Understanding Urban Adolescent Mothers' Visions of the Future in Terms of Possible Selves

ABSTRACT

As part of a larger study of factors influencing the educational and occupational achievement of adolescent mothers, this study explored the phenomenology of pregnant and parenting teens' aspirations and expectations using the construct, “possible selves.” Focus group discussions, autobiographical projects, and self-report surveys revealed that African American pregnant and parenting youth develop self-representations related to future achievement in the context of interactions with neighborhoods, health care systems, and adult support figures. Results related to teens' “ideal selves,” “feared selves,” and “who they might become” are presented.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescent mothers
• aspirations
• expectations
• teen parents
• high-school dropout
• possible selves

Notes

This study was completed with the assistance of a grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services and the William T. Grant Foundation awarded to Jean Rhodes as a faculty member at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Thanks go to Jean Rhodes for supervising the discussion groups and to Claudia Cisneros, Patricia Gelvan, Ashley Brown, Faith Mosely, Cat Munson-Ring, Jocelyn Wilkerson, Eric Covotta, Rebecca Dogan, and Yoko Takagi for their help in the preparation of this manuscript. Thanks to Paula Treichler and Jill Denner for their comments on an earlier version of this article. Special thanks to Ernestine Briggs, Anita Davis, Claudia Lennhoff, Adena Myers, Jewell Hamilton-Leaks, and the faculty, staff, and students of the Alternative School for their commitment to giving voice to pregnant and parenting youth.