reported lower levels of parenting contentment (Miller and Dyk 1991). Curiously, mothers who participated at low levels actually had lower parenting knowledge, birth control use, and educational plans than the control groups (Miller and Dyk 1991). Community-based resources with clear records of success seem to share one primary characteristic: comprehensiveness and continuity of services. Adolescent mothers may want or need the resources offered by a given organization, but if they do not have the tools and support to use them, those resources will go to waste; an organization with narrower goals is simply less likely to focus on the many facets that play into service access and utilization (Silver 2008). When given the opportunity to have a voice in determining which resources are most essential, adolescent mothers report that their needs are better met, that they learn more, and that they are better able to access outside resources, as well (Dickinson and Joe 2010). Theoretical Framework Georg Simmel’s concept of stranger” proposes that the stranger is an “the inevitable feature of society. She is member of the group itself,” and yet is distinctly “a different and separate from it (Calhoun, Gerteis, Moody, Pfaff and Virk 2007: 298). The
and ultimately left both the program and school due to the challenges they faced (Silver 2008). Likewise, research into the Community of Caring program, a private organization that focuses on education for young mothers, had mixed findings about efficacy: although mothers enrolled in the program scored significantly higher on tests of parenting knowledge, they also reported lower levels of parenting contentment (Miller and Dyk 1991). Curiously, mothers who participated at low levels actually had lower parenting knowledge, birth control use, and educational plans than the control groups (Miller and Dyk 1991). Community-based resources with clear records of success seem to share one primary characteristic: comprehensiveness and continuity of services. Adolescent mothers may want or need the resources offered by a given organization, but if they do not have the tools and support to use them, those resources will go to waste; an organization with narrower goals is simply less likely to focus on the many facets that play into service access and utilization (Silver 2008). When given the opportunity to have a voice in determining which resources are most essential, adolescent mothers report that their needs are better met, that they learn more, and that they are better able to access outside resources, as well (Dickinson and Joe 2010). Theoretical Framework Georg Simmel’s concept of “the stranger” proposes that the stranger is an inevitable feature of society. She is “a member of the group itself,” and yet is distinctly different and separate from it (Calhoun, Gerteis, Moody, Pfaff and Virk 2007: 298). The
Teen-Pregnancy-Community-Support-in-Northfield-Minnesota.docx