Rebuilding nests of survival: a comparative analysis of the needs of at-risk adolescent women and adolescent mothers in the US, Latin America, Asia and Africa

Abstract

Numerous programs in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the US have begun assisting girls in at-risk situations, including street girls, girls exploited through prostitution, and sexually abused young women. The striking similarities in the needs of these young women indicate the possibility of sharing program experiences. To better understand these needs, the authors develop an analytical framework using infor mation from site visits, direct interaction and secondary sources. The problems fa cing at-risk young women can be divided between: 1) "causal factors", including low educational attainment, lack of employment possibilities, sexual abuse, lack of bar gaining power in sexual relations, and unfulfilled affiliative needs; and 2) "learned psychological strategies to harmful situations" including interpersonal violence and competition, early childbearing, drug abuse, self-abusive behaviour and poor body image. These learned psychological responses become "survival nests": psychological and physical coping strategies which mitigate the damage of developmentally toxic environments. The concept of the "survival nest" also implies and helps explain the resistance to change that at-risk young women exhibit when programs offer them positive alternatives.