Coping strategies for social well-being and social development intervention: young women and unintended pregnancy in Mozambique

Using the concept of coping strategies, this thesis is essentially concerned with the way<br/>young women in Mozambique achieve social well-being during the life event of unintended<br/>pregnancy. Unintended pregnancy in Mozambique places significant strain on informal and<br/>formal relationships, educational access, economic stability and the maintenance of good<br/>health. It also has significant implications for young women’s roles, responsibilities and status<br/>within families and communities (CEDAW 2005). Twenty one qualitative semi-structured<br/>individual interviews were completed with young women (16-19 years old) who have recently<br/>had an unintended pregnancy, as well as eight focus groups using a vignette with young<br/>women (16–21 years old) from youth associations and fourteen individual interviews with key<br/>informants (those working in the area of sexual and reproductive health with youth and<br/>adolescents). From these three forms of rich data, the relationships young women have with<br/>others, the negotiations they engage in and the coping strategies they employ are illuminated.<br/><br/>This research contributes to an increased understanding of unintended pregnancy and the<br/>ways young women respond and ‘cope’ with this life event (as a process) largely via different<br/>forms of social interaction. The chosen methodology was designed to elicit this type of<br/>knowledge drawing on different disciplinary interpretations of coping strategies. Although<br/>unintended or early pregnancy in young women has developed as a key social development<br/>concern in recent years (Hainsworth 2002; Mahy 2002; Westoff 2003; UNFPA 2007), this<br/>research indicates that policy strategists in Mozambique struggle to develop adequate and<br/>effective intervention in response. The narratives shared by young women, and the analysis<br/>developed through chapters four to seven builds a complex picture for intervention, as family<br/>relationships remain a major factor for social and economic well-being. The socially and<br/>culturally constructed nature and predominant location within families mean that macro<br/>strategies and community level intervention has limited impact during unintended pregnancy.<br/>Strengthening relational strategies (both formal and informal) through social development<br/>intervention is therefore necessary for young women to access social and organisational<br/>resources for coping and social well-being. By using the concept of coping strategies, the<br/>juxtaposition of ‘copers’ and ‘non-copers’, the relationship between agency and structure, the<br/>strategies employed at different levels, the significance of social interaction and coping as a<br/>process has been opened up to scrutiny. This thesis not only evaluates and critiques models<br/>of social development, but also argues that the concept of coping strategies can be usefully<br/>applied to inform social development in ways that address both individual and collective wellbeing.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Ph.D.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Southampton

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Taplin, Aisha Jane

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Powell, Jackie
• Crow, Graham