Brazilian Adolescent Sexual Activity and Childbearing: Social Construction of Adolescence, Sexuality and Pregnancy and the Role of Social Support and Social Control

Claudia Gras, International Planned Parenthood Federation

This paper uses qualitative data collected through focus groups and interviews with pregnant and non-pregnant adolescent girls 15-24 years of age in Campinas and Salvador, Brazil to explore the socialization mechanisms (social construction of adolescence, sexual activity and childbearing, social support and social control) related to Brazilian adolescent girls’ transition to sexual activity and first birth. Adolescence was characterized as a period of confusion, self-doubt, and freedom from responsibility. The beginning was defined in terms of emotional and psychological changes whereas the end was definitively marked by the event of the first birth. Findings showed parents provide both social support and social control during these reproductive health transitions. Adolescents desired a combination of informational, emotional and appraisal support which they often did not find in peers, parents, or school. Confidantes, i.e. young schoolteachers, hairdressers, and slightly older aunts or cousins were cited as most likely to provide this type of social support. Parents, peers, the media and religion exerted social control.