ADOLESCENT FERTILITY--THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL POLICY

The purpose of this proposal is to request support for preparation of a book-length manuscript under the Publication Grant Program of the National Library of Medicine. The objectives of the book are: 1) to understand the development and direction of current public policies concerning the management of adolescent pregnancy by locating these policies in historical context, 2) to critically review current programmatic approaches to the management of adolescent sexuality and reproduction in light of the social, cultural, and historical context in which these policies have been developed; 3) to contribute, by a detailed examination of strategies adopted for the management of unmarried adolescent women's sexual and reproductive behavior, to the understanding of conceptions of deviance and social control processes in American life. Sources for this work are 19th and 20th century social history of women, adolescents, and sexuality, current public health, medical and social science literature on adolescent fertility and its management, and the author's original research. Formal arrangements for publication of this manuscript have been completed with Temple University Press.