University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2002 If not you, then who? : an historical perspective on the effectiveness of school-related programs in the prevention of teen pregnancy Linda Ingram Shoemaker University of Tennessee Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Recommended Citation Shoemaker, Linda Ingram, "If not you, then who? : an historical perspective on the effectiveness of school- related programs in the prevention of teen pregnancy. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2002. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/6308 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Linda Ingram Shoemaker entitled "If not you, then who? : an historical perspective on the effectiveness of school-related programs in the prevention of teen pregnancy." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Education. Thomas N. Turner, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Lester Knight, Bruce Wheeler, George Harris Jr. Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Linda Ingram Shoemaker entitled "If Not You, Then Who? An Historical Perspective On The Effectiveness Of School-Related Programs In the Prevention Of Teen Pregnancy." I have examined the final paper copy of this dissertation for form and content. I recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Education. ~ /).~ Dr. Thomas N. Turner, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Acceptance for the Council: Vice Pros-:-:tl:'Studies IF NOT YOU, THEN WHO? AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SCHOOL-RELATED PROGRAMS IN THE PREVENTION OF TEEN PREGNANCY A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Linda Ingram Shoemaker May 2002 DEDICATIION This research is dedicated to America's teens. They deserve and need our help in understanding sexuality, pregnancy prevention, and avoiding sexually transmitted diseases. Regardless of how many programs the experts advise, or how many rules adults agree to enforce, it is still up to teenagers themselves to decide who they are, what they want to be, and whether they will cooperate with the adult world to get there. The choices are - and have always been - theirs. The most that schools can do is see to it that teenagers have good choices to make and real opportunities to gain useful experience. It is my hope that schools, nationwide, will continue to offer sex education for our youth. 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to recognize the patient attentiveness and warm enthusiasm of my Charirman and mentor, Dr. Thomas N. Turner. His prolific writing and creativity has served as both stimulus and guide to me in my own study. Others of my committee, who also expressed a lively interest in my research, were Dr. Lester Knight, Dr. George Harris, Jr., and Dr. Bruce Wheeler. I am thankful to each one for generously sharing his knowledge and expertise. I especially want to acknowledge my husband, Bob, who put up with my moods, cleaned the house, brought in a lot of fast food, and was there when I needed him. More importantly, he encouraged me when I was discouraged, set me on track when I got off course and, as an especially nice bonus ... he remains my best friend. iii ABSTRACT This study examined school-related programs developed to prevent teen pregnancy over a fifty year period from 1950 to 2000. The first programs to reduce unprotected intercourse were implemented in U.S. schools in the early 1900's. Since that time, few attempts have been made to evaluate program effectiveness. This has created serious limitations in the efforts of schools to reduce unwanted teen pregnancies. While there exists an extensive body of research and literature that describes efforts aimed at the teen who faces as unintended pregnancy, the more general field of teen pregnancy prevention has not been explored as extensively. This study traces the evolution of school-related efforts to prevent teen pregnancy over five decades. The study focuses on K-12 public school programs in the United States from 1950-2000. Three criteria were used to limit the programs to be reviewed: (1) interventions had to be implemented in schools, (2) the research had to have been published or accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and (3) the research had to measure reported sexual or contraceptive behaviors or their outcomes which included pregnancy rates, birth rates, or STD rates. The findings revealed that, until recently, most school-related efforts have been ineffective in reducing teen pregnancy. This was due to weak evaluation methods or lack of evaluation all together. Published reports in the 1990s, however, revealed that both programs and evaluation methods have improved considerably over the last decade. As a result, there is now evidence that a few school-related programs can reduce risk-taking sexual activities among our nation's youth. Through early intervention, shared components of effective programs, and support outside the boundaries of educational institutions, America's schools can be effective in their attempts to reduce teen pregnancy. Subsequently, these programs can provide useful advice for existing programs as well as counsel for new initiatives. This study also presented an informal personal perspective on the problem of teen pregnancy. The perspective covered the same five decades and was treated as an opportunity for a veteran educator to reflect on her past experiences with teen pregnancy, both personally and professionally. With the help of others, she was able to create her own voice on teen pregnancy prevention and the role of schools. While this type of approach cannot explain everything, it does offer advantages that other explanations cannot. V TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY .................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ........................................................................................................... 2 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ....................................................................................................................... 3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ......................................................................................................................... 3 NEED FOR THE STUDY ........................................................................................................................... 3 DEFINITION OF TERMS .......................................................................................................................... 5 ASSUMPTIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 8 LIMITATIONS AND DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY ...................................................................... 9 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................................ 10 CHAPTER II: PROCEDURE .................................................................................................................... 12 RATIONALE FOR HISTORICAL APPROACH ..................................................................................... 12 ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER ............................................................................................................... 13 DATA COLLECTION .............................................................................................................................. 13 ANALYSIS PROCEDURES ..................................................................................................................... 14 PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS ............................................................................................................ 15 CHAPTER III: AMERICA IN THE 1950'S ............................................................................................. 16 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 16 SPIRIT OF THE DECADE ....................................................................................................................... 16 PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE- 1950's -TIME AND CIRCUMSTANCE ................................................ 21 OVERVIEW OF TEEN PREGNANCY .................................................................................................... 24 FACTORS RELATING TO TEEN PREGNANCY