Psychological impact of premarital pregnancy on women's identity

Abstract

Abstract by author:

The aim of this study was threefold. Firstly, it aimed to find out how single, young adult women in rural Owambo communities appraised their premarital pregnancy at that time when they found out they were pregnant and subsequent reappraisals thereof. Secondly, it intended to investigate whether these women feel stigmatized, isolated and marginalized. Thirdly, the study also aimed at examining how the past and present perceptions of their premarital pregnancy have contributed to how they understand themselves today. The general research question for this study was: 'Does premarital pregnancy impact on/affect a woman's identity?'. In an attempt to answer this question and the above objectives, 5 women were recruited and interviewed. Only 2 of the interviews were translated, transcribed and used in the data presentation, analysis and discussion stages. In recruiting these women, the snowball technique was applied. The criteria for this sample was that women should have been aged between 22 and 40 years at the time they became pregnant, are employed and should have been working at the time they became pregnant, should still be single and have only one child aged from 2 years. Whitbourne's (1985) model of the Psychological Construction of the Life-Span formed the basis for the theoretical conceptualization of this study. The study used the qualitative paradigm and employed the discourse analysis methodology as proposed by Ian Parker (1992) in its data analysis and data discussion phases. Since the study was an exploratory one in nature, it was not possible to draw definite conclusions from the data. However, indications are that immediate appraisals of a premarital pregnancy could range from being regrettable to being catastrophic. The data also seem to indicate that the more a "never-married-woman-with-children" identifies with the universal expectations of motherhood as tied to wifehood, the more she might feel stigmatized, isolated and marginalized in the event that she cannot meet this norm. The data also seem to indicate that competing discourses in present day Namibian society in general and Owambo communities in particular might lead to "never-married-women-with-children" in these communities expressing a self-identity that is torn in different directions. Overall, the study demonstrates how language reproduces and maintains culture and power in changing Owambo communities