Pregnancy in adolescence and family bonds: a psychoanalytic look

• Grant number: 15/20537-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2015
• End date: November 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Mary Yoko Okamoto
• Grantee: Amanda Carvalho Dias
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Adolescence and pregnancy are considered delicate moments in peoples lives. However they are both experience differently according to the sociocultural conditions in which the adolescent and/or pregnant is part of. The teenager who wishes to become pregnant of a baby faces a lot of criticism based on speeches of physiological incapacity to gestate and psychological incapacity to raise her children. In the social field, the critics are based on the consequences that will come with the birth of a child in this particular stage of life. In the area of mental health, pregnancy in adolescence is criticized because of the emotional immaturity the young girl has in order to start dealing with parental responsibilities. Therefore, the speech that surrounds the mind of the mind of the young pregnant is based on a moralist and reductionist approach. In the current paper we intent to verify in the life story of the adolescent pregnant elements that will allow us to understand the desire for pregnancy and the place the child takes in the maternal imaginary. We also intend to comprehend which ideals of familial ego are established around parentage and how they are being built in the life of the pregnant. This is a qualitative research and the data collection will be done through semi-structured interviews and Family Timeline with pregnant girls from 12 to 18 years old that are being assisted by the public health system of Assis/SP. Interviews will be recorded and transcribed. The data will be analyzed according to the content analysis considering the regularities and singularities of the speeches using the theoretical background of psychoanalysis.