Social Services Construct the Teen Mother

Abstract

This comparative case study of 3 services for teen mothers demonstrates how social service agencies engage in social problems work not only by drawing on and reproducing public representations of social problems, but also by mediating, interpreting, and even contesting these representations in their routine practices for dealing with clients. The authors' analysis demonstrates how 3 agencies dealing with the same social problem enacted 2 public discourses about teen mothers by addressing their young clients variously as mothers, problem teenagers/problem mothers, and potential social activists. The authors conclude by suggesting that agencies reflect critically on the margin of maneuver they may actually have in defining their clients and addressing the complexity of their clients' concerns.