ABORTION AND COLLEGE WOMEN: A PSYCHOSOCIAL STUDY.
Item
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Title
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ABORTION AND COLLEGE WOMEN: A PSYCHOSOCIAL STUDY.
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Identifier
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AAI8713759
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identifier
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8713759
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Creator
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GIVLER, THOMAS L.
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Contributor
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Irwin Epstein
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Date
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1987
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Social Work
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Abstract
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This study explored the psychosocial adaptation of 16 college women to the experience of unplanned pregnancy and abortion. Subjects were interviewed in the weeks following the diagnosis of the pregnancy, two weeks following the abortion, and, finally, three to six months later using a focused interview format. Analysis of psychosocial adaptation achieved in the post-abortion period revealed four patterns of psychosocial functioning: those who improved markedly; those who returned to the pre-pregnancy level; those whose functioning was impeded to some extent by thoughts and feelings related to the pregnancy; and those whose functioning declined markedly. Four subjects fell in each category.;These findings support the conclusion that the experience of unplanned pregnancy and abortion stimulates a crisis in the psychological development of college women. The crisis appeared to be marked by two consecutive stages related to acknowledging the reality of the pregnancy and its psychological integration. A subject's negotiation of these stages and eventual psychosocial adaptation appeared to be related to her level of psychological differentiation from her family of origin and the quality of her investment in her sexual partner. Those who showed the best or worst outcomes tended to have difficulty in psychological differentiation from their families and to have had difficulty in pre-pregnancy psychosocial functioning. The others appeared to have achieved a greater degree of differentiation from their families and to be working on the negotiation of intimate relationships. For these subjects, the degree of psychological investment in the sexual partner appeared to be the dominant issue. Those who appeared to experience the pregnancy as a product of love appeared to need an opportunity to work through a grief reaction.;Implications for program planning in college health services stressing differential assessments and intervention were discussed.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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D.S.W.
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Program
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Social Welfare
