青少年伴侶經歷未成年生育事件歷程之研究

Abstract

本研究貼近青少年父母生活經驗，藉由質性研究的探索力從青少年伴侶的主體觀點出發，邀請三對在未成年時期成為父母的未婚伴侶及其家長，透過深度訪談的方式，理解青少年在生育事件歷程中的實質生活內涵，並探討其中性別權力的展現，以及所處的社會脈絡的支持體系。 本研究發現，青少年伴侶在生育事件之前，多半處在孤單、.疏離的人際網絡，而擔任父母之後的青少年伴侶不僅受年齡所限，身處的社會脈絡也缺乏足夠的支持，青少年必須靠自身的能力去因應生活的挑戰，也因為選擇的有限、資源的不足，而採取傳統性別分工模式，這使得青少女的主體性消失，在經濟上成為依賴者，在親密關係中缺乏協商主權，而擔任父親的青少男，也因為被期待表現「負責任」而承受超出其年齡的嚴苛挑戰，青少男與青少女均因生育事件而影響了生涯的發展。 然而政府在提供青少年父母福利照顧的角色缺席，使得青少年面臨更多生涯的危機、資源及發展機會的匱乏以及未成年身份的限制，將導致青少年落入貧窮循環的危機。青少年在養家、持家、照顧孩子的過程中，受到種種來自文化、法律、社會政策、制度等結構性因素的影響，在負責任的意願與落實的差距之間，突顯了青少年在未成年生育事件中的弱勢處境。當他們處於多重匱乏的危機，面臨角色壓迫的同時，也正經歷著多重消權的負向影響。 本研究建議未來協助經歷生育事件的青少年伴侶時，應從充權的角度看待未成年生育事件中的青少年，並考量青少男、青少女的處境與需求，從政策規劃、教育供給、社會工作實務等三方面並重，提供合適的資源及發展新的工作模式與方法。

The research interviewed three unmarried pregnant teen couples. From their point of view, the research aimed to collect the first-hand experiences of unwed teen parents and implement the research outcomes into practice and policy. Through qualitative research, the teen parents narrate their own life stories, which allow practitioners to understand their substantive life experiences and explore the power distribution among different genders. Teen couples often feel socially isolated. Most interviewees lack of autonomy to make decisions on their own due to age limit and economic dependency. The heavy financial burden of child-rearing to teen parents strengthens the traditional gender stereotypes, which often wipe out the subjectivity of teen mothers, enforce them to become dependants in intimate relationships, and marginalize them in the dominant culture. Similar to their counterparts, teen fathers also suffer some consequences of unplanned pregnancy. The expectation of being a responsible father is a rigorous challenge to a teen boy. Becoming a parent can really derail a young man’s education and life planning. Teen parents face not only age limit but also insufficient support in their social context. The government is absent in providing adequate supports for teen parents. The lack of resources and opportunities along with the age limit will jeopardize their chances of better development and may lead them into the vicious circle of poverty. The research looked into the substantial obstacles of unmarried teen parents. It is crucial to be gender sensitive and have empowerment perspective when assessing the needs of unmarried teen parents. It is my sincere hope that the research will serve to further understand the specific needs of teen parents and provide useful evidence-based research findings to practitioners, policy-makers, and other stakeholders.