https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4860-384X
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ABSTRACT
MTV’s hit reality shows 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom were produced with an agenda of preventing teen pregnancy. Researchers have examined their effectiveness as behavioral interventions, yet little attention has been paid to experiences of young parents themselves with these shows, nor to their ethical consequences, including the potential for compounding of stigma against young parents. This analysis qualitatively examines the experiences of young parents in British Columbia, Canada, with the media phenomenon referred to as ‘Teen Mom shows.’ Interview and observation data from a large, longitudinal, mixed-methods ethnographic study of young parents was analyzed using hybrid deductive-inductive qualitative content analysis. The dominant understanding was that Teen Mom depictions of young parenting were inaccurate and overly dramatic. Young mothers and fathers experienced stigma and judgement that directly or indirectly referred to Teen Mom portrayals of young mothers as immature, dramatic, and promiscuous, and young fathers as absentee parents.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the young parents and other study participants who shared their perspectives and expertise with us, and research assistants Jonathan Contreras-Whitney and Caroline Mniszak.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ORCID
Devon Greyson http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4860-384X
Jean A. Shoveller http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4616-3556
Notes
1 n.b. Goffman defines the term stigma to apply both to the attribute itself and to the resulting social relationships (Goffman Citation1963, 3–5); however in public health literature the latter is the primary application of the term, and thus the one which the current analysis will use.