Ethics in Research with Teen Mothers

Abstract

United States has the highest level of teenage pregnancy amongst industrialized nations. However, research on teenage pregnancy involves research participants who are young girls undergoing the life-altering process of motherhood. Given the topic of research, where the girls themselves would need to shed light on factors responsible for early pregnancy, qualitative methodology would be an appropriate choice. It would allow the participants to voice their own stories to bring alive their experiences, lifestyles, and problems. Further, all participants, being minors, would be emotionally and psychologically stressed out and in a highly vulnerable condition. This raises numerous ethical issues when examining teenage mothers before, during, and after the fieldwork. This chapter provides insights on ethical issues involving human subjects' research in the context of teenage pregnancies.