of Columbia are attributable to: (1) early sexual activity with multiple partners, often without effective use of birth control, (2) drug abuse, and (3) lack of appropriate information on birth control advice and devices. When efforts have been implemented to teach teenagers effective methods of birth control, those efforts have had little impact in the nation's capitol and across the country. Researchers argue that the reason the rate of teenage pregnancies remains constant is that there is no sole criterion for determining causes and/or devising solutions. From a sociological point of view, "one must also realize that the targeted group (teen parents) may view the problem differently than mainstream society. Therefore, one must be mindful that the wider societal view and expectations of an appropriate time to procreate is not in sync with the realities of life for those teens who become pregnant."
The reality of life is that the sexual revolution of the 1960s has had a particularly devastating impact on the lives of African Americans. Today it is generally accepted that sexual relationships do not necessarily lead to marriage. This destabilizing influence on the family has left the black family is particular crisis. Approximately 50 percent of African-American households are headed by a woman. Single-parenting and poverty are viewed as a causal factor in destabilizing the African-American family. Single female-headed households tend to be poorer than their counterparts. African-American families may have been trend-setters in terms of single-parent status. The increase in female-headed households has created a so-called "feminization of poverty." "Being born into poverty is regarded by many researchers as tantamount to a life sentence of adult disadvantage."
Many African-American teen parents, most of whom are poor, stay unmarried with a single, low income. Those single parents, and at least half of whom are women...