"Nunez... Mme? .. E ../ ‘ v.51 E I. YB R A R 2' :- Mic‘ui 54311 S ta ta Um Prat—u 3.. "4 . I 0- . ._ v — , .- '- :TM‘ST ‘tcxeml m . 0‘ ‘wmxgavv:_. ' If “f I; OVERDUE FINES: 25¢ per day per item RETURNING LIBRARY MATERIALS: .____.________.____________. «q: , . Place in book return to remove . = 4V5!” ‘2' charge from circulation records W AER 93 zaps AN ANALYSIS OF 54 CONTINUOUS SERVICE CASES INVOLVING ILLEGITIHATE PREGHANCY, HANDLED BY THE INGRAM COUNTY. BRANCH OF CHE MICHIGAN CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY IN 1951 AND 1952 BY Myrt 16 R. Raul A PROJECT REPORT submitted to the Department of Social Work, Michigan State College, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SOCIAL‘WORK May 1955 THE ACKNOWLBVGMENTS The writer wishes to express her appreciation to Mrs. Dorothy'M; Kurtz, Executive Secretary of the Ingham County Brandh of the Michigan Children's Aid Society, whose sugges- tion formed the basis forxthe undertaking of this study and whose assistance in the interpretation of agency policies has been invaluable. To Miss Nora A. Siebert, Caseworker, the writer is indebted for much factual information and for verificatinn of data from the case records. The writer also feels indebted to all members of the agency staff for their helpful interest and cooperation and to Mrs. Myrna Curtis, and mrs. Joanne McDaniels for help in typing the completed report. Acknowledgement and sincere appreciation is made to Doctor Dorothy Zietz, project adviser, Miss M. Frances Hetzneoker, and.Mr. Manfred Lilliefors of the Department of Social'Work, of Michigan State College, whose able direction of this study made possible its completion. Appreciation is expressed to Mr. James Pantalos, and to mr. Paul Raul for help in obtaining resource materials and for their interest and encouragement. v—v« ~—-v" . a . 4. r1, - 1 -' g1. ' ' 1‘ I .1 o: '4" '5 " tr“ "'4 N 1' 3... l ' ‘ ‘ Q Q 1’1" On {103..E q LO 2 «C11: ‘ J. 1.: (J l I )1 tines? HHMQHRL eflt go muax'r: g; 9!. -eeggus ssodw ,zteicuc biA e'necarth has Yhsis aifid lo gxffiaiuebuo =1 33 r \J aeioiioq game e :3 noiisx” Y - - r‘-_~, ,qenmoweaeh ,3ueoszn .A .‘ . . t 1 .' ' .. ,,. to? bus noiseminLQi LBJYDSX Taww as zetiqw edT .abmeevi see: 36% a? r at ,i. .- - . ... . r. . ,- - r. -\ .101; $1838 YOU-8:13 I“. -j 'l\ kA .LaE'.‘ :Qi. i- so " ‘ ‘ _ P _ _ a._ _ . _ ‘ Bf‘i‘I‘Cffi; .8‘1L. OJ 0.13 1.1.1.3532?) gun. end anicvd mi gisn moi 3Eeinulsw .8. Cr 03 sham at ¢;i Q‘IC': ""1... . UL sachet? .h sane ,moeivfis Jeefioqn lo tnemdmsqed 613 to am isifilJ bemfin aoidoeqib side eeodw ,egeiloo -na&: #3- , 1 ,.'°,". .nvijefnmus Rfi ai.i \ r a r . .. . LA‘ 03 bus ,30I8Ju35 aefiet 9:37:10 '9. ICE has sieiqedum I I. ‘J ‘ .) ,- J \ .,.. ' ’ A'r‘u 13 " o 'J L '.E o I. ’o_L,"-t _ I ‘7’ A} ‘ . al ‘ ’ :1 o‘ f ' o ‘ , ? 1..“ ' \ . ‘ ‘r ,v D, E .5 .4 .JI;‘3 -14 . - - ‘ . I ‘)Q.L(‘. . f. ' I-|.L‘..J ' Q . I 0 '1‘.’ E' a .. . ' : . . L . . ,' y. \‘\ —4-‘ . ' 3 .‘ _,' L... ' " . . O_V{ ‘ ' I l '1‘ ’ L ‘7 J." rw', ~ A. -"~ 0 THE TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page A THE ACKNOWLEDGEEENTS .............................. 1 THE TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................ 11 THE LIST OF TABLES ............................... iv I. THE INTRODUCTION ................................. 1 II. THE PROBLEM AND THE METHODOLOGY .o...oo.....o...oo 4 Th6 Problem Area 0000000000000000000000000000... 4 Statement Of the PrOblem coo-00000000000000.0000 5 Purpose Of the StUdy oooooooo00000000000000.0000 6 MethOd0108y 00000000000000000.0.0000000000000000 7 III. RELATED SOURCES 00000090000000...0.000000000000000 10 PsyChclogical Implications cacao-00000000000000. 15 The Dominating MOther ooocoooooooooooooooooooooo 22 The Dominating Fbther ooooooocoooocoo-0000000000 27 The Married Woman 00.000.000.00.oooooooooooooooo 32 The Putative Father oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 55 Casework Services to the Client ................ 58 counseling 0000000000000000000000000.000000000 44 Planning for Mbdical Care cocooooooooooooooooo 47 Financial Planning cocoooooooooooooooooooo0000 51 Planning for the Child o...................... 52 The Alleged Father ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 57 Chapter Summary .00...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... 58 IV. BETTING FOR THE STUDY 00000000000000000000.0000... 61 How the Agency Works with the Client ........... 61 Referral Source coco-000000.000coo-0090000000000 67 Chapter Summary 00000000000000000000000000.0000. 68 V. NATURE OF THE GROUP .0.0.0.0.00...00.00.000.000... 69 Ags coo00000000Co00000000000000000000.000000000. 69 Place in the Family OOQOOOOOOOOOOOOIOOOOOO00.... 74 Religion 75 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOIOOO...0.0.0 Residence 78 0.0.0....OOOOOOOOOCOOCCOQCOOOOO0...... Marital Status 81 Other Children 85 Education and Training 85 I.Q. 88 00000000000oooooooooo¢ooooo0000000000000... Employment 0.00....OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO00.00.000.000. Chapter Summary 94 00000000000000.0.000000000000000 O. O n 9 O i 9 O I O I i 5 O O I! ’ fl . ‘ b . v . O O .0! .00.. IOOOO'O! Chapter Page VI. ATTITUDES AND FEELINGS TOWARD KEY PEOPLE 99 Parents C.................00.................... 99 Siblings 00000000000oooooooooococo-0000000000000 105 Alleged Fathers 00000000000000.0000000000000000. 107 AttitUde TOWard Pregnancy 00000000000000.0000... 113 Chapter Summary coo-cococo-cococoooooooooooooooo 117 VII. SERVICES OF TIEAGmCYOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOOOO0.0.COO... 119 T116 Pre-Natal Group 00000000000000.000000000000.0125 Financial Arrangements ......................... 127 Extent of Service Provided by the Agency ....... 130 MOther's D601310n Regarding Child 000.000.0000.. 133 VIII. INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS ‘. .‘OOCOOCCOOOOIOOOIOOCC 158 Ix. SU'LIMARY AND COIIC [TSIOIIS O00.0.0.0...0.000.000.0000 142 - IO.|‘OOIID‘-IO..OOQ‘OQo.§o;.u "do...AO'QIQOQQ—cuonflJo-ggg DQOEOQIQOQQI‘QDInv-o. I‘li’ll'fiot! QOQQ-Qnolaflfiilonougn DDUQD'HIOQ‘ 0‘9. 0 Gnu-'oouuoanvwoi 6......500‘00 cc . Odo-IOOIOO' a o Olfitins-Ooot*o iv THE LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 SOURCE OF REFERRAL ............................. 65 AGE ............................................ 70 PLACE IN FAMILY ................................ 75 RELIGION ...................................... 76 LIVING ARRANGEINIENTS 0000000....00.000.000.000... 80 MARITAL STATUS ................................ 81 EDUCATION ...................................... 85 I.Q. 0000000000000.00.0000000000000000.00000000. 89 tom-QGO'IIPUIIO EIIIPLOYBIENT 00000000000000.0000...oooooooooocoooo 91 PAYMENT OF CONFINEMENT EXPENSES ................ 129 a; :4 l4 0 DECISION REGARDING BABY .o.................o.o.¢ 134 soot-000 crops-I'D... 000.00 .. lvaoloOOOOO 90“. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In the early period of American history the woman who dared to depart from the social code so far as to have an illegitimate pregnancy was condemned to wear for life a scarlet letter to show that she was sinful and the most disgraceful of all women. Through the years the feelings of the general public toward the unmarried mother have not changed markedly although the number of such pregnancies in the United States have increased until some estimate that over 100,000 distraught, disillusioned women give birth to illegitimue children each year. Today such a mother is not labeled with a scarlet letter, but society has other ways of penalizing her and her baby. In some comnunities she is still categorized as a delinquent, so that often punishment is the keynote of the efforts which may be expended in her ”social" treatment. Many of our states in their laws give little, if any, protection to her child; his birth is registered as “illegitimate” or his father's name is omitted on the birth certificate. If the mother's "trouble" is known to the community, she is often exploited by family, friends, or employers. Agencies are only too familiar with the plight of the child whose mother has kept him all through his growing years, while she is beset by fears and often torn by guilt over his dubious status. Workers, [are acquainted with the profound unhappiness and insecurity of both the child and mother under these circumstances. They have watched tb mothers of such children alternately swayed, first by their desire to keep their youngsters, regardless of the cost, or sacrifice to themselves of marriage, employment status, family relationships or relationships with friends, then by rejection and resentment directed toward the child for preventing them from realization of their very natural desires and goals. After years of care may come abandonment for the child. Recently such a child, a twelve-year-old boy, appeared in a New Ybrk court for throwing a rock at a teacher, When asked why, he said he had gotten out of line and the teacher had threatened to report him to the principal. She had shouted at him, "What's your name, if you have a name?" The -boy had been born out of wedlock and.had been raised by his grandparents and used their name after his mother deserted him---but he lived in terror of the day mien someone would call him that word which.would shame him forever and would disclose that he was nameless.1 What lies in back of this kind of tragedy, what causes a girl to take a departure from the social code and give birth to a child under these circumstances? In order to understand this one must look into and try to understand the personality of the woman Who has an illegitimate pregnancy, one must examine carefully her re- lationship to the key people in her life, her family, the baby's father and her child. 7’ lPolier, Justine Wisej“Illegitimate!", woman's Home Companion, August, 1947, pp. 32—55 One must see her as a little girl at play with her dolls, expressing tender and solicitous concern for their comfort, even as she has seen her own mother do. One must see what happens if her mother and father are unaccepting of their parenthood, if they regard it as m inevitable but unfair burden which nature has thrust upon them. In such a home love and tenderness luvs no part, but rather hatred and cruelty or indifference and unkindness mark the familial relations and lay the basis for unmarried parenthood ani heartbreak for both the mother and her child. CHAPTER II THE PROBLEM AND THE METHODOLOGY 33$ PROBLEM AREA The scope of the problem of illegitimacy in the world today for both single and married women has mounted to such an all-time peak that a recent meeting, of the United Nations Comission 'on Human Rights, was taken to discuss this subject and the extent to which the various countries were affected. In this country the latest records of the 11.8. Bureau of the Census indicate that some 95,000 illegitimate births are registered every year. However, at least eight states (California, Colorado, Connecticut , - Maryland, Massachusetts , Nebraska, New Hampshire and New York) make no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate in reporting vital statistics“. If the illegitimacy births in these states, many of'them heavily populated, were included, the annual total for the nation would be well over 120,000 children born out of wedlock. Most authorities agree that for every recorded illegitimate birth there is at least one unrecorded, since our social attitudes often discourage the truthful registration of births. The unwed mother is well aware of the moral stigma attached to illegitimcy and, quite understandably, attempts to avoid it. In many instances, when elm enters a maternity hospital she resorts to the relatively simple procedure of placing a "Mrs.” before her name, inventing a husband for the sake of the birih record. Dr. Halbert In Dunn, Chief of the Vital Statistics Division of the Census Bureau, has estimated.that one out of every twelye children born in America today is illegitimate. Moreover, spot checks by the Census Bureau reveal that the annual-rate of illegitimacy is mounting steadily.1 According to a recent study by the Children's Bureau of the Federal Security Agency about sixty per cent of the 50,000 children wrn can before the courts for adoption every year are illegitimate. At least an equal number are sold every year on the flourishing ”black market" in babies.2 . STATEMENT on THE PRO 131m In view of the above, the significance of the problem of illegitimacy is apparent. If deep-seated and.psychologica1 reasons are the basis for illegitimate parenthood, then the clients who come to a child-placing agency should reflect this. If there is merit to the proposition that family relationship is a significant factor in the underlying cause of unmarried parenthood then this study should partially validate such a statement in terms of. a segment ~of the individuals facing illegitimate parenthood and should recognize some of the psychological, emotional and legal burdens imposed.by society upon the illegitimate child and his mother. - lBernard, Allena and Brandt, Albert, ”What Can We Do About Illegitimacy? , Tomorrow, May, 1950, p. 28. 2Bernard, Allen, and Brandt, Albert, op. cit., p. 2'7. With the question of the illegitimate child this study has no special concern. It will be touched only insofar as the history of who child is bound up with.the history of the mother. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Child-placing agencies offering services to illegitimately pregnant women have 1mg recomized the importance of evaluating their services in light of the needs of this particular client. Executives and Boards alike havebeccme more and more aware of the psychological implications of unmarried parenthood and realize that if the agency is to be of a real service to the girl it must offer more than Just a.means of maternity care, or adoption; it must offer a degree of sensitive casework by highly skilled workers. The essential purpose of this study is to examine a segment of the cases handled by the Inghan County Branch of the Michigan Children's Aid Society and to assess the relative importance of certain psychological factors which might allow the agency to predict the final plan a mother will make for her child, and cmsequently the type of agency service which she will require. The working hypothesis is that, having an illegitimate child is an act of hostility and aggression regardless of the mother's background, emotional maturity or economic status . METHODOLOGY This is a study of the characteristics of the illegitimately pregnant women served by the Ingham c:ounty Branch of the Michigan children's Aid Society during the calendar years of 1951 and 1952 and the services which they required. The data was obtained free case records by filling in a detailed schedule. It was felt that a two-year period was sufficient to include in the study in order to give an evaluation of the program. The two most recent years were used because most of the time the agency has been under the direction of the present executive and a more detailed process of recording has been introduced from which it would be possible to better study the cases. In certain statistical references in the study the total group of 94 illegitimat ely pregnant mothers was included althougi, in some instances, the client had very little contact with tts agency and it was impossible to obtain all of the information asked for on the schedule. In this agency it is not customary to secure detailed family history or information about the alleged father prior to the birth of the baby, and therefore much of the detailed information is not available for those girls who kept their babies or for those who released their children to individuals or to some other agency for adoption. The findings on the cases selected for the purpose of this study will be compared to studies on the unmarried mother and the illegitimately pregnant wanan as obtained through other sources: journals, articles, and theses. Special emphasis will be given to relationship to parents, marital experiences, relationship to alleged father, attitude toward the pregnancy, and.p1ans for the child. Identifying information will include as much detailed information about the mother as is available in the records. All cases used asexamples throughout the thesis are from the study. Material for this study was obtained free the case records of the agency and.supplemented'by conferences with the individual caseworkers who had worked directly with the unmarried mothers or the illegitimately pregnant women. In abstracting the arterial from.the records, particular emphasis was placed on the unmarried.mntherds relationship with.her parents, siblings, relatives, or others during her childhood. What type of parental relationship did she have? Did she have destructive relationships which may have been damaging to her emotional growth? In what type of social, economic land cultural setting did she grow up? The cases were studied with particular regard to four points: family background, circumstances surrounding conception, mother's decision about her baby, and the quality of the women 's personal relationship to both family and other people. It is the purpose of this study to show that the girl's relationship to the key people in her life, her parents, her siblings, and her other family members, laid the foundation and motivations for her illegitimate pregnancy. It is hypothesized that having an illegitimate child is an act of hostility and aggression on the part of the girl toward one or'more of the key people in her family pattern. It is further felt that by better understanding the needs of the girl and.helping her face the reality of her position and her feeling that the agency can do its greatest service to prevent these same girls from having another such pregnancy. In delineating the relative importance of this study it is hoped that some reliable information will be provided to the administration, the staff, and the board of the Lansing Branch of the Michigan Children 's Aid Society to better enable the agency to neet the needs of this particular c]ient--the unmarried or socially illegitimately pregnant woman who comes to a social agency for help. CHAPTER III REIATED SOURCES This chapter relates to materials available on the subject of illegitimate pregnancies and is presented in order to broaden the understanding of this problem. It is a problem that has faced society since the beginning of time, and has affected all classes, races, and creeds. For many reasons the number of children born out of wedlock is increasing . each year, and, more and more , their mothers have good family and educational backgrounds. in article on the Youth Consultation Service of New York City reports that the greatest number of pregnant girls who call for help at the headquarters in lower Manhattan are secretaries, stenographers and clerks; next are teachers, nurses and other professional workers.l Most of the studies concern themselves with the single girl who gives birth to a d1ild out-of-wedlock. However, in the past few years the public has become increasingly aware that this problem is not limited to the unmarried girl, but occurs also to the married, divorced, separated, and widowed women. he problem became especially acute during the war, when many house were broken while the husbands were in the service. u‘Iiae situation is not new, but indications are that it has been aggravated under wartime living with so many men serving in the armed forces overseas for long periods." 1"‘Ihey Help Young Hearts in Trouble," Coronet, February, 1948.- , 2Lyman, Freda Ring, "Children Born Out-of-Wedlock to Married Women,“ Brief Case, Vol. 5, 1945, p. 56. 11 An Ohio study1 , relating to 45 married women who had children by men other than their husbands, indicated that wt of the total 21 were divorced, 10 were married, 8 were separated and 4 widowed at the time of their pregnancy. Other studies on the unmarried mother have included women who had marital experience prior to conceiving an illegitimate child. The extent of married women Who have such pregnancies is unknown. ‘me 'Ihcmas Ske‘lton Harrison Foundation of Philadelphia made a study in‘1935 of the marital status of 212 women brought into the municipal court. Ghey included both white and negro women. Among the total 212 cases they found 82.1 per cent single, 9.9 per cent married, 6.1 per cent widowed and 1.9 per cent divorced.2 A girl is physically capable of intercourse and motherhood at puberty. "Our Western civilization, however, uses every type of pressure to postpone adulthood, with the average marriage taking place after the age of twenty. Hence conflict is inevitable ani, whatever its outcome, the girl is bound to ‘ get hurt. If she submits to social codes, the price of adaptation is frequently paid in neuroses and inhibitions interfering later with normal married life. On the other hmd, unmarried motherhood-arepresenting failure to adapt-- results in serious, often punitive, social and psychological consequegces both for the girl, her fmily, and the alleged father." - iEbert, Lisa, "A Study of 43 Women Who Conceived Children Illegitimately After Marriage," Thesis, Ohio State University, 1950.“ w 2"Unmam'ied Mothers in the Municipal Court of Philadelphia," Thomas Skelton, Harrison Foundation, Philadelphia, 1933. SSchmideberg, Melitta, M.D., "Psychiatric-Social Factors in Young Unmarried Mothers ," §Eocia1 Casework, January, 1951, pp.3-4. 12 'mrough moral disapproval of youthful sex relations, and implicit threats of ostracism for offenders which create various real and unreal anxieties about consequences, society tries to check the “powerful sexual impulses of the young adolescent. " 1 In spite of the various modern attempts at sex education, superstitious anxieties about sex are still strong deterrents. Positive factors that cause less psychologicalharm are: family attachments, idealizations of love and marriage, religion and other ideals, supervisim and the avoidance of excessive erotic stimulation, various forms of sublimations, physical activities, and cultural interests. me most stabilizing factor, however, is the family relationship. Only sufficient affection, security, am companionship can enable the girl to bear the postponement of her impulses satisfactorily. Many girls became promiscuous in wartime because their fathers, brothers and male friends were away. It was not only lack of supervision, but lack of affection and security that made them seek the ccmpany of men, and of a plurality of men, because no one alone could - 2 give than adequate security. w g'Schmideberg, Melitta, op. cit., pp. 3-4. Ibid. 15 There are other reasons for unmarried motherhood: The Kinsey1 and Terman2 reports estimate that from two-thirds to three-quarters of our brides today are non-virgins, and a good part of their premarital experiences take place in early adolescence. The more tolerant attitude of society'has weakened the defenses of young girls and.made it harder for them to resist sex advances. A very protected young girl may be easily seduced because of her innocence. Some girls submit to be popular. Girls of low intelligence are sometimes highly suggestible. Some are, or think they are, so unattractive that they regard the inducement of sex as the only'meane of securing male friendship. Or a young girl is flattered by the attention of an older male, who accepts her as a grown-up only on condition that she have sexual relations with him. Perhaps the most pathetic is the young girl fran a poor home who gives herself in order to get the little luxuries that her parents cannot afford to give her.3 ' "A girl who has lost her self-esteem-«as is so often the case with.unwanted foster children and the unfortunate products of institutions-~takes no pride in her virginity, especially when intercourse is all she can offer to men whose help she needs." lunacy, 1.0... Pomeroy, W.B., and Martin, C.E., smur— BEHAVIOR IN THEJHUMKN MALE,‘W.B. Saunders 00., Ehiladelphia, 1948. zTerman, Lewis M. and others, PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS IN MARITALIHAPPINESS, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New'York, 1938, pp. 27-29, 52, 53. SSchmideberg, melitta, op. cit., pp. 3-4. 4Ibis. 14 ~ ”For girls brought up with strong moral and religious ideas, prostitution or promiscuity is throwing themselves away--a form of social and moral suicide, and because of their guilt they often carry out their sexual activities in the most self-damaging manner, with undesirable men, fre- quently acquiring venereal diseases or illegitimate babies. «1 One situation is the deprived girl who feels a lack of approval by men and accepts any manWho pays her the slightest attentim. There is the girl who is greatly dependent on her mother but occasionally strives for emancipation through the man. Another situation may be that in which marriage is hoped for but not actually accepted as themsn may be iden- tified with a brother or the father. Then there is the mother who is depmdent and fearful of her own aggressive tendencies. She gains satisfaction from the pursuit of the man. Some girls seduce the man in hopes that pregnancy will induce him to marry them. And finally there is the relation- ship based'on love and real plans for marriage where circum- stances may induce unmarried parenthood.2 Thus circumstances often decide Whether a girl has sex- ual relations. Failure to use birth control is due to a mixture of ig- norance and inhibition, plus the additional fact that young people may have difficulty in obtaining contraceptives. The girl depends on the male to use prevention and may be too j lSchmideberg, Melitta, op. cit., PP. 3-5. 2Haymen, Marguerite M. , "Casework Treatment of the Un- Married Mother,“ Washington D.c., Federal Security Agency Children's Bureau, 1949, pp. 3-4. 15 ignorant or too embarrassed to insist on his doing so; and sometimes the young boy huself is inexperienced or irrespon- sible. Contraceptives mean planning ahead which implies more maturity than one can expect from young adolescents, and, too, their use arouses so much guilt that deliberation about whether to use one or not men: often stop the young person from going through with intercourse.1 There is the further step between pregnancy and actually giving birth to the baby. Many girls are too terrified to face the fact of their pregnancy in time to have an abortion. Even when they do face it, the practical and legal obstacles can be insumountable. At the end there is the last tragic alternative for the girl to wipe out her stigma-~infanticide, with its terrible cmsequencesz; or else she must join the ranks of those women who bear illegitimate children. PSYCHOLOGICAL 0 ONE The psychology of the illegitimate ly pregnant woman is exceedingly canplex. Authors generally agree that this prob- lem arises from a conflict in early childhood and may often be traced to tln Oedipal situation. Kasanin and Handschin offer the hypothesis: "that these pregnancies represent hysterical dissocia- tion states in which the girls act out their incest phantasies as an expression of the Oedipal situation.” ISchmideberg, Melitta, op. cit., pp. 3-5. ZIbid. 5Kasanin, J'., and Handshin, Sieglinde, "Psychodynamic Factors in Illegitimacy," Am. J. of Orthopsychiatry, 11, 1941, Po 650 “~—-“‘ -~_— xJ xv l6 Helene Deutsch explains how various individual motiva- tions can result in the birth of an illegitimate child: "The fantasy of the illegitimate child is extra- ordinarily frequent, and its determinants are many and varied: there is the masochistic Cinderella, who punishes herself as a deserted mother; we meet the vindictive 'stroag woman,‘ who takes the child away from the man, and also the bisexual individual who does not even take the man into consideration in her parthenogenic fant as ice . " Florence Clothier outlines five factors ccntributing to the reasons for unmarried motherhood: "Loneliness and emotional starvation are frequently encountered in the background of illegitimacy..... Her impulse may be to keep her baby, in order that, through the baby, her need for human contact may be met..... "Some girls are promiscuous and become pregnant because they are driven by an unconscious impulse to find in reality a figure to play the role of the lov- ing father who was absent from their childhood. Be- hind the promiscuity of these clients lies a deep fear and distrust of men. By winning a man's atten- tion and, in a sense, subjugating him, they allay their on anxiety and at tin same time enjoy the illusion of having found a father figure....." "A not uncommon factor in illegit imscy is a girl's identification with her mother, through which she repeats the storyr of her own birth or the births of younger siblings. ' "In many instances an illegitimate pregnancy serves the girl as a means of punishing her fanin and at the sane time punishing herself for her ag- gressive feelings toward her family....." "Yet another neurotic motive for an unmarried mother's pregnancy is a naroissistic wish to possess a child-"not because she has my regard for the baby's lDeutsch, Helene, PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMEN, Vol. II, Grune and Stratton, New York, 1945, p. 369. 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Through various studies by specialists in the fields of human rela- tions, there have been indicated certain personality mtterns that seem to be fairly common to the illegitimate mother. According to Leontine Young in her institute on ”Understand- ing the Unmarried Mother" ('me Central Regional Conference of the Child Welfare League of America, in Columbus, Ohio, March 15th-17th, 1953), the unmarried mother presents prob- lens that are basic for all people in life. Miss Young feels that here in America we have a curious attitude toward sex; we are at the same time disapproving and teasing. We tell our young people that sex is something that belongs to mar- riage and then we have the "dishonest quality of using sex" to stimulate sales for all sorts of products, food, clothing, books, an! others. It was the topic of sex that made the Kinsey report so popular. Our culture is a form of hypocrisy in which on one hand we tease and excite and on the other hand we have the strictest of moral standards. In our culture our concern is not so much that the girl breaks the moral code but that she presents the tangible‘ proof-«the baby. Our society has many labels that it attaches Ah. A AA L ‘— IClothier, Florence, "Problems of Illegitimacy as They Concern the Worker in the Fields of Adoptions," Mental Hygiene, October 1951, pp. 584-600. 18 to these mothers-~"Ioved not wisely, but too well," "seduced, "over-sexed," "punished forher-sins,u none of which is true. In societies where there are such strict moral rules of con- duct for the single girl, she must exert cmsiderable psychic energy to overcome these inhibitions and conceive a child out of wedlock. What was the motivating factor that prepelled the girl to illegitimate pregnancy? One such factor is when the unmarried mother is still an adolescent. CEhis does not necessarily mean the girl in her teens as there are many "adolescents" who are in their twenties and thirties. The literature is rich in material relating to a girl's emotional development and the problems of adolescence. Helene Deutsch succinctly describes the psychosexual development of a girl as follows: The little girl's earliest identifications are formed with her mother. In a happy family, the child is aware that her mother is loved by her father. She also wants to be loved by him, and, like mother, she wants to have a child. As the normal girl grows up (during adolescence), she gives up her infantile love object, her father, for another man, and later she has a child by himl One sees repeated stress in our literature on the need for understanding the child in this phase of emo- tional development. We are told that parents must recognize that the adolescent girl is a young adult, must treat her as an individual, encourage her to make her own decisions, help 1LDeutsch; Helene, "Motherhood and Sexuality,” Psychoanal- {tic Quarterly, July-October, 1953, pp. 476-488. 19 her when help is genuinely needed, maintain her confidence, be frank about her questions, and give her sex instruction. However, this transition from child to adult does not Just occur in a vacuum.1 'me girl at this adolescent stage of development has many fantasies in the sexual area. She may fantasize that she is a prostitute, a victim of rape, or having a baby. It is when the fantasy breaks through that the girl may seek unmarried motherhood. Helen Deutsch states: ”In the case of all such immature young mothers, we say that the ego is too weak to escape the dangers and temptations of the outside worls or to achieve more favorable conditions under which to satisfy tlm urge for motherhood. {the numerous cases that I have encountered lave always ” involved a weakness of the ego that made it unable to resist the strong psychic dangers otherwige than transference of them to the outside world." " Babette Block, in an article on the unmarried mother, states that in ordinary circumstances a girl patterns her- self after her mother, observing the tie of both sex and love that the mother has to the father. Conforming to the patterns of the mother and making them her own provides emo- tional satisfaction for the girl. During this Irocess, posi- tive values are attached to the actual responsibilities of bringing up children and having a husband. "Even in a normal situation, there are always conflicts to be resolved in \the first pregnancy. lBlock, Babette, n'I‘he Unmarried Mother-«Is She Differentt", me Family, July, 1945, pp. 163-169. 2Deutsch, Helene, M.D., Psychology of Women, N.Y., Grune and Stratton, 1945, Vol. II, p. 540. 20 Every wanan has some ambivalence about assuming the parental role-wanting to be the child herself. During the nine months of pregnancy, me has an op- portunity to adjust to the idea of having a child and to accept new responsibility of caring for the child. She gradually works through her feelings to the satisfactions of motherhood as compensation for giving up her dependency. With the emotional sup- port of her husband she is able to take on the re- sponsibility of caring for the child. However, the unmarried mother's lot is often more difficult. She cannot take advantage'of the period of pregnancy in this same way because of her preoccupation with the additional problem of social censure and undivided responsibility for the child. Instead of having the help of her'mother‘, husband, and the community, she is" entirely alone; and in addition must face condemnation. Her situation really prevents her from using her pregnancy as the final step to ma- turity‘." Some adolescent girls may have an unfavorable identifi- cation with a pregnmt mother or sister or a feeling of vengefulness towards the family. Also there is the girl who feels herself to be in a vacuum and goes out to surround herself with friends. The girl in her need for an affec- tional tie often misinterprets the advances of men as gestures of tenderness and affection. Case 20 Pearl came from an unhappy background and had never had a close friend of either sex when, at nineteen, she made a casual acquaintance of a married (separated) man who worked at the same place she did. He was very inferior to her in intelligence, position, and education. At the time we was living in, a residence with several other girls and she "wanted more thanfflanything else to have dates like the others." Later elm had only disgust and loathing for herself after she had sexual relations on her first date with this man. At the agency she told her worker that her real reason for submitting was because she wanted a ”boyfriend" so she could impress the lBlock, Babette, op. cit., p. 164. 21 other girls and make them a little jealous of her. She felt this would compensate to her for some of the things she felt she had missed in her life. A characteristic, which Dr. Deutsch states is fairly common to a large proportion of unmarried mothers, is a self punishing attitude} ‘ "This seems to be characterized in the mother who compulsively becomes illegitimately pregnant me time or another. Her need for punishment does not seem to be met by one experience of unmarried mother- hood. Too, she often may be the girl who will make the most difficult plans for herself. These women have considerable drive to be disgraced and may nat be as secretive about their condition as others." Sometimes these women for physical reason should not run the risk of having a child. Miss Young gave as an example of this type of behavior the case of a girl, who because of the physical disability was “entitled to a therapeutic abor- tion," but me avoided the certain insistence of her doctor on such action by concealing her pregnancy until she knew it was too late for him to perform the operation--this in spite of the fact that the childbirth might cost her life because she had only one lung and that diseased. This girl concealed her pregnancy fran her doctor although she was seeing him daily for treatment and well knew the risk she was running.5 2"Deutseh, Helene, op. cit., p. 645. aroung, Leontine R., "The Unmarried Mother's Decision About Her Baby,“ Journal 9f Social Casework, pp. 27-34. 3Young, Leontine 11., "Understanding the Unmarried Mother," in Institute at the Central Regional Conference of the Child Welfare League of Anerica, in Columbus, Ohio, 1953. 22 Case 8 Flo, age nineteen, had head surgery at the age of six to remove a second embryo, evidently a demoid cyst, and this affected her so that she did not have proper equilibrium and frequent falls resulted in many broken bones. She had one leg shorter than the other, a bad hearing deficiency, and needed serious dental work. At the agency she told a story of being raped by a man whose first name was Bill. Her family was very protective and helped her through the pregnancy. Preceding the birth of her baby Flo went into a coma and after the child's birth needed to be in an oxygen tent for several days. A ear later Flo's mother came to the agency saying that Flo ad been raped for the secmd time." They knew who was responsible this time and intended to prosecute him on bastardy charges. The doctors who knew her case felt that she could never live through a second pregnancy and a thera- peutic abortion was performed.- m DOMINATING MOTHER The rebellion against a daninating mother can be a strong motivating factor towards unmarried-motherhood. In a study that Leontine Young completed, she found that the ma- jority of unmarried mothers come from homes where the mother is the dominant person and the father either is a weaker person or is emotionally cut off from the child to a greater or lesser degree. I '.To the girls of this group the father is all too often a stranger, the man who pays the bills but is not allowed, or does not attempt, to share intimately in the lives and feelings of his chil- dren. The mother, on the other hand, dominates her daughter's life to an unhealthy degree, is usually possessive and often rejecting and sadistic. This family situation has left its indelible mark upon the girl. Without exception she is overly dependent upon her mother and both resents and embraces that dependency. She is constantly involved in the con- flict between her love and her hate for her mother. host of these girls can openly express one side of the conflict, only a few their hate for the mother, but not one can give any indication that she is con- scious of both the love and the hate. may speak of their mothers as real people whatever their feelings 23 might be, but they talk of their fathers in vague shadowy terms, never resentful, often idealized, so that except fir brief flashes the fathers never seem real at all." Ruth Brenner talking of the study she made in the St. Louis Children's Aid Society says: “When we were confronted with this kind of family situation--the dominant but unfriendly mother Who rejected mr husband and children--we frequently fomd that the father of the unmarried mother was a rather timid, gentle, and friendly person toward whom our unmarried mother turned with all the in- tensity of her dammed up emotion for which her mother denied her the opportunity of expression. What we began to see then was our girl, often in- volved in a triangle relationship with her mother and father, driven to defy her cruel mother, and to express the love she felt for her father by turning to acne other man for the affection she needed but which she could not permit herself to take from her father exceptzwithin the limits of their filial relationship." With these unhappy parental relationships we find the girls who talk about knock-out drops and being dead drunk at the moment of conception. "They cannot take responsibility for what has happened because the I part of the girl is a1m03t entirely submerged and destroyed. And they refer their pregnancy back to their mother, who says, 'I dm't see how this could happen to my daughter.‘ But what the mother really is saying is , ’I don't see how this could have happened to me.' This mother is totally unaware of what is happening to the girl but feels that the family is disgraced. Mother often will take over and make all of the plans to which the girl will agree. The mother will seldom take her hus- band into the plan unless it is for payment of the expense."3 lYoung, Columbia Institute. Brenner, Ruth, “Case Work Service for Unmarried Mothers," Part 1, The Family, November, 1941, pp. 211-219. 3Young, Columbia Institute. 24 Case 12 Isabell, age 15, was referred to the agency by a local physician for maternity home planning. Her mother came to the office first. The following description of the mother is given in the record: "Mrs. I is a masculine appearing woman, very hard to talk with and not definite in any of her statements and reluctant to give any information. She said Isabell has not liked school, and when Mrs. I learned of her daugater's pregnancy she went to the school and informed the principal of it and asked that she be excused. She said Isabell will not tell her who the father of her baby is and each tine has told her a different story. She said she has felt Isabell was close to her arfi felt that she was always truthful with her, however, she has completely given up as to, learning the circumstances of Isabell's pregnancy. She indicated that they would want to press charges against the alleged father if they could determine his identity." "Mrs. I said she is employed on the swing shift at the X plant and that her husband is also employed as a laborer there. She indicated that her husband is not close to any of his children and although he is a man who spends a great deal of time at home, he has never been a good manager or been too interested in his family activities. Mrs. I said they were in not too good financial circunstances but cer- tainly would do what they 'had to‘ as far as assuming finan- cial responsibility for this. She was insistent that there was no plan for Isabell's baby but adoption and she gave the general impression that Isabell's pregancy is 'an inconven- ience' to her. The important thing to her seemed to be that she had to 'lay off' from plant x in order to 'get this straightened up. "' Miss Young has found, the more dominating the mother, the sicker. the girl, because the mother really is rejecting and sadistic and will do everything she can to upset the girl, such as pointing out to her that the baby might die, or that a younger sister or brother is disgraced by this scandal, which really may be known only to the family. Case 6 This is the case of Mrs. Grace B, 16, who was married at the age of 15 to a boy of 17. Grace was four months' pregnant at the time but lost the baby just after the mar- riage. Within a few weeks she was pregnant again but even 25 before the birth of this baby she and her husband had sep- arated. The couple had lived with her parents and Grace continued to live there, leaving the baby for her mother to care for while she went out with various men including her husband. When her daugiter was ten months old, Grace, seven and one-half months! pregnant, was referred to this agency by a maternity home in order that her family might be interviewed for background information. The description of Grace's mother when she came to the , agency as given in we record is as follows: "She seems immature and quite a bit self-centered....one thing is def- inite, she is completely nonplussed as to how to handle her daughter and does not want her own family and her other child interfered with. She speaks of her own nervous condition and is obviously....the kind of woman who demands much attention herself. Several times she spoke of their happy hose and she and her husband's happy marriage, seeming to have a great need to get this point across. She has no understanding of her daugiter'w feelings, no understanding as to how her daugh- ter is in the situation she is in....indications are of a deep rejection of her daughter." Later when talking about her son she showed definite feeling for him and said that her daugh- ter's situation had been upsetting to him and said she didn't want her daughter to return to her home because "we can't do anything that will harm our am." Grace kept her baby and took it to her parents' hone for them to support not seeming too concerned that her husband was going through with divorce proceedings oh the grounds of adultery, or that her mother openly resisted having her come home with the baby. In the case of a dominating mother there is a striking similarity between the girl's relationship to her own father and her relationship to the father of her baby. One cannot escape the conclusion that she is in one sense seeking her own father and that the father of her baby is a kind of biol- ogical tool, unimportant to her as a person. He may be someone she met in a casual fashion, a "pick-up," or a "blind date." Often the girl does not even know his name. Her lack of interest in him is a natural and inevitable outcome and not a deliberate evasion of her feeling for him. a... n . . . .,e . . _ 4 . .-* u . . e. a . - ,. u 26 These mothers have conceived and borne a baby for def- inite, unconscious purposes of their own, and the problem is how to achieve these purposes with the baby as the tool. The girl wants to give the baby to her own mother. And where the girl's mother will take her and the baby hone, she will not consider any other plan. This is true regardless of how un- happy that home has been for the girl, and will continue to be. One can only assume‘that giving a baby to the mother represents one of the unconscious purposes. "With this one action the girl expresses both her hate and her love for the mother. What better revenge can she devise against a reject- ing mother than to bear an illegitimate“ child and place the responsibility for his care upon her mother's shoulders?" Miss Young questions "in what more complete way can the girl express her love for and her dependency upon her mother, and assuage ter guilt toward her mother, than to give her mother her baby, a tangible evidence of her deep, unconscious tie as well as a symbol of her own desire to be again an infant cared for by the mother?"1 Miss Young told of one girl who was bitterly antagonistic toward a very rejecting and hostile mother. She spent months with her baby in a maternity shelter trying to force her mother to take the baby home. She refused to make any other plans and, when it became necessary for her to move, she took lYoung, op. cit., pp. 50-33, and the Columbus Institute. 2'7 a room with the baby and applied for Aid to Dependent Children. She was prepared to continue an endurance contest until her mother capitulated. These girls who have very punitive mothers can never- break from mother; they live with her most of their lives, and usually work bola the level of their intelligence. If the girl wants her mother to take the child but the mother refuses, the girl will give the child to anyone as soon as she accepts the fact that the mother will not take her baby. The girl feels that she‘has failed because the child does not serve the purpose for which she bore him--that of a gift to her own mother.1 THE DOIQNATING FATHER In reverse of the dominant mother factor in unmarried motherhood, we encounter the dominating father. The alleged father-in this situation is often a cruel and domineering male. These girls often have more definite recollections of the alleged father than do the ones of dominating mothers. They also have more conflict about the plans for the baby. They do not have the strong drive to return it to their mother's and are less determined in their course of action. Miss Young in her studies has found that in these cases the girls describe the father as a stern, unsympathetic person whose chief role, in relation to the girl, is that of discip- linarian. He is overly strict in his demands upon her, has 11b 16. . 28 no understanding of her needs as opposed to his wishes, and in some cases is very' abusive. Their mother they describe usually as a rather ineffectual person who rarely attempts to oppose her husband's authority. A few are very protective toward their mothers, since in these families the father is openly abusive not only to the children but to the mother as well. These unmarried mothers cannot tell their mothers about the baby because mother would have to tell father who would in turn blue her. The mothers of these girls even if they know of the pregnancy never visit the girls at the ma- ternity home. At the Institute Miss Young said that other girls from this background refer to their mothers as "just like a sister to me,” but there is little indication of real closeness or warmth in their relationship. These mothers may be described as taking the girl's part but this is done on a childish basis. The mother may slip the girl out to ‘go to a party or to meet a lover which is against the father's wishes. These girls will talk about their fathers and will give a strong picture of the kind of person he is but their mothers emerge from their scattered and brief descriptions as shadowy figures with little reality. Seemingly they were rather cold women and certainly they had no discernibly close relation- ship to their daughters.1 _“ lYoung, Columbus Institute . 29 Case 22 Gladys Q's parents were married seven and one-half months when she was born. Her father was not accepted by the mother's family and there was-much opposition to the mar- riage. The added responsibility of a family necessitated Mr. Q's dropping out of college and accepting a mediocre job which left the maternal grandmother needing to help with the expense of the baby. Mir. Q was a cruel, domineering man who directed all of his hatred and frustration toward his oldest daughter. He beat her, deprived her of companionship and childhood experi- ences, and indirectly seduced her by exposing his genitals to her on a few occasions. According to Gladys she had not ex- pected her mother to intervene in her behalf because she real- ized it would have been useless for her mother to protest. Her mother was always giving her things and helping her slip out to go sonsplace with tlm promise that Gladys would not tell her father. Gladys was 19 when she became pregnant. She said she could not tell her father as she felt he would make ”life unbearable for her" if he know. She felt also she could not discuss her pregnancy with her mother because her mother would feel that she had failed as a mother, also Gladys was "afraid that her mother would say something to her father about the pregnancy.” She knew also that her mother preferred the father to Gladys and would accept his attitude regardless of what happened to Gladys. ‘\ Although Gladys' mother was not aware of her pregnancy, she did not write or make any inquiry as to whether Gladys was living or dead during the year and a half Gladys was working away fran home. ' Gladys' baby was placed for adoption and no member of her family knows that it was born. The majority of these unmarried mothers with daninating fathers have more awareness of the fathers of their children, however casually they may have known them. Observing them one gets the impression that they are trying unconsciously either to deny their own fathers by picking a virtual stranger or to re-experience with a lover much the same kind of maso- chistic relationship they had with their own father. 30 The kind of men these girls select for the fathers of their children is significant. "He is more than the faceless, haphazard choice of an evening-era week-end; he is quite likely to be a later edition of those same traits that the girl so fears aid resents in her own father. "1 This girl feels that only men are important. (The girl with the dominant mother feels that only wonen are important.) These girls are the world's finest masochists and they like a man who kicks them around. This kind of girl does not want to give the baby to either parent. She does not want her father to kncw but often will not leave home until she is five months' pregnant. The girl will want to make sure that the father knows but everyone pretends that nothing is any different than it was before, the father will never say anything about what he knows. ”Many of the girls with dominating fathers want to make the man pay. They won't give up the baby because they want to use him as a club over the al- leged father. If she keeps her baby she hounds the father for money and support, but if he shows too much interest in the child she will give the baby up for adoption. She will abandon her child if she meets another man age thinks will give her more than the baby's father. 1" A . . ”Personality Patterns in Unmarried Mothers," 'Ih____e_ Family, December 1945, Reprinted in "Understanding the Psy- ogy of the Unmarried Mother," Family Service Association of America, pp. 7-15. 2Young, Columbus Institute. 9 51 "When the girl conceals her condition from the father of her child, usually two factors are opera- ting. First, She is fearful of rebuff and desertion by'the man. She may build up many defenses as to why she does not inform him which usually appear in the attitude of sparing him responsibility, recog- nition or embarrassment. The other motive-is her denial of a positive feeling for the man. Her sense of guilt may cause {his denial as well as other com- plicating factors." Closely aligned with.this is the girl who denies the father of her child because she feels she herself produced the child. This girl, unlike the above, can be extremely punishing of the father of her child, feeling considerable hostility because he'was indispensable in the act of producing the child. These unmarried mothers often cling tenaciously to the child, looking on him as their possession and becoming over-indulgent mothers. There are families who have a pattern for disorganiza- tion; these are the families where there are a number of un- married mothers, or second, third, and fourth generations of illegitimacy.2 One of the most frequent motives for illegitimate preg- nancy in these homes is the girl's identification with her mother in the same situation. The girl‘Who learns of her own illegitimacy is often very disturbed, and her moflner plays an extraordinary role in her fantasies. Especially in adoles- cense these fantasies about her mother's pregnancy'become sexually exciting and may set a pattern for the girl's own 1Deutsch, op. cit., p. 551. zYoung, Columbus Institute. 52 behavior. Dr. Frenchl feels that if in treatment the worker could get to the role the mother plays in the girl's fantasies there would be a better chance to stop the chain of illegiti- mate pregnancies in successive generations. THE MARRIED WOT/IA}; "Basically the married woman who has a child out-of-wedlock is sicker and harder to work with than the unmarried mother. She is sicker because she has more to lose. Society is very harsh with this girl. Fear that in-laws will know and that a legitimate child will be taken away from her is very real. The pressures upon her to get rid of the chéld obscure the underlying needs to get preg- nant." Many of these women have failed during years of married life to have a child but become pregnant very quickly-~some- times after having had intercourse only once or twice-~by a man other than their husband. While a factor of possible sterility of the husband has not been sufficiently studied to eliminate it, actually the frequency of this situation gives ample indication that sterility of the man is hardly a probable explanation. Interesting and illuminating in this connection was the case Miss Young told of a girl married for over a year to a serviceman who had been sent overseas, about six months before she became pregnant by a man many years older than herself. She and her husband had wanted very much to have a child before he went away, but she could not lFrench, Thomas M., M.D., "The Importance of the First Interview with the Unmarried Mother," Assistant Director Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis, 1952. 2Young , Columbus Ins titute . 33 become pregnant. They went to a doctor who, after examining both of them, stated that the husband was perfectly normal but that the girl would need an operation before she could bear a child. She decided to wait until her husband's return from the war before undergoing so serious an operation. A few months after her husband's departure she met this older man whom she knew very briefly, had intercourse with him only twice, and promptly became pregnant. The legal complications are involved in these situations because the woman usually wants to keep the story from her husband. She is always re jective of the alleged father. THE PUTATIVE FATHER A very important factor in unmarried motherhood, but one often given little concern by social agencies, is the alleged father. There seems to be a dearth of literature concerning him and his feelings in the total situation. There has been some legislative attention to the man, usually con- cerning procedures for establishing paternity and obtaining support. But in the casework agencies the putative father is seldom soon because of his anxiety over his role in the pregnancy. It is only in the course of treatment for other problems that certain factors in his personality have been unearthed. During the war and poet-war era, army psychia- trists found many of the men bringing up feelings of guilt and worry about unmarried parenthood in relation to other problems for which they had been referred. 34 In our culture, a so-called "double standard" exists; that is, sexual aggressiveness is more permitted to the male and so there is less guilt attached to the sexual act itself. Also, the male can be freer because of the absence of direct consequences related to pregnancy. It is also probable that the unmarried mother has less actual pleasure in the sexual act, particularly in adolescence. Since responsibility for pregnancy is always open to question, there is less feeling of moral obligation on the part of the male. Dr. Smuel Futterman and Miss Jean Livermore in their work with veterans found that many married men who became fathers overseas had strong desires to take their children back to the States to be adopted by their American wives. Especially if they had no children by their marriages, these offspring represented for them signs of their own potency and were an expression of hostility toward their own infertile wives.l What are some of the psychological factors involved in unmarried fatherhood? Miss Young feels that the unmarried father is the coun- terpart of the unmarried mother. 'She says they match in baclground and "underlying psychological causes and but for the fact that he was born a male he would have been an un- marrie d mother. "2 1Futterman, Samuel, and Livermore, Jean, "Putative Fathers," Journal 93 Social Casework, May, 1947, pp. 174-175. 2Young, Columbus Institute. {>6 {statute "highest 9. aid-sob" beiiao~m s \ NIT-"it!!! wee a}: stag; ed: 03' bet/dimmeq atom a}. seemevi assuage Lemma .3: Jam? mutt ties latrines arid, a: be.“ on is 3421113 asei’ 9.1- stasis 03 has innit to sausage anti ”:9 easesei'5coa'12b ed £382 eiam 91H ,oaia .‘i‘sqs swedo'zq oais sf. :rI , otmnue'zq 9.1 beflsiea: aesaeupeamos _ Imus sci: {mi emaseiq. is»? as asei 2351' '2:st on be iewsnmu and ' mt {éflkflamoqeeu eomia ..eome:.~raeioha mi whats-airway .303 gaitse'i caster emetic! ,moiiaenp 03' :1er agents -.:i. zsmage'xq _ _ am: eda‘ ‘10 31-361 edit on moidsgiido Eamom lo tied: mi. momaviJ meet. sam bus nememrfii lemma? .13 ensued arm men: 95mm than: 32st: ennui ensue; at {it it: :Amow new do mess 61183.03 ae'xiaeb amide had use amevo auedin'i .aaviw ”emu mam 2d hedqobe ed 0:! sets: erH ed n’oad eaafld‘ ,aegeiufim misfit? yd meuhi trio on 5552 vans" Lt miisioaqax meson} mwc uiedi 3o BCQgId med: moi hemeaewqem greirxcaito etisme‘imi mm nuns Murat! zdiiiiaom '10 moiaaeque as emew has 2' ‘ t ' .. _ '- I J‘.sevi‘-v ai‘fihéfltavmt-exod eel" Isolaoiods‘zaq edit '10 same e-xs 3‘3:qu ._ . ' tbood’xedfis‘i bei'msmszn mood: at 36:13:33. bei'i'mmu Edi 331i? a}: ee‘i saucy aeiM 'gqifiiqtem weds eyes «18' .ueda‘om heimsmsu am ‘10 Marga. : . is}.~$itd,.'bms. segues Isoigoiods'gaq gaitt'zehmu" has namesake-d was“: as need? eved Mums ed ei'sm' s mudc’ saw est Sent 3033'. add C?” ' “ .mhyom barman .uedee'»: endgame" asst ,ethn. 'ggme. Jeanna .xmmesaual .aV‘L-N’ .qq Jfiggf- ~ _ gs‘hug '10 Issued 3;}. 'W .. Safe" ‘ . ~ «Ev"3$5~5‘“‘ a..- ~ 35 Normn Reider writes that the alleged father may be acting out an unresolved oedipal conflict. The putative father may need to prove his virility by actually having a child without the complications and responsibilities of the 1 "Another may be the man who feels marriage relationship. he has the biological prerogative to go over the face of the earth planting his seed and be above the earthly implications of responsibility for the act."2 Becoming a putative father represents an acting out of both impotency fears and performance fears in those individu- als who have a great deal of insecurity in that area. It might also be stated that in men with a latent homosexual tendency the impregnation of the woman represents external proof of heterosexuality.3 lhere is also the individual, who because of his own feelings of inadequacy can see pregnancy as his only way of inducing the girl to marry him.4 Many neurotics cannot as- sume conscious responsibility for their decisions, so that assuming the role of putative father sort of prepels them into marriage. lReider, Norman, "The Unmarried Father ," Anerican Journal of Orthopsychiatrl, XVIII, April, 48, p. 233. zFutterman, Samuel, M.D., and Livermore, Jean, op. cit., p. 175. 3339., p. 1'76. 4Reider, Norman, op. cit., p. 255. 36 Rather frequently with the unmarried mother there have been real or fantasied seductions by the father. So with the putative father, it seems that the acting out is facilitated if his own mother has been over-permissive in her attachment and almost contractual in her relationship with her son. In our culture we find incestuous relations between father and daughter more frequently than between mother and son.1 The latter is the more taboo. Children seldcm feel that their mothers had any defloration. Herein may lie one explanation for the seeming paradox that the unmarried mother can have intercourse with the man and then idealize him in the concept of a father, whereas the putative father does not go through this idealizing of the woman. The very fact that he has sexual intercourse with her removes her from his fantasies about his own mother, for there is defloration and then, of course, the pregnancy and delivery. Dr. Futterman agrees with Miss Young in saying that the fundamental psychology of the putative father is similar to that of the unmarried mother. He feels there is suspicion and distrust of the unloving parent of the same sex and im- pulsive identification With that parent which involves an act- ing out of oedipal fantasies. The more the reality situation Justifies the hatred of the parent, the greater seems this acting out tendency. The unmarried mother has a greater need lFutterman, Samuel, M.D., and Liver-more, Jean, op. cit., pp. 176-177. . 5'7 to fantasize about the putative father, for she has with her the tangible evidence of the sexual contact. But there is also the fact that the father-daughter relationship is more incestuous, so the unmarried mother does not separate her sexual partner so much from her fantasies about her own father.1 In giving service to both of the unmarried parents the worker should be aware of the psychological factors that can be involved in the unmarried father. Aside from the uncon- scious motivations of the father, what are some of his con- scious feelings regarding the situation in-which he finds himself? Upon learning that the girl is pregnant, the alleged father may feel a tremendous amount of guilt and exert him- self to make amends. This may result in an ill-advised marriage or considerable exploitation of him by the girl or her family.2 The reverse of this is the man who vehemently denies paternity and responsibility, going to great lengths to keep from assuming any responsibility. Case 54 Mr. B went so far to prove that he was not the father of Mrs. J's baby that he got five friends to spread the story that they, too, had had sexual relations with her. Case 5 Mr. H claimed that he could not be responsible for Miss E's condition because he knew that he was sterile. 11mm, pp. 177-178. ZReider, Norman, op. cit., p. 255. 38 Cases 12, 16, and 26 Some of the reasons these men offered as proof of their sterility were that they had had an operation, an injury, or an illness such as mumps, or that their wives had never became impregnated and that examination had shown their sperm count to be too low. According to Mr. Reiderl this man feels that he has been the "victim of an unscrupulous female or has fallen into a trap that is a blow to his male ego." Between these two points lies a variance of attitudes that the alleged father may exhibit in demonstrating hisfeelings. CASEWORK SERVICES To THE ILLEGITIMATELY PREGNANT WOMAN According to Thomas M. French2 the unmarried mother re- quires more skilled handling than almost any other type of case with which the social worker has to deal. The unmarried mother comes to the first interview feeling guilty because of condemnation by the community. She mobilizes her defenses to protect herself from the anxiety caused by the overwhelming situation with which she is confronted. She may react in a variety of ways--showing dependence, over compensation, hos- tility, or suspiciousness. I No other type of case requires the worker to get in rap- port with the client's feelings more quickly. If the worker does not achieve this initially, the worker may never have another opportunity. 11pm. zF‘rom notes taken on an address by French, Thomas, M.D., on "The Importance of the First Interview with the Unmarried Mother" at the Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis. 39 The cases are all different; no two are alike. In addi- tion to the great variation in presenting attitudes of unmar- ried mothers there is also great variation in regard to the meaning the child has for them. A worker who is particularly flexible, sensitive, alert, and skilled is needed for this type of case. A worker who is'alert to very subtle signs to. determine quickly what the problem really is. Another vital concern for the caseworker is to be aware of herself and her feelings and needs in relation to unmar- ried mot herhood. 1 Does’ she essentially have a puritanical background and only look at the girl in a hostile or "rescue" attitude? Is there a need to have a girl decide on a certain plan or express certain feelings about her situation? The caseworka' can meet many of her needs in the sexual area in the'relationships with the unmarried mother. It is vitally important to the integrity of the work with the unmarried mother that the caseworker be aware of herself. With an awareness of self the caseworker can then use her relation- ship with the client as a useful tool in giving good service. The unmarried mother should be approached with respect and flexibility. She is an individual and has the rigit to de- cide for herself what she will or will not do. In the worker's own need to help the unmarried mother, she may assume too much and take the initiative away from the girl. Thench, Chicago Institute 4O Unmarried motherhood is a part of a total life situa- tion and can not be considered separately. The caseworker can become so engrossed in the immediate situation that she forgets the girl had a life before this incident and will continue to have one after. Only by looking at the unmarried mother in relation to a total personality and.life experience are workers going to be able to give intelligent and valid service. "Throughout'the relationship the caseworker should seek to understand the feelings of fine unmarried mother’and to acknowledge their reality without imposing her own values or meeting her own needs. Effective casework treatment de- pends upon the caseworker's having not mly skill and experi- ence but also an ability to understand people which can only come through understanding herself. 'The worker is there to help the client face her realities, to help her utilize her own capacity to deal with.her problem, to provide a setting which keeps elements of frustration from growing so great that the girl is lose in them. The caseworker does not try to save the girl from facing her real prdblem; rather she gives her the Opportunity to use her strength in working out a plan that she herself can accept and be responsible for."1 The worker is charged with.the responsibility of being able to help the girl face her situation and to realistically J‘Blethen, Erma 0., "Casework Service to a Florence Crittenton Home," The Family, November, 1942, p. 251. 41 carry through her own plans. Essential to this is the caseworker's understanding and acceptance of the client as an individual. Relationship then is the base of service and must be established individually with each client. The caseworker may take the role of a mother substitute, a big sister or a father substitute. It is then up to the caseworker to use this as a tool in helping the mother meet, and make adjust- ments to her present situation and the problems involved. The intake process is another function in the counseling service. During the intake interview, the worker, hopefully, establiShes a rapport with.the client. At this time the client is usually more concerned with the immediate problem. Here she has the opportunity to present her sitmtion, her feelings about it and what, if any, plans she has to meet it. The caseworker out lines to the unmarried mother the function of the agency and some of the ways that it may be able to help her. The client's willingness and ability to determine whether or not she can use the agency's services. The case worker can help her see how she may best use these services by giving a clear and concise interpretation to the unmarried mother. The initial interview with.the client whose problem is illegitimate pregnancy is of such great importance that it may determine whether or not the girl is going to continue on with the agency. The problems peculiar to this client 42 have a particular effect upon the girl which must be taken into account in the worker's dealing with her. The girl may be overwhelmed by the enormity of the problems suddenly facing her, uncertain of her ability to deal with them, and appre- hensive about the worker's reaction. She may have been under so much emotional strain that she will expect the worker to condemn her as others have. Other factors which the worker must consider are the physical as well as psychological changes of the pregnancy itself. Because the needs of these women are so great the worker should know what community resources are immediately available. Then there is no delay or hesitation in proceeding with plans. Delays, misdirection, uncertainties, or a poor selection of community resources all tend to reinforce a girl's feelings of tension and anxiety. Moving ahead quickly and with assurance tends to reinforce the feelings of being accepted and thus helps to relieve the strain. Mildred Corner in her article on this subject says: "The worker must have a well integrated ap- proach, which makes for sound and quick orienta- tion in any situation. In addition, she must not only have implemented that knowledge and skill by being sensitive and responsive to the particular problems of the unmarried mother, but must also have so thoroughly assimilated such additional un- derstanding that she is able to use it to establish rapport quickly and to move ahead immediately with assurance." Intake in some agencies must be devoted in part to es- tablishing eligibility for service. This can and should be handled with the aim of giving service if possible rather 45 than of escaping responsibility. Oftentimes at intake, when an effort is being made to establish contact, a collection of factual data for record may'be taken. This can‘be a very frustrating routine for the girl. Ruth F. Brenner puts it this way in her observations of the intake process: ”For exanple, the girl who is three months pregnant, frantic with worry and anxiety as to how she is to make provision for herself during her pregnancy, is in no mood to tell where her father and mother were born, or how far they went in school. Yet formerly we would sanetimes begin our initial interviews attempting to get family history instead of relating ourselves to the client's pres- ent anxiety." Also the girl in giving factual information about her life, in her anxiety for concealment, may give and create falsehoods before a relationship has been established. Later considerable guilt and blocking can develop if a close asso- ciation has occurred between the*worker and the unmarried mother. In the intake process the caseworker deals with that material that is foremost and anxietybproducing in the unmar- ried mother's mind and endeavors to establish a rapport that will sustain the gir1.through her problem. At intake the gir1.and her problem meet the worker and her services, a re- lationship is established.and a realistic discussion of the problem and possible solutions is carried forth. The worker helps the girl to make the initial adjustment to the reality 1Brenner, op. cit., p. 5. 44 of the situation. Some of the anxiety and frustrations aroused may be relieved when the girl finds an uncondemning and professional person to share the burden of her problem. The worker may represent to the client a love object of which she formerly was deprived, e.g., mother. The earlier in the pregnancy that the intake counseling is available the better the chance that good rapport and realistic plans may be thought out before the birth of the child. Through public awareness and gency referral this can be brought about. For the purpose of this thesis the writer has divided the casework services into six different areas. This is for simplification and is not intended to convey that these areas are sharply defined. In fact they are very complexly inter- woven in any total program of casework service to unmarried mothers. These areas are: counseling, planning for medical care, financial planning, planning for the child, the alleged father, and legal aid. 1. QQUNSELING: Counseling'is possibly the most useful tool in casework service to the unmarried mother. No other area can be more affected by the worker's own personality and feelings. It is difficult to conceive any services to the client without the use of counseling. Inherent in any counseling situation is the establishment of a relationship between the parties concerned. This is the key to the total process and without a relationship nothing can be accomplished. During the first 45 interview the worker should strive to establish a working relationship with the girl and then maintain this and strengthen it throughout the period of contact with the client. What is the nature of this relationship? Babette Block points out: "TIE main trend in treatment, however simple or involved the process must be, is focused on the work- er's supplying the deficiencies in the client's own mother." The caseworker in this may take on the role of a mother figure to the unmarried mother, supplying that measure of ac- ceptance that the girl lacked from her own mother.2 Instances in which the girl is immature and young make this very useful in helping her resolve some of her conflicts and accept the reality of her situation. The caseworker in this role should be wholly aware that she can beccme over-protective and fos- ter an unwholesome dependent relationship in the girl. Erma C. Blethan comments on relationship in this way: "During the period that the unmarried mother is in cont act with the agency, she will have a sustained counseling relationship with the caseworker. This is interwoven with all of the other casework services. One of the primary purposes of the worker is to aid the girl to arrive at a better understanding of her- self and her relation to others." The girl's relationships to key people in her life should be explored to help her gain a better understanding ;Block, Babette, op. cit., p. 168. 2Schertza, Frances 11., "Taking Sides in the Unmarried Mother's Conflict," Journal 93.: Social Casework, February, 1947, p. 58. 46 of these, and to provide for her new channels of satisfac- tion. This in turn may partially compensate for the depriva- tion of love that she had previously experienced.1 The girl's early relationship with her parents can often give a clue to her personality and.present problems. This also can give in- sight into the reasons a girl makes a particular plan for her child, and an understanding of her'feelings for her child.2’3 The caseworker with her knowledge of family patterns can aid the unmarried mother and gain an understanding of her place in the family constellation. Along with a better understand- ing of self and relationships with others the unmarried mother needs to build self respect. The caseworker, by her non- judgmental acceptance of the girl, can give an enormous boost to the girl's self respect. Community attitudes, which also play an important part in self evaluation, often need inter- pretation by the caseworker. Protection of the girl from these will not help the girl make an adjustment to the reality hmplications of‘her situation. Another part of the counseling services involves the utilization of available community resources. These hopefully will include psychiatric services, vocational guidance, 1Brenner, op. cit., p. l4. 21bid. , p. 13. 5Young, Leontine R., ”The Unmarried.tbther's Decision About Her Baby," Journal of Social Casework, January, 1947, Pp 0 27-34 0 4'7 recreational facilities, sources of financial assistance, and prenatal and post-partum medical care. It is the re- sponsibility of the caseworker to bring these into the plan- ning with the girl, giving her help in making the best pos- sible use of them. The principle aim of counseling is to help the unmarried mother become a self-sufficient individual by making the best possible adjustment to society and the reality of her problem. The caseworker with her knowledge of the psychological devel- opment of the individual and environmental influences can give the unmarried mother the interpretations that will help effect this adjustment. To give intelligent and. valuable service, the caseworker must be acutely aware of herself and her own feelings in the area of unmarried motherhood. This is essential for one of the most basic concepts of social work, that of acceptance of the persm and a firm belief in the individual's rigit to self determination. Effective counseling with the unmarried mother cannot be done without a sound relationship. 2. PLANNING FOR MEDICAL CARE: We come next to medical planning which is a necessary part of any program for unmarried mothers, since the pregnant situation is also a medical problem. This is one phase of unmarried mother service which needs prompt attention, as the time for arranging medical services is limited. For the health and protection of both the mother and the child, a competent 48 and adequate medical program should be available. This pro- gram would include prenatal examinations and care, confine- ment and delivery care, post-partum and infant services and those specialized services that may be needed. Many girls because of their guilt and wish for conceal- ment will have had little medical care before reaching the social agency. Some may go up to the day of delivery without having had any medical attention. Many of these situations work out all right, but the dangers involved are too great to take unnecessary risk. In discussing medical plans with the unmarried mother, the worker should be aware of the care the girl may or may not have had before caning to the agency. Some girls have been under the care of their own physician and wish to continue with this. They may have their medical plans carefully worked out and need little service in this area from tts caseworker. The majority of the unmarried mothers coming to the social agency are considerably anxious about their medical care. It is important from both the physical and emotional standpoints that the unmarried mother make contact with the agency as early in her pregnancy as possible. An agency, if it is going to attempt to be of service to the unmarried mothers, must have some resources for prenatal care. In the prenatal period the unmarried mother is often very anxious and fearful of the medical examinations and the coming delivery of her child. The caseworker should discuss 49 with her what will be involved and attempt to relieve as much of the anxiety and fear as possible. This necessitates a clear understmding of the medical implications of pregnancy, but does not mean that the caseworker is to give medical ad- vice. Often because of a self-destructive tendency or non- acceptmce of her pregnant condition, the unmarried mother 1 Here may not follow the advice of the medical authorities. again the caseworker needs to utilize her skill in inter- preting to tie mother the need to care for herself and to accept the state of her pregnancy. The worker and the mother will also be discussing, during this period, the medical needs for her and her child after delivery. For the inexperienced unmarried mother this can be a very valuable service. There are some communities where child care courses or instruction are offered to the new mothers. Many maternity home programs have infant and child care classes available to the girls. Also the public health department may give service to the mother in helping herlearn the art of infant care.2 Whatever the resources may be,- it is the responsibility of the worker to see that the expectant unmarried mother has the opportunity to receive some help in learning how to care for her child after it is born. Even 1'Deutsch, op. cit., p. 345. 2"Services for Unmarried Mothers and Their Children," Washington D.C., U.S. Dept. of Labor Children's Bureau, 1945, Pp. 10-110 50 for those mothers who, at early contact, are not planning to keep their child, this may be a valuable service, as at some later date they may change their decision. At the time of delivery the unmarried mother should have the same medical services available to her as are avail- able to the married woman. The social agency with whom the unmarried mother is associated has the responsibility of see- ing that these services are provided. After the mother returns from the hospital she may need the help of the caseworker in planning for the medical care of herself and her child. One sees then the caseworker help- ing the unmarried mother to make her medical plans in a real- istic and practical way. This requires skill on the part of the worker in dealing with the emotional factors and a thor- ough knowledge of the medical implications of pregnancy. She follows step by step with the girl through her planning, giv- ing her support in decisions that are realistic and interpre- tations of the medical situation at the points of confusion and hesitation. There are many resources that the worker may need to draw upon: doctors, nurses, maternity homes, clinics, special care facilities and others which will help the girl reach a satisfactory adjustment to the health re- quirements of the pregnancy. The worker also utilizes all of these services in aiding the girl to reach a plan of care for herself and her child after the birth. 51 :5. FINANCIAL Pmmm‘gz Another important area of service to the unmarried mother is giving aid in working out her financial plans. So often the type of service may hinge on the girl's available finan- cial resources. Lack of adequate funds can be very anxiety- producing to the girl, giving rise to a great deal of frus- tration. The unmarried mother who has sufficient funds to see her through her situation has one less problem to face than the girl who has either limited or no financial resources. In planning with the unmarried mother, the worker will want to go carefully over the real resources of financial as- sistance. Real resources of the girl, available under ordin- ary circumstances, might not be available under her present condition because of her wish for concealment. Sometimes, with help and understanding, the girl may be able to release some of her fear and utilize these resources. But they should not be called upon against her will as it could jeopardize her future adjustment. After the worker and client have gone over financial resources and evaluated them, it is necessary to bring them into intelligent use. Whether it be public funds, private agency funds, relative assistance or other resources, the girl has the right to use them herself. The worker, before reaching a financial agreement with the client, should work out a budget with her so that she may have the opportunity to see where her money is going and also feel that it is suited to her individually. 52 As in dealing with other clients, the worker with the unmarried mother should be aware of What meaning money has for the girl and.what influence a certain type of plan may have on her. Ruth Brenner in her article on the unmarried mother sees money as a useful tool in working with the client. She states that workers often gravitated to either one of two extremes. These are, strict insistence of full payment or over-protection of the client. She feels a reasonable budget, permitting a normal living without sacrificing all for the child, should be realistically reached with the mother. This may help the mother view her child not as a burden but rather as a.human'being or see the realistic demands of caring for a child and.be able to give a complete release.l Mbney'may also mean other things to the girl, such as power, a means of acceptance, a security, love, and.so forth. Whatever it means to her, it will be helpful to the caseworker in assisting in financial planning to be well aware of this and.to utilize it to further her understanding of the client. In all events the use of money with the unmarried mother should be to help her plan intelligently and not be employed as a cudgel or en- ticement to accent a preferred plan of'the agency or worker. 4. PLANNING FOR THE CHIIQ: ‘We now come to an area of service that seems to be one of the greatest concerns in working with the unmarried mother, lBrenner, op. cit., p. 15. ,v. 53 that concerning the decision for permanent plans for the child. Social work has swung the pendulum back and forth from having the girl relinquish her child to keeping the child under all circumstances. At present we seem to be at the point of helping the mother make a decision that is most applicable to her own individual situation. Before intelli- gent help can be given to the unmarried mother in making her plans for the child, the social worker must be aware ard un- derstand the psychological and social factors involved.1 What were the personality patterns of this mother'before and during the pregnancy? What was her reaction to the preg- nancy? Was it rejected, anticipated, frustratingfl Also the worker needs to understand.the girl's feelings toward the coming or already'born child. Are these feelings healthy and are they predictive of a certain plan? The decision must rest on a sound reality for.both the mother and the child. ,As one author comments: "No decision in life is made on the merits of a given problem but is a composite of the individual's personality and past experience and their‘relation to the immediate situation. The unmarried mother's ap- proach to the decision is in relation to internal psy- chological patterns more than external realities. Caseworkers must keep in mind psychological factors "yet keep the client focused on the reality of the sit- uation. The solution must conform to the reality of the world in which.we live or it is no solution.'2 1Shertz, op. cit., p. 61. 2 ‘Young, op. cit., p. 27. 54 The unmarried.mother's attitude toward her child is often significant of’the success or failure of a specific plan. The client may see the child as a tool to use in de- fiance of her parents, or as her sole possession. The child may be an object of all her sins and guilt feelings and must be punished and made to suffer which results in a complete rejection of his existence.1 The caseworker's early recog- nition of these and other attitudes will give considerable aid to helping the girl reach a realistic solution. With some insight into her attitudes, the girl may be able to free herself to follow the course of action that she really feels is best for her. This process takes considerable skill of action that she really feels is best for her. This process takes considerable skill in timing and evaluation on the worker's part and needs to be adroitly handled. Initially the unmarried mother may have one of three plans regarding her baby. These are the decision to keep her*child, to place him for adoption, or undecided. Some- times the social worker because of eagerness to permit self determination or because of her own personal confusion, will steer the unmarried mother away from discussion of her plans for the child while she is still in her pregnancy. It may be that the worker hopes after the mother sees her child that a bond will develop and she will then want to keep it. 1Brenner, op. cit., p. 13. 55 By refusing to discuss with the girl her’plans for the child, the worker may actually increase the girl's frustration and confusion. Changes in initial plans are to'be expected, but when the time comes for the final decision the mother will have had the benefit of previous thought and discussion to help her reach her decision. Fhr the unmarried.mother who plans to keep her child, there are many practical realities that are going to have to be faced. How is she going to explain his presence to her community? ‘What living arrangements are going to be made? Who will provide financial support? What effect on her fu- ture is this going to have? How will she explain to the child the fact of her birth? In addition to some of these questions the caseworker will want to ask herself what the child is going to mean to the mother. Is this going to be best for both the mother and the child? These are but a few of’the many questions that should be answered in reaching a decision to keep the child. Are there any traits or patterns that can help the‘worker evaluate whether or not the unmar- ried mother may be successful in keeping her’child? A study by Jane S. Hosmer suggests that there are three traits that can be of help in determining success. These are: "The girl's personal adjustment prior to her pregnancy, the psychological healthiness of her home conditions, and the degfee of maturity in her atti- tude to her pregnancy. *Hosmer, Jane 8., "Traits Predictive of the Successful Outcome of Unmarried Mothers' Plans to Keep Their Children," Smith College Studies in Social Work, Mass., Smith College, School of Social‘Work, March, 1942, p. 301. 56 The girl who has a good personal adjustment and positive feelings toward her family often has a good chance of making a success out of her plans to keep her child. The unmarried mother has the right to know what place- ment is going to do for the child and wknt the process is. The mother's cooperation in supplying family background will be needed with the feeling that she is giving scmzething to the child am is sharing in his future. Adoption is a final process and the mother should be aware of the finality of her decision. As in other areas this is a service to- the unmar- ried mother and one which she has the right to choose for her- self. It is the caseworker's responsibility through the re- lationship to give the girl every opportunity to express her- self and to give her support in her decision. Regardless of what plan is made by the unmarried mother, it should be one that she wants and can accept. In any decision that she makes there is going to be a certain amount of pain and con- flict, but with the support of the worker this often can be kept at a minimum and recovery hastened. It is felt that until the mother makes a satisfactory adjustment, the child has little chance for security. Through helping the mother reach a realistic solution, the child is helped either by be- ing provided a home with his mother or by being released for placement. If indecision is encouraged, the child often bears the brunt of the conflicting feelings of the mother. 5'7 5. THE AWGED FATHER: Another area in which the caseworker can be most helpful is helping the unmarried mother work through her feelings toward the alleged father of the child. It should be the girl's right to decide whether or not the alleged father'is to be involved in the planning. If he is, the worker must at all costs prevent herself from looking upon the unmarried father as the bold, bad man who has gotten the sweet, inno- cent young girl into trouble; for the father on his part may be only too well aware of how lacking in innocence the girl is. Mary Hylan in her article1 feels that as most social workers are women they are apt to identify themselves more easily'with other women than they do with men and may think of pregnancy as an ordeal for which the alleged father should be punished. She feels that the worker should give the fol- lowing things to the alleged father: (1) Understanding--make him feel.that his ideas are Just as important as the girl's. (2) Give him sympathy. .(3) Let him visit the child or if this is not possible the worker can keep him informed about the child. (4) Express appreciation for an effort to pay. (5) Keep the father feeling that he is understood and that he is receiving something for his interest and money. 6. LEGAL AID: The last area of service to the unmarried mother to be considered is that of legal aid. This can be useful to her J'Hylan, Mary, "Working With the Unmarried Father,” Social work Technique, September and October, 1958, PP. 64-69. 58 in establishing paternity and securing support, making adop- tive plans, insuring her rigit to the child and other miscel- laneous services. Legal aid should be available through any agency giving service to the unmarried mother. It is the worker's responsibility to help the girl realize her legal rights and secure those legal aid services which she may need. The worker needs to be familiar with the legal implications but also must be careful not to overstep the areas of social work by giving legal advice to the client. Each agency giving service to the unmarried mother needs to operate within a legal framework for both the protection of the client and protection of the agency. Each worker in the agency should be thoroughly faniliar with this framework and have a degree of comfort operating in it. This does not indicate complete acceptance of the legal structure. The legal services are another tool to be used in helping the un- married mother reach a satisfactory adjustment to her situa- tion and future life.1 SUMMARY A survey of this chapter shows that some of the authors feel that there may be circumstantial factors rather than psychological factors that cause a girl to have a child out of wedlock. A few such circumstantial factors would be lack lTindall, Phil Henry, "A Study of Casework Services to the Unmarried Mother as Provided by the Dayton Children's Bureau," Unpublished Thesis, Ohio State University, School of Social Work Administration, Columbus, Ohio, 1952. 59 of supervision, lack of sexual information, low intelligence, 10!: economic status, and physical unattractiveness. Most of the authors generally agree, however, that the cause of the illegitimate pregnancy can be traced to psycho- logical implications found in early childhood which might be an acting out of the incest fantasies as an expression of the Oedipal situation. Other psychological reasons might be an over-identification with a pregnant mother or sister, a narcisstic wish or love of self, ambivalent feelings toward a domineering mother, hatred and aggression toward one or both parents, need to punish men, and many others. Most of the authors whose writings are referred to in this chapter found that the mother had little if any affec- tion toward the putative father but rather was using him as a means to an end--to produce a child. It also was found that many of these fathers suffer deep emotional upsets from guilt in having relationships with the girls and that the al- leged father is a counterpart to the unmarried mother and but for the fact that he was born a male he would have been an un- married mother. The casework services offered by a social agency to a client with an illegitimate pregnancy are six-fold: (l) Coun- seling, in an effort to help the girl face the reality of her situation; (2) planning for medical care which includes pre- natal, confinement care and post-natal; (5) financial planning for the girl as well as the baby; (4) planning for the child, 60 on a long-time basis whether or not the girl is placing the child for adoption; (5) the alleged father, helping the girl with her feelings toward the putative father as well as work- ing directly with the man; and (6) legal aid to help the girl insure her rights to protection for herself and her child. CHAPTER IV SETTING FOR THE STUDY The Ingham County Branch of the Michigan Children's Aid Society is an autonomous member of a state-wide agency whose three functions are: foster care, adoptions, and services to unmarried mothers. The agency receives its support from the Ingham County Community Chest and is administrated by a local'board. In this agency it is customary for‘the worker who sees the illegitimately pregnant woman at intake to continue ser- vice with the client until.the mother is able to make a clear decision about a future plan for'her child. If she decides upon adoptim, she is referred to the worker who knows the baby in order that background informaticm for both the mother andrthe alleged father can be secured. This means that two workers handle each case so that the material in the record is a compilation of more than one worker's observations. In cases where the mother is confined in an out-of-town hospital, she may be seen by a worker from the Michigan Children's Aid Society agency in that community and.that information is also added to the record. In those places in this study where the writer of this thesis needed to use value Judgment as to the feelings of the client toward.another individual, an effort was made to check with both.workers who had seen the girl in order that not just one person's interpretation be used but rather that this be a staffing of Opinions. 62 HOW THE AGENCY WORKS WITH THE ILIEGITIvMATELY PREGNANT WOMAN The Michigan Children's Aid Society assumes responsibility for casework services to all prospective mothers who seek the services of the agency in developing plans for their children. Casework services are based on an understanding of the person and her needs related to the internal and external forces which have contributed to her problem. The initial emphasis of casework is helping at the time when the prospec- tive mother is faced with community and family disapproval and her own feelings, such as frustration, shame, resentment, and helplessness. Usually she is unable to continue at work or is unemployed. She needs practical help in planning med- ical' and maternity home care and counseling in making impor- tant decisions in relation to herself and her baby. V Casework with unmarried mothers has a two-fold objective: (1) Making plans for the baby, consistent with his right to a happy, normal growth and family experience; and (2) helping the unmarried mother in various ways which enable her to na- ture emotionally to the extent she is able, without recurrence of illegitimate pregnancy. She is helped to make a decision to keep, place, or surrender her baby for adoption in accor- dance with her own potential capacity to love and meet her child's innumerable growth needs. If adoption or placement of the baby is indicated, the mother is helped to accept giv- ing him up as the best way of fulfilling her maternal respon- sibility. 65 As a rule the unmarried mother feels she is "bad" and anticipates "bad" treatment. Services which convey the case- worker's feeling of respect for her as a person help to coun- teract this feeling. Eventually she must be helped to final increased satisfactions she has never known or has lost. The unmarried mother needs help in emancipating herself frcm de- structive attitudes of dependence, defiance, and others. The caseworker relationship offers understanding and help through a period of crisis and a continuing relationship for as long as it is needed. Thus it serves as a corrective experience for the unmarried mother. The caseworker encourages the un- married mother to work for success in areas in which she has previously failed and provides an opportunity to identify with healthy attitudes. As will be discussed later, the majority of applicants who came to the agency were those mothers who requested either maternity care or adoption placement for their children. In instances where the mother determined, six weeks followiing the birth of the child, that she wanted permanent placement, a worker helped her to sign a release of her child in the Probate Court. No release was taken from a mother until the baby was six weeks old. During the time when the baby was in temporary foster care the mother was seen by the caseworker to discuss her future plans for herself and for her child. This interval gave the mother an opportunity to rehabilitate herself from 64 the physical and.cmotional effects of childbirth.and to return to a normal life situation before she was required to make a final decision about a plan for her child.1 The mother'was responsible for the expense of boarding care unless it was impossible for her to meet such payments. In that case temporary boarding care could be provided by the agency from a.special fund($4,200 annually) earmarked by the Community Chest for "free care." The only other financial assistance offered by the agency to this group of clients was a.small loan fund($400 annually) which could be used to help a girl with maternity home care or other needs. Among other services given by the agency was assistance in mobilizing available resources in the community to meet the cost of care and confinement. In most instances, if the mother wiShed to keep the child, she made plans as soon as possible to have him with her, or with relatives. Unless she applied for public assis- tance, she was dependent on her own earning power, upon her savings, upon relatives, or upon the alleged father where 1Russell, E. Marian, "Responsibility of the Hospital to the Unmm-ried Mother and Her Child," Pamphlet reprint repro- duced by permission from the August '38 issue of Hospitals, pp. 1-2: "The unmarried mother in a hospital maternity ward is in no fit condition, physically or emotionally, to decide the future of herself and her child, and she sometimes gives up the child to her later regret.....The unfairness to mother and child and the unsoundness of allowing a girl to come to such an important decision before She has returned to normal health seem obvious." 65 help might be irregular or given under conditions which.were uncomfortable for her. In the few cases where the agency continued to work with the mother during this time the service was supportive case- work and help in evaluating plans for the mother and the child which.would be most comfortable for her and ensure as much stability for the child as possible. Most of the mothers keeping their children broke off contact with.the agency soon after discharge from the hospital. TARLE I SOURCE OF REFERRAL OF THE ILLEGITIMATELY PREGNANT WOMEN WHO WERE POTENTIAL CLIERTS AT THE INGHAM COUNTY BRANCH 0F M.C.A.S. IN THE YEARS 1951 AND 1952 A ' m SOURCE OF REFERRAL Number Percentage Total 94 100.0 Health and.We1fare Agencies 26 26.8 Private 20 Public 6 Physicians 20 21.5 Hospitals and Shelters 12 12.? Local Hospitals 1 Maternity'Homes ll Relatives and Self 21 22.7 Mother 7 Father 2 Sister 2 Self 10 Other“ 15 15 . 5 fiAlleged father, son of alleged father, attorney, friend, neighbor, or other unmarried mother. As indicated in TABLE I, 26 of the clients were referred by health and welfare agencies; physicians told 20 illegiti- mately pregnant women of the services of Michigan Children's 66 Aid Society; 12 came to the agency on the advice of maternity homes and hospitals, both locally and in other communities throughout the state, where the girls had applied directly for admission'or adoptive help; 10 were self-referred and learned of'the agency through newspaper articles, Community Chest drives, or chance inquiries; 7 girls came on applica- tion made by their mothers; 4 were told by a friend; 3 were sent by an attorney; 2 by their own fathers; 2 by a sister; 2 by the alleged father; 3 by neighbors; 2 by other unmarried mothers; and 1 by the son of the alleged father. As social agencies, physicians, and.hosp1tals and shel- ters were the main source of referral, it could be assumed that these agencies and.individuals were in contact with or aware of the majority of mothers giving birth to illegitimate children. Unfortunately there is no way of discovering how many additional illegitimate children were born at home, or in some other county or state.1 In a study of this nature the question arises whether the clients coming to a social agency represent a random sample of the people with similar situations in the community. The writer offers the assumption that the fact that they come to a social agency for help has little significance since 1Tiefenthal, Marguerite, "Children Born Out of Wedlock in the State of Michigan in 1948 Compared.with.Similar Data for the Years 1936 through.1942," Thesis, School of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1950, p. 67: "One out of every five of the unmarried mothers left their county of residence for'the birth of their child." 67 differences exist in economic, educational, occupational, or marital background. The reason for application seems to be most clearly related to the attitudes of parents toward the pregnancy, and the capacity of the girl to handle problems of her own. The fact that this may be a select group does not detract from the usefulness of the study. The studies used for comparison are drawn largely from similarly selected groups. REFERRAL SOURCE Ninetybfour illegitimately pregnant women either’made direct application or were referred to this agency during the two-year period of 1951 and 1952. One girl had two preg- nancies during this period. Forty of these cases for one reason or another never~went beyond the initial inquiry or first interview and are not counted in this study as a part of that group receiving continuing services from.the agency. All 94 cases, however, are considered in the information on referral sources. The sources of referral appear to be based upon the cone munity‘s knowledge of the agency, and the extent to which various groups accept and are aware of the service. The ex- tent to which an agency's service is utilized is also depen- dent upon What other facilities are available, and.will vary from one community to another. Social and health.agencies, physicians, and.bospitals were the chief sources referring illegitimate pregnancies to the agency during this period. \) 68 Table I shows how the 94 applicants were distributed accord- ing to referral sources. In the Flint studyl of 1947 the largest single group of referrals was comprised of those referred by hospitals. This accounted for 28 out of 114 mothers served by the agency; 27 came from physicians, 15 from.the court, 26 from other private agencies, 5 from public agencies, 6 from self and relatives, 6 from business, and.1 from a church. 'Miss Reedz in her New York study in 1934 of 1,447 refer- rals found 43.1 percent came from agencies, and 34.3 percent from persons themselves. Only 1.8 percent originated with physicians, and less than 1 percent from the police. SUMMARY The Ingham County Branch of the Michigan Children's Aid Society has a three-fold function: foster family care, adop- tion, and.work with.illegitimately pregnant women, of which the latter is being considered in this study. An analysis of the referral source of clients during the period of 1951 and 1952 shows that over half came to the agency from three sources, these being health and welfare agencies, physicians, and maternity homes and hospitals. As compared with.a study made in Flint in 1947 these referral sources are comparable. 1Spencer, Elizabeth Burns, "A Placement Agency's Services to Unmarried Mothers," Thesis, school of Social Work, Universi- ty of Michigan, 1952, pp. 16-18. 2Reed, Ruth, THE ILLEGITIMATE FAMILY IN new YORK CITY, New York Columbia Press, New York, 1954, p. 150. CHAPTER V NATURE OF THE GROUP In this study, an effort is made to tabulate various characteristics of the group of 54 illegitimately pregnant women who used the continuing services of the Ingham County Branch of the Michigan Children's Aid Society between January 1951 and January 1953. These results are compared with simi- lar studies made in the same agency, elseWhere in Michigan and.in other states, to determine Whether or not the group is typical in characteristics found among other groups. Sim- ilar data pertaining to the alleged father is presented inso- far as it was available. Selection for study of various char- acteristics is based upon those factors felt to be most de- scriptive of the group. These characteristics are age, posi- tion in family, religious affiliation, residence, marital status, other’children, education and training, I.Q,, and an- ployment. Attitudes and psychological characteristics of the mother'will'be considered in the next chapter. ‘Agg Of the group studied the age range for the mothers was 14 to 38 years. While 26,or 48 percent,of the nethers were 20 years and younger, 38, or 70 percent, were 23 years and younger. Those mothers 30 years of age and over represented 4, or 7 percent, of the total group. These percentages prove to be consistent with studies made in other localities during the previous two decades. 70 TABLE II AGE OF UNMARRIED PARENTS INGRAM COUNTY'BRANCH OF M.C.A.S. JANUARY 1951-—DECEMBER 1952 ___.—A A____‘ W AGES Mother Father YEigS No. Percent No. Percent TOTAL 54 100.0 1, 54 100.0 14 - 19 20 37.0 8 14.9 20 - 24 21 38.9 12 22.2 25 - 29 9 16.7 16 29.6 30 - 34 2 3.8 5 9.3 35 - 4O 2 3.8 3 5.5 41 - -- O 0.0 l 1.9 Unknown 0 0.0 9 16.7 Of 1,562 mothers studied in New York City in 19341, 76.7 percent were between the ages of 16 and 24 years of age; 6.2 percent were 30 years and.clder while 0.4 percent were 40 years and older. Elizabeth Burns Spencer in her study of 114 mothers in Flint in 19512 found the group range from 13 to 42 years; with 75 percent 23 years of age or younger; 5.3 percent were 30 years and older, while 0.8 percent were over 40. In a similar study made in Detroit"5 from 1936-41, 3.5 percent of unmarried mothers were under 15, While 47.6 percent were between 16 and 20 years, or an accumulative percentage 1 Reed, Ruth, op. cit., p. 115. ZSpencer, Elizabeth Burns, op. cit., p. 28. 3The Referral Center: A Five Tear Egperiment, published by the Council of Social Agencies of Metropolitan Detroit, 1936-41, p. 4. '71 of 51.4 percent under 20 years of age. Forty-four and three tenths percent were between 21 and 30 years while 4.5 percent were 31 years and older. The age range of the 50 unmarried mothers studied by 1 Miss Ruth Ann Burns in the Ingham County Branch of the Mich- igan Children's Aid Society in 1949 was from 16 to 39, with 54 percent 22 years of age or younger. Studying only illegitimate 1y pregnant married women at 2 Dayton, Ohio, in 1950, Lisa Ebert found 55.8 percent to be 23 years of age or younger. A study made in 1929:5 revealed that of 23,774 mothers studied on a nationwide basis , approximately 48 percent were in the 15 to 19 year age group. Miss Ramona Wilson's thesis of 75 unmarried mothers reported by the Detroit office of the Michigan Children's Aid Society, during 1948-49, indicated that the largest proportion fell in the 16-20 year age group, and the next largest in the 21-24 year age group.4 These comparative figures would indicate that from the standpoint of age the mothers in the current study were in a fairly typical group. lBurns, Ruth-Ann, "Study of Fifty Unmarried Mothers," Un- published Project Report, Submitted to the Department of Social Work, Michigan State College, 1949, p. 12. 2Ebert, Lisa, op. cit., p. 12. 5Barrett, Robert, THE CARE OF THE UNMARRIED MOTHER, Alexandria, Virginia, 1929, p. 9. 4Wilson, Ramona, "Unmarried Mothers Who Keep Their Chil- dren," Unpublished Thesis, Institute of Social Work-Detroit, University of Michigan, 1950, p. 43. '72 Many girls of this age are dependent and unrealistic in their plans themselves, as well as for their child. Being very young, they are in the process of emancipation from.their families with.accompanying strong dependent needs. Such mothers need to have continuous support during the pre-natal and post-natal period.with emphasis on casework treatment di- rected toward helping them to mature during the process and to face realistically their children and plans for them. Whether the mother remains in her own home, or a‘board- ing home, depends upon her needs and her family's attitude toward her pregnancy, but it is essential that she receive a constructive casework service that will result in the best possible adjustment with her family'and.the community. The need for continuous relationships with the younger unmarried mother group, which comprises such a large number of the total cases, has significance for the agency in planning for adequate staff to give the necessary services. The ages of the alleged fathers in this study ranged from 17 to 56. (See Table II.) The ages of 9, or 11.7 per cent of the putative fathers were unknown. Of the 45 whose ages were known, 20, or 37.0 percent were 24 years of age and younger, while 66.7 percent were 29 years and under. One father was past the age of 40. Approximately 52 percent were between 20 and 30 years of age. These figures are at variance with other studies that are available on the putative father. In Miss Marguerite Tiefenthal's study of illegitimacy in 73 Michigan in 19481, the established median age was 23.5, nevertheless 41.5 percent of the putative fathers in her study fall between 20 and 29 years of age which.is fewer than in this study. In the Flint study in 19512, 75 percent of the fathers were 27 years and under. Twelve percent were 30 years and older. Two fathers were 40 years or over. In the New York study of 19345, 66.6 percent of the fathers were in the 20-29 age group while 27.1 percent were over 29. Be- cause of this difference between these three studies and the one under discussion, it would appear that the group studied in Ingham County'was either atypical in relation to age or that a disproportionate number of the nine whose ages were unknown fell within the 30 to 40 age group. The Report of the'White House Conference on Child.Hea1th and Protection indicates that illegitimacy is a problem of youth, for, "about one-half are under twenty years of age and four-fifths of the whole number are under 25." Any agency, therefore, concerned with unmarried mothers, deals with a large percentage of children and youth. That being true, three questions arise for later consideration: (1) To that extent does the experience revealed through the case records furnish data on causes; (2) what does the lTiefenthal, Marguerite, op. cit., p. 67. 2 Spencer, op. cit., p. 31. 5Reed, op. cit., p. 166. 74 treatment process reveal to furnish indication that preven- tive work is being done; and (3) how effective is the correc- tive? The Michigan law provides that the girl must make bas- tardy charges against the alleged father before she is eligi- ble to apply for A.D.C. The effect on a teen-age girl of appearing in court can be very harrowing; or it can be an experience from which.a girl may derive a great deal of satis- faction. Since the man's defense is usually that of proving the girl immoral, the unmarried mother is publicly denounced as cheap, lewd or indecent. For the young, senstive girl this is an ordeal; for a more self-assertive girl it is harden- ing. From the foregoing we see: (1) That illegitimacy is a problem of youth. (2) Age is used as an arbitrary limit that in legal procedure sets arbitrary limits and these limits, rather than social factors, are the basis of a legal procedure. PLACE IN FAMILY The place in family was not known for 3 of the 54 mothers studies. Of the remaining 51, an equal number, 16 in each case, were either the oldest or the youngest of their families, 8 were second in the family composition and 4 each were third and only children. The smallest group, 3, were the fourth child. None of the other studies used as comparison in this re- port have any information on the place of either the mother 75 or the alleged father in their families. There is indication in readings, however, that the unmarried mother tends to be either the eldest or youngest in her family group. In this study the place in family was unknown for 32 of the alleged fathers. Of the 22 whose position was known, the largest group, 6, were the second child, the next largest were the oldest, six fathers were equally divided between only, 3, and youngest, 3, and 2 each were third and fourth, while one was the seventh child in a family of eight. TABLE III THE PLACE IN THE FAMILY OF 54 UNMARRIED PARENTS IN THE CASELOAD OF THE INGHAMi COUNTY BRANCH OF M.C.A.S. BETWEEN JANUARY 1951 AND JANUARY 1955 PLACE IN Mother Father THE FAMILY No. Percent No. Percent TOTAL 54 100.0 54 100.0 Oldest 16 29.6 5 9.3 Second 8 14.8 6 11.1 Third. 4 7.4 2 3.7 Fourth 3 5.5 2 3.7 Seventh 0 0.0 1 1.8 Only 4 7.4 3 5.5 ‘Youngest 16 29.6 3 5.5 Unknown 3 5.5 32 59.2’ RELIGION The religious affiliation of the mothers was predominantly Protestant. Of the 54 mothers, the religion of 7, or 13 per cent, was unknown, 35, or 64.8 percent, were Protestant, and 0o 76 12, or 22.2 percerm were Catholic. The Jewish faith was not represented by either the mothers or the alleged fathers as seen in the following table. TABLE IV RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION OF UNMARRIED PARENTS REFERRED TO THE LANSING BRANCH OF M.C.A.S. JANUARY 1951-~DECEMBER 1952 RELIGION E22933 3.91.13.13.22 No. Percent No. Percent TOTAL 54 100.0 54 100.0 Protestant 35 64.8 17 31.5 Catholic 12 22.2 14 25.9 No Religious Affiliation O 0.0 1 1.9 Unknown 7 13.0 22 40.7 In the 1951 Flint study1 of 114 mothers, 79 percent were Protestant. In Miss Tiefenthal's study of the religion of un- married mothers in Michigan in 19482, 73 percent were Protes- tant, while in Miss Reed's study of Greater New York3 in 1934, only 36.9 percent were Protestant with a much.higher percen- tage of both Catholic and.Jewish religions. The assumption may be made that in a metropolitan area such as New Ybrk a larger group of southern Europeans, whose religion is largely Catholic, would be present than in any of the Michigan studies, lSpencer, op. cit., p. 32. 2 Tiefenthal, op. cit., p. 49. 5Reed, op. cit., p. 136. 77 all three of which.include rural as well as urban areas. In Miss Tiefenthal's studyl, for example, a total of only eight members of the Jewish faith is reported for the State of Mich- igan in 1948; 27.1 percent is reported in the New York studyz; none was listed in the Flint study; and no mothers belonging to the Jewish religion are included in this study. Miss Burns found.38 Protestants and.12 Catholics in her study of 50 un- married motheru? covering the period of 1946-48. The religion of 57.4 percent of the alleged fathers was known. Of these, 17, or 31.5 percent were Protestant, 14, or 25.9 percent, were Catholic, and one, or 1.9 percent said he did not believe in God. One reason for the large number of unknowns, 42.6 percent, in the father's religion was that in instances where the mother was keeping the child such in- formation was usually not Obtained. The only statistics found for comparison were those of Miss Reed's study in 19344 which showed 35.9 percent Protestant, 44.3 percent Catholic, and 19.8 percent Jewish. These are not assumed to be valid comparisons for the reasons stated above. In considering statistics on religion of the alleged father, it must be remembered that in many instances the in- formation is based upon the mother's knowledge, and therefore may not be accurate. n—h lTiefenthal, op. cit., p. 49. ZReed, op. cit., p. 136. 3Burns, op. cit., p. 14. 4Reed, op. cit., p. 180. 78 The religion of alleged fathers does not have as much.im- portance in planning for the child as the religion of the mother. In general, the policy of most child placement agen- cies is to place the child in the same broad religious affil- iation as the mother, unless otherwise requested by her. For that reason, the religion of the mother is important in the adoptive placenent While that of the father is not so neces- sary. The seven mothers Whose religious affiliations were unknown were planning to keep their babies and.the agency did' not need religious affiliation as a part of casework planning. RESIDENCE Tabulations indicate that 48.1 percent of the women re- sided with both or one or the other parent, or,considered this their home although temporarily separated at the time of referral to the agency. ' A high percentage of women living in their parents' homes is expected in view of the large number under 19 years of age. Twenty-five, or 46.5 percent of the total, had this living arrangement. The next largest group, 14, or 25.9 per cent were those in their own homes or living alone. This number included married and divorced women. Of the remain- ing 21, 7, or l3 percent, were living wifld other relatives, 5,‘or 5.5 percent, were living in the home of their employers Where they were doing housework. Two of the girls were in maternity homes, two were with friends, and one was living in a college dormitory. 79 Comparisons with other figures on residence of the un- married.mother show marked difference from this study. In Jane Norton's study1 of 56 unmarried mothers in a maternity hospital, 72.7 percent had been living in their own homes, while the remaining 27.3 percent had various other living arrangements. It might be noted that no married women are included in this study. nrs. Spencerz in 1951 found in Flint that 50.8 percent of the mothers were living with parents; 21 percent were in their own homes; 10.5 percent were living in rooms; 11.4 percent with relatives; 4.3 percent with friends; and 2 percent in institutions other than a maternity hospital. In Rose Rogvoy's study of 45 unmarried.motherss in Wayne County in 1947, 44 percent lived in their own homes, 28.6 percent with friends, and 27.4 percent had other living ar- rangements. I On the basis that 27.8 percent of the number in this study were living in rooms, with friends, or relatives, it may be assumed that a good many of this nmmber, if coming to the agency during the pro-natal period, would desire maternity care or boarding home planning during the final months before 1Norton, Jane E., ”The Unmarried Mother and Her Child: A Study of 56 Unmarried Mothers'Who Retained Custody of Their Children," Unpublished Thesis, School of Social Work, Univer- sity of Michigan, Detroit, 1932, p. 32. ZSpencer, op. cit., p. 40-41. 3Rogvoy, Rose, "Unmarried mothers Receiving Assistance Under the Emergency Maternal and Infant Care Program in Wayne County," Unpublished Thesis, School of Social Work, University of'Muchigan, Detroit, 1947, p. 33. 80 confinement. In addition some of those mothers who lived in the homes of their parents would need care away from the paren- tal.home, because of parental feelings or to avoid comment in the community. The residence of six of the alleged fathers was unknown. Of the 48 fathers whose residence was known, 11 were in mili- tary training; 11 were living with their wives and families; 10 were living with parents; 7 lived alone; 5 in college dormitories; 2 were in prison; and 2 lived.with.relatives other than parents. ' Comparable material was not available on the residences of the alleged fathers. TABLE V LIVING ARRANGEMENT OF‘UNMARRIED PARENTS REFERRED TO THE INGHAM COUNTY'BRANCH 0F M.C.A.S. BETWEEN JANUARY'195l--DECEMBER 1952 , IERFN Ta T Mother Father LIVIKG GHMELT No. Percent No. Percent TOTAL 54 100.0 54 100.0 Parents 25 46.3 10 18.5 Alone cr'Own Home 14 25.9 7 13.0 Relative 7 13.0 2 3.7 Home of Employer 3 5.5 0 0.0 Friends 2 3.7 0 0.0 Maternity Home 2 3.7 O 0.0 College Dormitory l 1.8 5 9.3 Military Training 0 0.0 11 20.4 Wife and.Family O 0.0 11 20.4 Prison 0 0.0 2 3.7 Unknown 0 0.0 6 11.1 —__‘ 81 MARITAL STATUS During the period of this study three, or 5.5 percent, of the mothers coming to the agency were married.women whose husbands were not tin natural fathers of their children. In Michigan these children are legally legitimate, but, for'the purpose of differentiation from those resulting from the hus- band and wife union,are usually designated as "socially i1- legitimate." Valid statistics on the prevalence of these children is not available since they are listed as legitimate on the birth certificates and would.not become known to an agency if both mother and husband desired to retain custody. Those who desire adoption placement come to the agency or the court when it is necessary to obtain a consent for adoption from both.legal parents. These mothers are included in this study since the agency service extended to this group was not differentiated from that extended to mothers of illegitimate children. TABLE VI MARITAL STATUS OF UNMARRIED PARENTS IN THE CASELOAD OF THE INGHAM COUNTY BRANCH OF M.C.A.S. BETWEEN JANUARY l951--DECEMBER 1952 m: K W 219.15.12.93. E3222 MARITAL STATUS No. Percent No. Percent TOTAL 54 100.0 54 100.0 Single 40 74.1 25 46.3 Married Living with Mate 0 00.0 16 29.6 Married Separated 3 5.5 4 7.4 Divorced 11 20.4 4 7.4 Unknown 0 00.0 5 9.3 82 As might be expected, the largest group of women who sought agency service were those with single status. This group (see Table VI) consisted of 40, or 74.1 percent, of the total number. Divorced women ranked second with 20.4 percent, and married women separated from their mates ranked third with 5.5 percent. Comparable figures on marital status were found in Miss Reed's studyl in New York City in 1934. Of 1,538 women studied, 92.1 percent were single, 3.4 percent were married and 0.8 percent divorced. Miss Tiefenthal's study of illegitimacy in Michigan in 19482 gives 80 percent of those reported as single, 6 percent as married, and 8 per cent as divorced. In the Flint study in 19515, 68 percent were single, 14 percent were married, and 12 percent were 4 found that 40 of the 50 mothers divorced. Miss Ruth Burns applying to the Ingham County Branch of the Michigan Children's Aid Society between June 1946 and June 1948 were single, 4 were married and 4 were divorced. The larger percentage of married and divorced mothers in the current study may partly be due to husband and wife separation due to the Korean War or to military training since most of the women with "socially illegitimate" children, as H Reed, op. cit., p. 112. Tiefenthal, op. cit., p. 46. Spencer, op. cit., p. 39. that) Burns, op. cit., p. 10. 85 well as divorced women gave service camps as the addresses of their husbands. The period of both Miss Burns' and Miss Tiefenthal's studies covers a time when it may be assumed the family living situation had more or less stabilized itself. The marital status of five of the alleged fathers was unknown. Of the remaining number 25, or 46.3 percent, were single; 20, or 37.0 percent, were married; and 4, or 7.4 per cent, were divorced. Miss Reed's New York figures in 19341 compare thus: single, 70.4 percent; married, 25.8 percent; and divorced, 0.7 percent. Mrs. Spencer in Flint in 19512 found that of 70 fathers 76.9 percent were single; 14.2 per cent were married; and 7.6 percent were divorced; and 1.3 per cent were widowed. In Miss Norton's study in 19433 of 56 un- married fathers, 67 percent are listed as single, 21 percent married, 8 percent divorced and 4 percent widowed. OTHER CHILDREN For 41, or 75.9 percent of the mothers in this study, this was their first child. Six, or 11.1 percent, had two legitimate children, and 2, or 3.7 percent, had one legiti- mate child. Of the remaining ten girls 4, or 7.4 percent, had one other illegitimate child, and 2, or 3.7 percent had 2 other illegitimate children. Th» Reed, op. cit., P. 164. 28pencer, op. cit., p. 40. 3Norton, op. cit., p. 50. 84 The large number of girls for Whom this was their first baby would fit into the age range with the majority of the mothers being twenty-one or under. Other studies did not include the number of other chil- dren so tkmre is no material for comparison, but it can be said that this group is representative of the general popula- tion of mothers as it includes both those who have given birth to other children and those who have not. It was not known whether or not 16, or 29.6 percent, of the alleged fathers had ever fathered other children. Of the 38 fathers on whom information was available, 19 were re- ported as not having had other children. Only three alleged fathers were known to be the putative fathers of other il- legitimate children. Two of the men in these cases had been named as alleged fathers by other unmarried mothers seeking the aid of this agency. It is difficult to obtain informa- tion concerning a man's promiscuity so it is possible that several of the 54 alleged fathers may have had other illegiti- mate children unknown to the agency or even in some cases to the man himself. Of the 20 married men in this study, 6 had one legitimate child, 6 had two legitimate children, and 3 had three legitimate children. Again the above statistics must be viewed with the fact that many of the putative fathers were only casual acquain-_ tances of the girls involved and it is doubtful if the girl in these cases would necessarily be aware of either the man's marital status or whether or not he had any children. 85 EDUCATION AND TRAINING For the purpose of this study the educational level is based upon the grade attained although not necessarily com- pleted. This information was available from all but three of the mothers studied. Seventeen, or 31.5 percent,of those whose grade level was known were high school graduates. (See Table VII.) This was the largest single group. Forty-four, or 81.5 percent,of the mothers had more than an eighth grade education while only one, 1.9 percent, had less than eight years, and.dhe had.reached the sixth grade. Two mothers had some business school education, while five had college train- ing. Two of these had completed four years or more of college. TABLE‘VII EDUCATIONAL LEVEL OF‘UNMARRIED PARENTS IN THE CASELOAD OF‘THE INGHAM COUNTY BRANCH OF M.C.A.S. BETWEEN JANUARY 1951--DECEMBER 1952 W EDUCAT IO NAL LEVEL M3 1113—1122 No. Percent No. Percent TOTAL 54 100.0 54 100.0 6 - 9 Grade 6 11.1 1 1.8 9 - 10 Grade 12 22.2 4 7.4 11- 12 Grade 9 15.7 4 7.4 High School Graduate 17 31.5 8 14.8 Some College 5 9.3 3 5.5 4‘Years or More 2 3.7 8 14.8 Unknown 3 5.5 26 48.3 It would appear in analyzing the findings of the large percentage of mothers Who progressed beyond the eighth grade that this is a group of rather high educational background. \ 86 Comparative figures would tend to support this. In a group of 10,000 mothers studied in 19291, 40 percent in Detroit, 35 percent in Boston, and 35 percent in New York went beyond the eighth grade level. A New York study in 19342 revealed that 37 percent of 666 Caucasian mothers went beyond the eighth grade. Two Detroit studies established that in the year of 1945-463, 80 percent went beyond the eighth grade and in the years of 1936-414, 55.6 percent completed eight grades. In the 1951 Flint study5 of 114 mothers, 87.5 per cent had more than an eighth grade education. Miss Burns in the earlier study of this agency6 found.31 mothers out of 50 with more than a high school education and 17 with less than a twelfth grade education. Out of the 43 women conceiving children illegitimately who were studied by Lisa Ebert in 19507, 13'were found to be high school graduates and.cne had some college. RuthNottingham8 in her study of 40 unmarried mothers in 1935 found that the school grade average for her subjects was the 10th. grade. 1Barrett, Robert, op. cit., p. 17. 2Reed, op. cit., p. 130. 3Rogvoy, op. cit., p. 27. 4The Referral Center: gA Five-Year Experiment, op.cit., p. 5. 5spenoer, op. cit., pp. 54-55. 6Burns, op. cit., pp. 1-2. 7Ebert, op. cit., p. 13. 8Nottingham, Ruth, "A Psychological Study of 40 Unmarried Mothers," Unpublished Thesis, School of Social Work Adminis- tration, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1935, p. 39. 87 From these figures it might seem that the agency's ser— vice was more acceptable to the group of higher educated women and that quite possibly many mothers with less than an eighth grade education kept their children and did not seek agency help. In Miss'Norton's study in 1943 she states ".... these 56 women who kept their children had lower educational attainment than the group as a'whole,d1which gives some basis for this assumption. The foregoing conclusions do not account in whole for the higher percentage noted here, since the comparative fig- ures quoted above show a marked discrepancy in educational background. These dissimilar findings are difficult to ex- plain except that the various studies were made over a period of years. The results of the current study are not dispro- portionate because of’the number of girls attaining college level since, as a matter of fact, only 5, or 9.3 percent, had some college experience. It is observed, however, that 26, or 48.1 percent of the total group, had reached the twelfth grade which.would tend to support the conclusion that from an educational standpoint this was a higher than average group of mothers. For the putative fathers, the educational achievement was even higher. Of the 28 fathers whose education was known, “the lowest level attained was eighth grade with one father in 1Norton, Jane, op. cit., p. 32. 88 that group. Twenty-seven, or 96.3 percent of the group, whose grade attainment was known, had more than eighth grade educations, with 11, or 40.7 percent, of these having had some college and four having finished more than an A.B. degree. Since the educational background of 26 fathers, or 48.1 percent of the total groUp, was unknown, the high degree of school attainment may be misleading. The Flint study of 19511 showed that 93 percent of’the fathers had more than a ninth grade education. In New York City in 1934 Miss Reedz found that 60 percent of 75 fathers had progressed.beyond.the ninth grade. I.‘. Unless a girl was interested in placing her child for adoption, a psychological test was not provided. For that reason the intelligence quotient of 29 mothers was not known. The I.Q. range of the mothers who were tested was from 60 to 1504. Of the 25 mothers whose I.Q. was known, 6 were con- sidered feeble-minded or borderline feeble-minded, and 6 were at the other extreme of the scale having I.Q.'s above 120. Lisa Ebert in her study made in Ohio of 43 women who conceived children illegitimately after marriage felt that no adequate information could be given on the I.Q, of the 1Spencer, op. cit., p. 37. 2Reed, op. cit., p. 178. 89 mothers because so few of the subjects were tested. The only study this writer was able to find which had a complete rec- ord of the psychological test results of the mothers was a study made in Boston of 82 cases of unmarried mothers in 1922.1 In that study the range was from 50 to 105, with 32.3 percent listed as feeble-minded (50-69) and 28.1 percent as border- line feeble-minded (70-79) and most of the remainder in the normal range. TABLE VIII INTELLIGENCE CLASSIFICATION OF 54 UNMARRIED PARENTS IN THE CASELOAD OF THE INGRAM COUNTY BRANCH OF M.C.A.S. BETWEEN JANUARY 1951-~DECEMBER 1952 ACCORDING TO LQ. AS BASED ON THE WECHSLER—BELIEVUE SCALE!“ Mother Father CLASSIFICATION 1.9,. LIMITS No. Percent No. Percent TOTAL 54 100 . O 54 100. 0 Defective 65 and below 2 3.7 O 0.0 Border Line 66 to 79 4 7.4 0 0.0 Dull Normal 80 to 90 4 7.4 1 1.8 Normal 91 to 110 5 9.3 4 7.4 Bright Normal 111 to 119 5 9.3 0 0.0 Superior 120 to 127 4 7.4 1 1.8 Very Superior 128 to 140 1 1.8 O 0.0 ”Near" Genius Above 140 1 1.8 O 0.0 Unknown 28 51.9 48 89.0 *Mursell, James L., PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING, Longmans, Green and Co., New York, 1949, p. 379. Ruth Ann Burns in her study of fifty unmarried mothers in this same agency2 for the period June 1946 to June 1948 TGuibord, Alberta and Parker, Ida, "What Becomes of the Unmarried Motherf", Research Bureau of Social Case Work, Boston, 1922, pp.11-14. 2Burns, op. cit., pp. 4-5. 9O found.that 16 of the group of 50 girls had taken intelligence tests. The range of these 16 girls was 88 to 118 with 9 girls having intelligence quotients of 100 or over, and 7 below 100 with the majority of these being in the dull normal range. EMPLOYMeTT The final factor in this section which was selected for study was the occupations engaged in by this group of unmar- ried parents. The kind of employment together with informa- tion in regard to education appear to be the best measures of describing the economic and cultural levels of the group. Of the total 54 mothers, 37, or 68.5 percent, were gain- fully employed at their first contact with the agency; 2 were in a professional occupation, one a nurse, the other a teacher; 20 were in clerical and sales work, 9 in office work, 7 as sales persons, and 4 as telephone operators; 15 were in occu- pations listed as service, 6 as domestic, 5 in waitress work, 1 as a cook, 1 an elevator tender, and 1 as a nurse aid. Eight of the women were unemployed.and 6 were students. (See Table II.) It is easily understandable that the location of the State capitol in Lansing as well as the main offices for many manufacturing companies would account for the large percentage of women in clerical positions. 91 TABLEIX OCCUPATIONAI.STATUS OF THE UNMARRIED PARENTS IN THE CASELOAD OF THE INGRAM COUNTY BRANCH OF M.C.A.S. BETWEEN JANUARY l951—-DECEMBER 1952 BASED ON THE FEDERAL SECURITY CLASSIFICATION% Mother Father OCCUPATION No. Percent No. Percent _, TOTAL 54 100.0 54 100.0 Gainfully'Employed Professional and Mana- gerial . 2 3.7 4 7.4 Clerical and Sales 20 37.0 4 7.4 Skilled, Semi-Skilled, and Unskilled 0 0.0 12 22.2 Service 15 27.8 2 3.7 Not Employed 17 31.5 22 40.8 Unknown 0 0.0 10 18.5 solassified according to: Dictionary of Occupational Titles Vol. II Occupational Classification and Industry Index, Second Edition, Federal Security Agency, Social Service Administration, Bureau of Employment Security, United States Government Printing Office, washington, D. C., 1949, pp. ix through xviii. In comparative studies the following percentages were found: Mrs. Spencer in Flint in 19511 found.74.3 percent were equally divided between clerical and sales and 14.9 percent were domestics. Miss Nortonz in her study in Detroit in 1943 gives 8.9 percent in clerical and sales occupations and 50 percent in domestics. Of 121 mothers studied by the Referral Center in Detroit between 1936-413, 45.5 percent were domestics, 8.4 percent ISpencer, op. cit., p. 43. 2Norton, op. cit., p. 36. 5The Referral Center: A Five Year Experiment, op. cit.,p.6. 92 clerical and sales and 15.7 percent waitresses. In Miss Reed's 1934 New York studyl, 44.0 percent were domestics, 24.0 percent clerical and 18.7 percent factory workers. A fifth study2 reported by Robert Barrett in 1929 gave 40 per cent of the mothers working as domestics, 27 percent as fac- tory workers, and 20 percent as clerical workers. Miss Burns in her study:5 of the Ingham County Branch of M.C.A.S. in 1949 says "It is interesting to note that the largest occupation classification is office work, a job re- quiring at least average intelligence. (There were 19 so employed in her study.) .... The next largest occupational classification is sales girls of whom there were 8 in this study....these two classifications included.more than half of the girls." In the current study 6, or 11.1 percent, were employed as domestics. This is a much lower percentage of domestics than was reported by the above studies. Conversely, the percentage of clerical and sales workers is much higher than that reported in most of the other studies. Many of the other studies reported.here were done at an earlier period when women would tend to be employed more as domestics. This study reflects the increase of women in jobs outside of the home because of higher wages and opportunities for more social contacts than domestic service could afford. _‘ 1Reed, op. cit., p. 125. zBarrett, op. cit., p. 16. 3Burns, op. cit., p. 8. \f. 95 There prdbably would be opportunities for more education for these women than for those reported in the earlier studies. In addition, the emphasis on the child placement aspects of the agency may have brought referrals from higher economic and social occupations. Other studies, with two exceptions, report fewer unmar- ried mothers among students than the current study. Barrett in 19291 reports nine percent students in Detroit; Hrs. Spencer in 19512 reports 14 percent as students in Flint; Ruth Reed in 19545 reports 5.5 percent of 878 while mothers in New York City as students; Rogvoy in 19474 reports 6.6 percent in Wayne County; while Norton's study in 19455 of 56 unmarried mothers who retained custody of their children reports 23.2 percent were students at the time they became pregnant. The fact that this study shows 11.1 percent in school together with.the kinds of occupations reported*wou1d tend to support the view expressed in the discussion on educa- ticn that the group under consideration is of a higher educa- tional and economic status. The occupation of 44 alleged fathers was known. Of these, 22, or 50 percent, of‘the known were gainfully em— ployed. (See Table IX, page 91.) Of the remaining 22, 11 IBarrett, op. cit., p. 16. 28pencer, op. cit., p. 47. 5Reed, op. cit., p. 126. 4Rogvoy, op. cit., p. 30. 5Norton, op. cit., p. 36. 94 were in military service, 6 were students, 2 were in prison, and.3 were unemployed. Of those gainfully employed, one had his own business. The largest occupational group were those in Skilled, Semi-Skilled, and Unskilled classifications. They comprised 54.5 percent of the total gainfully employed group. A further breakdown in that classification reveals that 3, or 13.6 percent of those employed, were working in factories. Of the remaining 9 fathers, 4 were employee in sales and clerical, 4 were professional or managerial, and one was in agriculture. The only figures from other studies available on occupa- tion of the alleged fathers was the study made at Flint in 19511. There it was found.that 77.5 percent were gainfully employed; of'these, 48.9 percent were employed in factories, 32.1 percent were in sales and clerical, 1.5 percent were professional and.managerial, 6.5 percent in service, and 5 percent agriculture. SUMMARY" Study of the various objective characteristics, of age, position in the family, religion, residence, marital status, other children, education, I.Q. and employment indicate that the 54 illegitimately pregnant girls in this study are a heter- ogeneous group. anrticularly'is this assumption warranted in the age breakdown which shows that of the group referred to 1Spencer, op. cit., p. 48. 95 the agency, the age range was from 14 to 38 years with the greatest concentration between 18 and 23 years of age. Fifty- nine percent of the mothers were either the eldest or the youngest in their family constellation. Although.the group was predominately Protestant, 22.2 percent gave Catholicism as their religious choice. The Jewish religion was not rep- resented. Twenty-six of the 51 mothers whose educational level was known had reached or gone beyond 12 years of formal sdhooling; educational achievement ranged from the sixth grade through five years of college. The psychological test- ing range for these mothers was from 60 to a ISO-plus with most of the scores falling in the average and above average rating. Because only 46.3 percent of the mothers were tested, it was not felt that this was sufficient information to test the validity of the statement that the mothers in this study are a representative group. The largest group referred to the agency were single, 74.1 percent of the total; the second largest group were divorced women and the remainder were mar- ried. For 75.9 percent this was their first child, 14.8 per cent had one or more legitimate children, and 11.1 percent had one or more illegitimate children. Almost half of the mothers lived in.the homes of both parents or of one or the other parent, or considered this their residence. The next largest group lived in their own homes while the remainder lived in the homes of friends or relatives and in institutions. The majority of mothers were gainfully employed. These were 96 divided between sales and clerical and service occupations in a ratio of 4 to 3. Professions ranked third. Of the 17 not gainfully employed, six were students. In a similar way, a study of available information on putative fathers was made. Although the age range was from l7 to 56 years of age, approximately 68.9 percent of those whose ages were known were 27 years of age and younger. For 59.3 percent of'the fathers the place they held in their family composition was not known. Twenty-four percent were either fine oldest, second or third child; and 11.1 percent were either the youngest or an only child. The religious choice of 22 of the fathers was unknown, but with the remain- dexg the religious choice of the father was similar to that of the mother. Considering the high percentage of alleged fathers having marital status it was not surprising that 20.4 percent of all of the putative fathers were living with.their wives and families. An equal number were in the armed.service. 0f the remaining 26 men whose residence was known, the largest number lived with parents and the second largest group had rooms or lived in hotels or boarding houses. As compared with the mothers, the percentage of single fathers was 62.5 per cent. However, there were six and one-half times as many mar- ried alleged fathers as mothers but less than half as many with divorce status. Nineteen of the fathers were reported to be the father of other children, three of'whom were known to be illegitimate. It is felt that there probably were 97 others whose identity was not known. The largest percentage of fathers had a slightly higher educational level than the mothers. There is a smaller range in educational achievement on the part of the fathers than the mothers although.a higher percentage had graduated from college. So few of the fathers received psychological tests that no adequate information can be given as to the I.Q, rating. The largest percentage of fathers gainfully employed were in skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled occupations, particularly in construction and fac— tory settings. It must be remembered that the study of these factors showed specific information about a particular group coming to this particular'agenoy. This is not necessarily represen- tative of the total unmarried mother population since the occupational and educational levels indicate that this group is above average. This may have occurred because of the placement program of the agency. However, the total picture of fine nature of the group as analyzed in this chapter showed that the illegitimately pregnant woman is found in all age, religious, occupational, and educational representations of our society, and therefore, this group specifically may be considered a heterogeneous group. This assumption has some serious implications for the agency. First, with such a diversified group, the availability of agency services should.be dependent upon the needs of the individual applicants. Second, it is important that the nature 98 of the group be understood'by the Board and the community, so that the means of supplying adequate and varied resources for a diversified group are made available. CHAPTER VI ATTITUDES AND FEELINGS TOWARD KEY PEOPLE In this chapter an attempt will be made to go further than the identifying characteristics of the illegitimately pregnant women in this study, in an attempt to understand the girl's feelings and emotions concerning her family, the alleged father, her pregnancy, her child, and the services she is requesting from the agency. PARENTS The feelings and emotions of the illegitimately preg- nant woman toward members of her family, the alleged father, her pregnancy, and her child as well as these different in- dividuals' attitudes toward her are very important in trying to understand the behavior of the women in this study. Studies of the unmarried mother have shown how parental attitudes may influence the psychology of the unwed mother. One author Who has done extensive work with the unmarried mother writes the following: "The psychology of the umnarried mother-«what she is like and why she becomes an unmarried mother-- is an infinitely ccmplex question. Its roots are deeply embedded in those powerful emotions of early childhood which form the basic pattern and structure for the individual's total lire. Far more than most, this specific problem represents a direct efpression of early fantasies and emotional conflict." lYoung, Leontine R., "Personality Patterns in Unmarried Mothers," The Family, December, 1945, p. 296. 100 The majority of the 51 women in the present study, on ‘whom this information was available, had unhappy home lives. The stability of their homes is indicated When one realizes that 13, or 24.1 percent, of the homes were broken by what Dr. Nico Camara-Peon, Detroit psychoanalyst and.lecturer at Michigan State College, calls the "three D's of deprivation"-- (1) death, (2) divorce, and (s) desertion.- From the information available regarding the 37 women from unbroken homes, feelings of parental rejection seen: to be the predominating characteristic feature. In 18 instances, 33.3 percent of the total, either one or both parents were rejecting; in 5, it was the father who was abusive; in 4, both parents were hostile. Nine of the women appeared to have rejecting mothers and passive fathers. Among the re- maining, six had domineering mothers, 2 had domineering fathers, and 6 had both a domineering father and mother, ac- counting for 25.9 percent of the total. Six mothers and 8 fathers were completely indifferent to their daughters. Strmg dependency needs upon one or both of their parents were shown by 9 of the women in the study. From what is known regarding domineering parents and over-dependency, one may speculate a certain amount of rejection in these cases as well. In the 14 remaining cases nothing is known of either parent's attitude toward the girl. Miss Laontine Young studied. 100 unmarried mothers be- tween the ages of 18 and 40, and found 36 percent of them had 101 dominating mothers. The mother was described as often being possessive, rejecting and sadistic. The father in those cases was the weaker person or was out off from his children. The effect on the girl was that: "Without exception she was overly dependent upon her mother and'both resented and.sm- braced.that dependency. She was constantly involved in the conflict between her love and her hate for herzmother."l Fifteen percent of the girls studied by Miss Young had dom- inating fathers and weak mothers. Most of them expressed fear'and.resentmont toward their father. None had happy home lives or close relationships with.either parent. In comparing the present study to the findings of the 100 unmarried mothers mentioned above, many similar trends are evidenced. Parental domination is a characteristic of this study as in Miss Young's as well as such dynamics as rejection, possessiveness, sadistic tendencies and indiffer- ence. Eight of the women representing 14.8 percent of the total came from homes broken by the death of either one or both parents. This is a somewhat smaller proportion than Miss ‘Young found in her study. In 30 percent of her cases either the mother or father were gone, and in 11 peroent'both parents were absent.2 1Young, op. cit., pp. 297-299. 2Ibid. 102 In one of the eight cases in the present study, both parents were killed in an accident before the third year of the woman's life and she was reared by overly-protective grandparents. In this case having both parents reject her through death when she was only at the beginning of the Oedipus period was disasterous because the girl could only experience ambivalent feelings toward these parents. Ruth Brenner in her article entitled "Case Work Service for Unmarried Mothers," points out that "to the child the death of a parent usually means desertion, because death has no meaning beyond the fact that 'mother, who always took care of me, is no longer aiding me.‘ Often a child experiences a deep hatred for the deserting parent and one that may carry over into adult life."1 The three women whose parents were divorced had unhappy and insecure home lives after they were placed in the custody of their mothers. Two of the mothers remarried, subjecting the girls to abusive treatment by domineering step-fathers. The above material indicates that most of the women in this study had unsatisfactory relationships with their parents, the outstanding characteristic of which is parental rejection, resulting in unhappy home lives. 1Brenner, Ruth F., "Case Work Service for Unmarried Mothers," Part 1, The Family, November,l94l, p. 217. 105 There was marked disharmony and friction eiflaer between the parents or between the parents and siblings, causing an atmosphere of tension and strife. In some of the cases where a step-parent was in the home, quarreling between the children and the step-parents was constant. In one case the father frequently beat the mother in the presence of the children; in several, the parents would conduct their quarrels before the child, who would take part in the arguments. In the cases where the parents had been separated for years, the un- married mother when a child was shifted from one relative to another until her home life was devoid of any stabilizing in- fluence. Intimately bound up with the tenor of a home is the at- titude and.relationship of the parents toward each other. When cases of separation, desertion, and divorce were included, it was found that marital discord was a disturbing element in the household of most of the 54 expectant mothers Who later re- quested the service of the Michigan Children's Aid Society. The attitudes which the various girls had toward their parents reflected again the family relationShip. The feelings of the girls toward their mothers were unknown in 8 instances, and toward.their fathers in 10. Where the attitudes toward parents were given it was found.that hostility toward both or one parent was the predominating emotion. Ten of the girls were hostile toward their mothers and 13 toward their fathers. Indifference was shown toward 4 mothers and toward 4 fathers. 104 Nine of the illegitimately pregnant woman expressed a deep affection for their mothers, and six were fond of their mothers but fearful.of the mother's displeasure. In talking of their feelings for their fathers, 6 said they had a deep affection and.4 said they were fond but fearful of the father's dis- pleasure. Singirls who had hostile rejective fathers felt very protective toward the mother. These were the girls who were fearful that the father would punish the mother if they knew of the girl's pregnancy. Likewise three were protective of the father and one of these felt that any knowledge of her pregnancy "would just about kill him because I am his whole life." Three of the girls had never had.any contact with their fathers and therefore were unable to express any feel- ings. Economically and culturally the family of the illegiti- mately pregnant women in this study differed markedly. There was no consistency as to the age of the parents so that it might be assumed that the unmarried.mothers were the daughters of adolescent parents or children of the menopause. The range of age for the mothers of these girls was from 32 to 70, and for the fathers from 39 to 78 years. Neither did.these il- legitimately pregnant women come from one pattern of cultural or economic background. The educational range was nearly as wide as that of age with the educational accomplishments of the girls' mothers being from the fourth grade to four years of college, and that of the fathers from the second grade to 105 one year of college. Fourteen of the girls' mothers worked outside of their own homes; of these five worked in factories and four were sales persons, the other five were in clerical, waitress work, laundry, or nurses aid. The unmarried mcthers' fathers' occupations varied from coal.miner, and railroad section hand, to owner of a large business and managerial positions. The largest group, 12, were factory workers, 8 were farmers, 7 were mechanics, 6 owned.their own business such as a grocery store, jewelry store, fruit and produce market and tool supply, 2 were con- tractors and 2 were truck drivers. 0f the remaining fathers whose occupations were known, they were about equally divided between prison.guard, plumber, salesman, engineer, miner, sec- tion hand, and office manager. One father had been unemployed and the family had lived on relief and old-age assistance for 19 years prior to the girl's pregnancy. This would tend to bear out the writer's hypothesis that illegitimate pregnancy is more frequently traceable to warped emotional relationships between the girl and her parents than to factors of an economic or sociological nature. SIBLINGS There is little in the literature on the relationship between the unmarried mother and her siblings. It seems less momentous than her relations with her par- ents, but of an importance which.the writer suspects is not fully realized as yet, this interplay of emotions between an illegitimately pregnant woman and her siblings. . w t ,. . . . o ‘ A , . ' ' . A v . , , , . ' ‘ - . 106 Case 48 Beatrice, one of twin girls, age 21, had always double- dated with her sister Bernice. For some time they had gone with two boys when the one broke off his relations with Bea- trice although she was very much in love with him. "For spite" Beatrice began to date another boy and set a wedding date one month earlier than Bernice planned to have hers. Beatrice could not go through.with the marriage even after she discov- ered She was pregnant. Because she did "jilt him," she did not feel that the alleged father should assume any responsi- bility for the baby. Bernice, who was pregnant at the time of'her marriage, delivered her baby a month before Beatrice did. The sibling riValry which Beatrice felt for her sister carried even into the sex of the child when Beatrice told this worker that she hoped hers would not‘be a boy as was her sister's. Beatrice had never felt very close to either of her par- ents, and especially not her father» She kept her’pregnancy a secret from her family until the sixth month and.then it was her mother and sister she told. With.her father she said nothing but continued to live in the home not discussing her pregnancy with him. The father also never'mentioned the preg- nancy although.tle girl was at home all through.the pre-natal period, was delivered in the local hospital, and took the baby home to live. Ruth Brenner in her St. Louis study feels that it is less clear in the way the relationship to siblings affects the un- married mother's choice of solution, but she feels there def- initely is a connection from the cases she has observed. Both Miss YOung and Mrs. Brenner in their studies found several cases where the pregnancy of an older sister resulted in the younger sister's becoming pregnant by a man she may have "picked up." . Case 24 Both of the parents of Ann, age 27, were dead. Her anther had.been 25 years younger than her father and.had had a family of seven children only two of whom had lived. Her only sibling, a sister, was several years older and lived in another community in a distant part of the state. There was and never had been any relationship with.this sister. Ann 107 was very lonely and often would have liked to have had a sister near her own age. (This case is used again on page 115 in the section on the attitude toward pregnancy.) The al- leged father was a married man, the father of two children. This according to Helene Deutsch was Ann's way of living out her incest fantasy and indicates that she is really at- tempting to give herself a sibling rather mean a child. In the current study at the Ingham County Branch.of the Michigan Children's Aid Society, 155 siblings were listed in the agency records; 56.9 percent of these were female and 45.1 percent were male. The age range was from one to 59 years, with 44.4 percent being 17 or younger, 18.5 percent between 18 and 21, and 57.5 percent over 21. Of the 85 sib- lings past the age of 17, 58 were married and 2 were divorced. In 66 percent of the cases the illegitimately pregnant women in this study were older than their married siblings. For the most part the agency records are incomplete as far as the relationship between the girls in this study and their siblings are concerned, but as far as the information is available, the predominating characteristics are hostility, competitiveness, or dependency needs toward the brother or sister. ALLEGED FATHERS Studies of the unmarried mother frequently reveal a su- perficial relationship to the alleged father. The girls know little about the men and.are not interested in them after the baby is born.1 Kasania and Handschin say that the girls deny _‘ lKasania and Handschin, op. cit., p. 77. 108 the role of the man as a sexual partner, utilizing him only as an instrument in living out certain incest fantasies, also by'denying the father's share in the childfls origin, they re- place the missing penis by the self-conceived child. "The little girl wants to be loved by the father just as her'nnther is, and.like the mother, she wants to have a child by her father (passive identifica- tion). This wish.can be realized in later life, pro- vided she succeeds in exchanging her infantile object, her father for another man. Otherwise, she runs into neurotic disturbances, among which we must reckon, along with others, difficulties of conception, of pregnancy, and of labor. Instead of a successful identification with.her mother, the little girl de- velops a spiteful rivalry, which may result in a grave sense of guilt. Weighed down by this ahe re- nounces the maternal role once and for all, and re- places it with symptcms which betray the wish and the reason for its non-fulfillment. In still another possible development, the mother identification is maintained, the idea of'having a child is acceptable, and only the part of the man as a sexual partner is denied. The girl wants to'be a mother and to have a child, but quite by'herself, by immaculate conception or paxthenogenesis." In the paper "Casework Treatment of the Unmarried Mother," Marguerite M. Hayman, Director, Alice Hunt Center of Chil- dren's Services, Cleveland, Ohio, writes about the various types of relationships which may exist between the girl and the alleged father of her child. "It is not infrequent for the caseworker to learn that her client has either consciously or un- consciously blocked out her part in becoming preg- nant. Perhaps she tells a fantastic story of rape, or explains that she was intoxicated. "An unmarried mother may express in devious ways the attitude 'I will bear this alone.' Such an atti- tude, arising from underlying motivations, carried IDeutsch, Vol. II, op. cit., p. 477. 109 with it a denial of the father's role and the strong need for self-punishment. He may have been a tool to the pregnancy and a figment of her dream concept of her own father, or a means of spiteful attack against her own mother." In contrast to the mother who is self-punishing who tends to shut out the father, there is the mother who pro— jects the blame and need for punishment on the nan. She is bent upon tracking him down, oftentimes pressing the worker to help in bringing him to justice. In other situations, too, the mother may focus upon her relationship to the father; he may have real meaning to her and she to him. She is at once concerned about this relationship and is often able and will- ing to'bring the worker in touch with the man. "There are situations in which the mother ex- presses a wish for marriage, saying 'He promised to marry me and then left,' or II didn't know he was already married.‘ Beyond the expressed wish for marriage, there is usually an emotional unreadi- ness for marriage of which the girl may have some awareness. 'He let me down. I won't marry him now. I will never marry any man.‘ She may refuse to consider marriage with the father of the baby and at the same time contemplate marriage withl another man in order to give the baby a name.“ From the above discussion, and other material available on this subject, the variability, and complexity of this prob-‘ lem is apparent. In the present study many similar patterns were Observed. Case 55 The alleged father of Clara's baby was stationed in Cal- ifornia when he learned that she was pregnant. He wrote of- fering marriage and asked a friend of his who was driving West __ 1Hayman, op. cit., p. 4. 110 to bring Clara to California with him. Clara refused to go saying she could not go that far from home. Later she went to California and pressed.charges against the alleged father to force him to make a settlement when she learned.that he was "dating another girl." There is a striking similarity between the girl's rela- tionship to her own father and.her relationship to the father of her baby. One cannot escape the conclusion that she is in one sense seeking her own father and.that the father of her baby is truly a kind of biological tool, unimportant to her as a person in his own right. He may be someone she met in a casual, unconventional fashion, "pick-up," or "blind date." Often the girl does not even know his name. Her ltmk of in- terest in him is a natural and inevitable outcome and not a deliberate evasion of her feeling for him.1 Case 56 Nancy D. refused to give any detailed information about the alleged father even when the worker talked with her about providing the'baby with as good an adoptive history as pos- sible. When asked What the alleged father looked like, Nancy ”in a ahy'embarrassed fashion put her hands over her face, blushed very highly and said, 'Oh gee, it's been so long ago I don't even remember if he had eyes or not,'....when she saw him at Christmas....he was like a complete stranger to her." Nancy's parents had been separated for over a year at the time of her conception; the reason for the separation was given as her father's drinking. In speaking of her parents "she feels that it might be better if her mother and father don't live together since her mother is self-supporting and With the help of an aunt who makes her home with Nancy and her mother, there is no need for Mr. D. to be in the family as far as financial support is concerned. Nancy seemed un- aware that she was putting this relationship with.her father on a purely financial basis." __ _ w 1Ybung, Columbus Institute. 111 The girl wi th this background speaks of her mother as a real person whatever her feelings might be, but she talks of her father in vague shadowy terms so that except for brief flashes the father never seems real at all. She speaks of the alleged father of her baby the same way, so he too is nothing but a shadowy figure often without a face or a per- sonality. In trying to determine the length of time the women in this study knew the fathers of their babies and their conse- quent feelings toward the alleged fathers, the writer had to rely upon the statements of the mothers. Three of the clients said they had no way of knowing the identity of the putative father as they had had relations with several different men. Twelve women said that they had known the alleged father for a year or more and that they had gone with him for a time. It must be born in mind that the length of time may not be a criteria of how well they knew him. Twelve mothers said they knew the reputed father a "short while " as a casual acquain- tance. In five instances the term "Ghost Lover" may be ap- plicable. In those cases the women had met the alleged father as a pick-up or on only one occasion. For three women the fathers of their children were employers. Twelve of the girls claimed to be in love with the putative father and seven said they hoped for marriage with the alleged father. From the information available, the women in this study generally show little feeling for the alleged father. Their 112 ambivalence toward the man is especially apparent in those instances where the women expressed a wish for marriage as these men were usually married men. Of the other studies compared, the only one which in- cluded the length of time the mothers knew the alleged fathers was that made in Ohio in 1940 with 43 married women.1 There it was found that 16 women knew the alleged fathers for an undetermined length of time; 9 for a year or more; 5 had been pick-ups; 9 wanted marriage; 2 did marry the alleged fathers, and 2 of the women claimed that the putative father was their former husband. The majority of the men in the current study showed little interest in the mothers of their children. In those cases where such information was available, three men said they were fond but had no intention of marriage, four said they would be willing to marry if they were free or could, and.three out of'the total of 54 said they wanted to marry the girls now. Three other men indicated that they had either been drunk or that the whole thing had been only a sexual out- let for them. Four said they were not the fathers of the babies. The feelings of the men are evident by the fact that only two men were voluntarily paying all of the girl's ex- penses; five men were paying part; and in one case the parents of the man were paying the expenses. Three of the men were making payment under suit by the girl or her family. A IEbert, Lisa, op. cit., p. 39. 115 slightly higher percent of support was in the single group than in.the married one. The Ohio study showed 10 out of 43 fathers giving any support. ATTITUDE TOWARD PREGNANCY The attitudes of the girls toward their pregnancy at the time of the intake interview varied markedly. Nine, or 16.7 percent, of the girls could not accept the reality of their pregnancies at all. These are the girls referred to by Miss Young as being very sick because they not only cannot accept any responsibility for their condition but they have also blocked out the whole experience so completely that in their thinking there can be no child. ~Case l7 Esther was typical of the girls who could not accept the reality of their pregnancy. Esther refused to recognize that one period after another passed without her menstruating. She did not go to a doctor nor admit even to herself the pos- sibility of a pregnancy. Even when her pregnancy became evident to her family and they took her to a doctor, Esther seemed to live in a sort of dream world and although intellectually a very intelligent girl, she could not take responsibility for planning, and the worker at the agency had to be very direc- tiveo Gear 46 A part of Gloria's trouble was her limited mental ability but even with the worker's help she could not accept the real- ity of her pregnancy and could not follow through in any plan for pre-natal care or'the financing of the expenses. She went through the pre-natal period.without any medical care and ar- rived at a local hospital in labor without having contacted the one doctor who knew of her pregnancy. The house doctor delivered the baby which Gloria released for adoption withoit seeing. Case 59 Vesta was one of four girls in this study who so rejected their pregnancy and refused to accept the reality of the child 114 they were carrying that it seemed as if the physical body also rejected.the reality of expectant motherhood and there were no outward symptoms of the pregnancy. ‘ Case 7 One of these girls lived in a college dormitory and had the child during spring vacation after'which she returned to classes without anyone being aware of her pregnancy. Cases 57 and 41 The other girls continued living in their homes, working at their various jobs without giving any evidence of their condition. Two of these girls were of slender, petite build which would noticeably have shown any additional weight. Even the workers at the agency had difficulty accepting the fact that these girls were so near to delivery. The above cases would lead to some speculation as to whether psychological rejection could be so strong that the reverse of a false pregnancy would be possible and that the body would retain the symptoms of pregnancy instead of show- ing them. Miss Ybung feels the way one can judge the healthfulness of the girl is how much responsibility she can take for what has happened and how much she can plan for her pregnancy and her child. Sixteen, or 29.6 percent, of the girls in this study accepted their'pregnancy in a matter-of-fact way. Thirteen felt disgraced.and were almost sick with anxiety that the pregnancy wOuld be discovered by their families or friends. "It is just my bad luck" or something to that effect was stated by three of the girls who came to the agency. Hostility toward their pregnancy was expressed by four girls. 115 Case 24 Ann said she had done everything from taking turpentine to cotton seed oil in an attempt to force an abortion but had not been successful. She said she had tried anything that anyone had suggested and had probably almost killed herself in trying....she seemed very disgusted that nothing she had tried had worked.....She said if she "has to go through all this, she'd like to keep her baby." She went on to say that it would be nice to have something that belonged to her and that it was no fun not having anyone to plan anything for at Christmas. Miss Young at the Ohio Institute stated: "It is amazing to doctors how rarely there is a miscarriage, and how little trouble the unmarried mothers have although they have little or no medi- cal attention. This would indicate the unconscious intent to have a child. For the very few who try abortion they have no luck, which shows this was only a half-hearted attempt. If one observes these girls and sees them in the maternity shelter, one is struck with how peaceful and placid and how hap- py'the are and how little it takes to make them conten . This is not true as soon as the baby is born which all adds up to the fact it is the baby the girl is really after." Four of the girls in the current study were able to ex- press just this-~theirs was a great desire for a baby. Two other girls looked upon their pregnancy as a means of mar- riage. Miss‘Young also points out that one must not forget that there are families who have a pattern for disorganiza— tion, where there are a number of unmarried mothers or where the girl identifies with her own mother such as in the fol- lowing case: Case 21 Cora, age 19, was the daughter of a woman who had had tWo illegitimate Children between her two marriages. Both children were placed for adoption. Cora's baby was placed for adoption. 116 Twenty-one, or 58.9 percent, of the alleged fathers did not know that there had been a pregnancy, one offered the girl $200 to pay for an abortion; eleven of the men, or 20.4 percent, said they were not responsible for the girl's preg- nancy. These men for the most part claimed they had used protective measures, or that they were sterile or knew of others who had had relations with the same girl about the same time. Four of the alleged fathers felt very guilty about the pregnancies and were fearful that family or business as- sociates would learn of the girl's condition. Seventeen were acceptive and willing to give background history. In this group were those fathers who gave financial help to the mothers. Nineteen of the illegitimately pregnant women in this study never told their mothers of their pregnancies. In four cases the records are incomplete and it is not known whether or not the mothers kneW. Of the 52 mothers who knew of their daughter's pregnancy, 14, or 25.9 percent, were acceptive and helpful, 5 were sympathetic or overly-protective, 6 were re- jective or condemning, 3 said "I told you so," 2 felt that they had failed as mothers, and one felt it was a great in- convenience to her. Among the girls' fathers the percentage of those who did not know of their daughters' pregnancies was even higher than for the mothers, being 51.9 percent of the total and account- ing for 28 cases. The agency records were incomplete for 6 117 cases where information was not available as to whether or not the father knew of his daughter's pregnancy. One father thought his daughter was married to the alleged father, 8 fathers were accepting and understanding, 2 were sympathetic or overly-protective, 7 were very hostile, and 2 were upset but not openly condemning. Out of the 51 girls who had siblings, 26, or 48.1 percent did not share knowledge of their pregnancy. Of those who did share, 13 found their siblings to be acceptive and sympathetic, and only 6 to be rejective or condemning. The records are not complete in 6 cases. The material on this section would indicate that among the 54 girls in this study, their families and the alleged fathers, there is a great variance as to the degree of accep- tance of the girl's pregnancy. SUI/MARY A study of the various emotions and feelings expressed by the women of this study toward their parents, siblings, the alleged father, their pregnancy, their child, and the services requested from this agency indicate that the various women are presenting problems that are basic to all. In general, as with all such cases, the illegitimate motherhood comes out of the family background from very early life experiences under the age of five. In all cases studied there is a decided sim- ilarity in backgrounds where one parent has dominated to the exclusion of the other parent. In this study there were more 118 rejective mothers and passive fathers than domineering fathers; in these the girls were shy, retiring and generally socially inadequate, as is the case where the mother by one means or another is in complete control of the household. CEAFTER VII SERVICES OF THE AGENCY As far as the general public is concerned, the Ingham County Branch of the Michigan Children's Aid Society is known primarily for its placement program, both temporary boarding care and adoption. Although its services to unmarried mothers obviously are known to those who seek the help of the agency, the concept of the agency's function as that of child-placement seems to have a significant affect upon the uses made of the services. As Jane G. Judge in her article "Casework with the Un- married Mother in a Family Agency" 1 points out, the function of the adoption agency, because its specific purpose is re- lated to the surrender of the child, may be a hindering factor in giving the unmarried mother the help she needs. For example, although the client is given every opportunity to consider alternate plans to adoption, she may feel hin- dered in her decision about the child's surrender by the implications of the agency's fundamental objectives. One factor contributing to effective service to the unmarried mother group is early application or referral and knowledge of the anticipated date of confinement. In the current study it was found that nearly 65 per cent of the referrals were made on or before the 4th month of pregnancy. In analyzing these cases, it was found that 1 Judge, Jane G., "Casework with the Unmarried Mother in a Family Agency, "The Journal of Social Case Work, January, 1951. '— 120 several factors accounted for this: (1) Early confirmation of pregnancy and referral by a physician, (2) Early referral from other agencies where the illegitimately pregnant woman had requested help in locating the alleged father or in making plans for adoption placement, (5) A feeling of need for outside help on the part of young women who find them- selves illegitimately pregnant. Most of these early re- ferrals were 20 years of age or younger and it may therefore be assumed that this younger age group had considerable anxiety which caused them to seek help and support as early as possible. Nearly 32 per cent of the expectant mothers were referred when they were between five and seven months in their pregnancy. The increasing number applying for service at five, six, and seven months of pregnancy can be accounted for on the basis that at this period, the physical aspects of pregnancy could no longer be concealed. The girl then became faced with the necessity to make some direct plans for herself and the unborn child. Two per cent were referred after the birth of their baby. These girls were those who had expressed a desire for adoption after making their own plans for confinement. (The majority had gone to Detroit for confinement and were referred back to Lansing by the main office of the Michigan Children's Aid Society.) In the two year period covered by this study, the agency was directed by two executives. There was a lapse between executives in which the agency had no administrative head. 121 In this time period there was divided opinion as to whether a follow-up service should be attempted for those mothers who reported a desire to keep their children. In the first nine months of 1951, little or no attempt was made to work with the mothers after the birth of their babies. Later in this two year period when an effort was made to offer follow-up services, it was found that the mothers who took their babies had little, if any, desire for con- tinuing service with the agency. A study made by Ramona Wilson 1 in 1950 of 75 mothers in Flint who retained custody of their children showed the following findings which are applicable to the Lansing situation for much of 1951: "In practically no case was the mother's plan for keeping her child a carefully worked out plan.... Although there is a tendency to believe that a case can be closed when the mother has made a decision to keep her child, this study would indicate this is far from true. Continuing service may prevent serious problems for both the mother and the child at a later time." Referral after the birth of a child indicates a need for the agency to make its case work services more widely 2 known to the pregnant girl. Not only would the agency be in a position to help the mother with her planning and to point out resources and situations she may not have con- 3 sidered but also to alleviate some of the anxieties of her situation. Also, the agency would not be in the position IJWilson, 0p. cit. p. 98 2 Wartime Aspects of Services to Unmarried Mothers, U.S. Department of Labor, Children's Bureau Washington: Government Printing Office, January, 1943, p. 2. 3 Hanna, Agnes K., Director, Maternity Homes, Social Service Division, U.S. Children's Bureau, Washington, D.C. 1942. .1 122 of having to work on an emergency basis and could have time to plan more effectively for both mother and child. None of the 18 mothers who retained custody of their children used the agency's boarding homes beyond the period in which a decision about a future plan for the baby was being reached. That this service was not utilized by the mothers leads to the assumption that the majority of those who came to the agency wanted adoption or had made their own plans for the future care of the baby. These findings may be partially due to the agency's attitude toward boarding care. Although no time limit was placed on the service of boarding care the agency indicated clearly, its belief that long time boarding care for an infant is not a desirable plan. Records of the agency indicate that no follow-up was made of those mothers who determined to keep their children and used their own resources for care of the child, although the agency recognized the need for service in this area. Be- cause of the popular concept that the function of a child placing agency is adoptive service, the question arises as to whether follow-up service to mothers keeping their chil- dren should rightfully be part of the placement agency's activities or whether this is the function of a fmnily ser- vice agency. Certainly the community will not have provided fully for unmarried mothers and their children unless such service is available. To ignore the group of mothers who keep their children and to fail to provide supportive and 123 protective casework service to mother and child, is to deny that unmarried motherhood is a social problem. Since the problems of a child born illegitimately are so closely associated with those of his mother, and since his adjust- ment is so closely correlated with hers, any service which promotes the well-being of the mother is far reaching and will add to the welfare of her child. Since unmarried mothers, often times because of their own deprivations, are unable to provide care which meets minimum standards, the community does have an obligation to mothers and the chil- dren living under such conditions. THE PRE-NATAL GROUP In working with this group, the agency is faced with such problems as: (1) No agency funds to help the mother with medical and hospital costs except for a small loan fund and the restrictive policies of the public agencies which have funds for this purpose. (2) The occasional necessity of a waiting period before a request for admission to a maternity home can be arranged. (3) The need for a greater variety of boarding homes equipped to meet the needs of girls who would benefit from a more personal environment and a continuous relationship with the caseworker throughout the pre-natal period. The above problems make necessary a closer analysis of the needs of the various girls who apply to the Ingham CountyBranch of the Michigan Children's-Aid Society for help. 124 Many girls who came requesting out of town maternity care already felt that an adoptive plan was what they de- sired: such a plan was desirous because they wanted to get away from the present environment to give themselves an op- portunity for planning the future for themselves and for their child; or their parents or other relatives wished them to leave the community during the pre-natal period for one reason or another. Also included in this group are those girls who were desirous of concealing their pregnancy from their family and friends or their community. Many women came to the agency after having made arrange- ments with local hospitals for their confinement. Several prospective mothers had not visited a physician and had no funds available for even the initial examination and they were asking only for financial help. These groups came to the agency to discuss adoption and/ or financial help for medical expenses. Some came also only to discuss the possibility of boarding care for the child following birth. Some came asking help in finding a new place to live or pre-natal employment. Unlike those who entered maternity homes or hospitals some distance from Lansing, the agency worker was able to see the mothers in this group more often during the pre-natal 125 period, to discuss any changes which arose that might affect her original decision.1 Putative fathers were interviewed with the mother's permission. The fathers were usually seen, however, only to obtain background information necessary for a good adop- tion placement or to obtain financial help for the mothers. Often the contact was not made directly with the puta- tive fathers either because of the mother's attitude toward the father, or her belief that he might not acknowledge, or did not know of the pregnancy. Regardless of the reasons, the agency assumed little responsibility for work with the father in planning for the child or in helping him with the factors which caused him to become a partner in the illegi- timate pregnancy. "The same social and economic conditions that lead to illegitimate parenthood in the case of the young women also operate to permit illegitimate parenthood on the part of the young men subject to them, and that failure to include both parents in any scheme of approach to the situation can lead only to results partial and unsatisfactory." 2 Often the mother preferred to give what information she knew concerning the father rather than allow him to be interviewed or sometimes even to be told of her pregnancy. For this reason it is recognized that some of the information regarding the alleged father in this study may not be ac- curate. Twenty-seven of the 54 qirls were living in temporary '1 Reed, op. cit., p. I63w 2 Ibid. 126 shelter (with friends, relatives, or alone). Although many of this group needed a more protected environment, some girls had neither the desire or the funds to leave the community. The large number of prospective mothers under 20 years of age, also gives rise to speculation concerning the need for more extensive use of boarding homes where the mother could have both the protection of anonymity and the presence of a sub- stitute family situation which could give the girl the ex- perience of normal family living.1 Although the agency has developed a few homes for the potential use of pregnant girls and unmarried mothers, the variety of homes is not sufficiently great to allow the selection of the home which would best serve girls with varying needs and personal characteristics. In foster homes for unmarried mothers, the substitute father's personality and the substitute mother's understanding the needs of adoles- cent girls are of great importance. As in the placement of a child however, a home should be available to meet the particular needs of an individual girl. A child placing agency cannot hope to give a well- rounded service without considering boarding home care for those girls who for one reason or another would not be com- fortable in a maternity home or who need the relationship of a fmnily unit. This group would include (a) the older woman who might feel uncomfortable in a maternity home during the l Blethan, Erma 0., "Foster Homes for Unmarried Mothers" The Family, Dec., 1942, p. 293: "Most....girls who apply for care...are in the process of breaking away from parental au- thority and establishing themselves as adults...They must be helped in the process." o‘-‘——. . . h..- .4...— 127 pre-natal period, where most of the girls are younger; (b) the very young, immature girl who needs a close family group; (c) the girl who wants to keep working for a time but cannot continue under the present living arrangement; (d) the girl who wants to keep her child and needs a child care plan while she works; (a) the physically or mentally-handicapped girl Who might have difficulty in a group; (f) the girl who cannot adjust to communal living; and (g) the girl who applies very late in her pregnancy and for whom a maternity home plan would not be possible. FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS The girls' pro-natal expenses varied and were paid for according to where they were living and how much medical at- tention they required. Twenty-three of the girls paid for their own pro-natal expenses, but several girls had very little medical care during this period. The parents of 6 girls paid for their care, 5 had money from the alleged father or his family, 5 utilized public assistance funds, 2 had loans from the Michigan Children's Aid Society, and 2 had friends who paid their expenses; 5 put these expenses through insurance paid for by: self, husband, or parent; one had free care from a maternity home; one was supported by her husband; one had local confinement expenses met di- rectly from Community Chest funds; one used her refund from a retirement fund; one used money provided by her sister; one had no pro-natal care; and no information was available con- cerning the source of funds for one girl. 128 Records on the 54 mothers who came to the agency for con- tinuing service show that the confinement costs were paid.in the following ways: 6 had their own medical insurance, 5 were covered‘by'their parents' insurance, 2 had their expenses paid by their husbands! insurance, 5 girls used their own savings, and 2 borrowed on future earnings. (One of these girls bor- rowed from her employer's wife when the employer was the al- leged father.) Five girls had help from their parents and 6 had payment made by the alleged fathers. Of the 21 remaining mothers, 8 were provided with money from the Michigan Children's Aid Society's "unmarried mothers' loan fund,"5 obtained as- sistance through the Michigan Crippled and Afflicted Children's Commission through "State Papers," 4 received public assis- tance; 1 received assistance directly from the Community Chest, and 2 from friends; and one left the community before the delivery of her child. Two girls had not delivered their children at the time of this study, but it was planned that one would.nse her insurance and the other her savings. "As agencies try to serve unmarried mothers they become aware that in the responsibility of planning for such.mothers one agency cannot provide all the services needed to carry out the plan.....They should draw upon the resources available in the community, or if there are limited or lacking, upon.those of other communities that may be utilized or upon the service available through State and Federal programs of health and welfare. This requires that all agencies con- cerned understand each oflaer's programs and formulate agreements among themselves as to the iervices that each is equipped anduwilling to give." (”'M‘Ifiervices'for Unmarried Mothers and TheirgChildren, U:§. Department of Labor, Children's Bureau(Washington, D.C. 1945) p.6 129 TABLE X HOW 54: I LIE GI T BEAT fiY P RE GNAT‘I T W GLEN W HO USED THE SERVICES OF THE IKGHAH COUNTY BRANCH OF M.C.A.S. DURING 1951 AND 1952 PAID FOR THEIR CONFINEMENT EXPENSES Ifbcal maternity Other MEANS OF PAYMENT No. Percent Hospital Home Hospital TOTAL 54 100.0 25 23 4 medical Insurance 13 24.1 5 6 2 Self . 6 3 2 1 Parent 5 l 4 O Husband 2 l O l ioney Payment 13 24.1 8 4 1 Parent 5 5 2 O Alleged Father 6 3 2 1 Friend. 2 2 O 0 Self 7 15.0 4 2 1 Savings .5 2 2 l Borrowed 2 2 O 0 Agencies 18 53.3 7 11 0 Public 9 6 5 0 Private 9 l 8 0 Others 5 7.4 l O 0 «Two girls had not had their babies at the tire of this study, and one girl had an abortion at a local hospital. A good program of services for the unmarried mother pre- supposes the use of existing community resources, and agency interpretation to the community when existing resources are limited or need more flexibility. A good program also pre- supposes a careful delineation of the agency's own fUnction and.the responsibilities it assumes in meeting;the client's needs. .-. 150 EXTENT OF SERVICE PROVIDED BY’TEE AGENCY A count of the number of agency contacts on each case in this study from the time of the initial interview until the last time the girl came to the agency showed 18 cases having ten or less contacts, 18 having between eleven and twenty, 10 having'between twenty-one and thirty, 4 having between thirty-one and forty, and one each having 52, 57, 75, and 95 different contacts. The 54 cases necessitated 1,227 different contacts with 54 different agencies, institutions, organizations, family groups, or individuals. A further analysis shows that the total number of interviews with the mothers in this study was 599, with the range being from 2 to 56 interviews with any one girl, or an average of 11.1. There was a total of 141 contacts with.the clients' families; 92 were with the girls' mothers, 15 with fathers, 52 with other relatives, and 4 with husbands. Workers had 22 interviews with alleged.fathers and 9 with relatives of the alleged fathers. In working out medical plans there were 55 contacts with doctors, 85 with maternity homes, 45 with hospitals and 2 with public health nurses. When gathering pertinent information it was necessary to have 20 contacts with schools and colleges, 11 with a psychol- ogist, 7 with friends of the expectant anther, 4 with the prison, 5 with.the police, 2 with a State Hospital, and 1 with an em- ployer. A. 151 For financial planning and working through personal prob- lems it was necessary to have 4 interviews with the Bureau of Social Aid, 17 with.the Department of Social Welfare, 57 with the Probate Court, 5 with.the Community Chest, 50 with Family Service Agency, 74 with the Detroit office of the Michigan Children's Aid Society, 26 with the Jackson Branch of the Michigan Children's Aid Society, 5 with the Child Guidance Clinic, 8 with Michigan Children's Institute, 1 with Catholic Social Service, 5 with Red Cross, 1 with a probation officer, 4 with the Prosecuting Attorney, 22 with lawyers, 1 with the employment office, and 9 with boarding mothers. A11 of'the 54 illegitimately pregnant women in this study received casework counseling in an effort to help the girl face the reality of her situation and to make the best plan for herself and her child. The degree of this counseling differed with the maturity of the girl, the relationship with the worker, and the length of treatment. There was a discussion of medical care with each girl. Many had already made arrangements with local hospitals and doctors for their confinement. In those cases where the girl had not seen a doctor, she was urged to do so immediately. If the expectant mother did not know a doctor or was afraid to go to her family physician, she was provided.with a list of local obstetricians. Thirty- five of the clients asked for help in making maternity care plans; arrangements were made for 25 to enter maternity homes. 152 The majority entered the Florence Crittenton Home at Jackson, but arrangements were made for 12 girls with hospitals in this or other communities. Each of the expectant mothers was encouraged to discuss her financial plans, and in 8 instances the agency provided a loan of money needed. In other cases the girl was referred to other agencies and.the worker from the lflchigen Children's Aid Society worked closely with the other agency in making financial plans. TWenty-six;mothers received adoption services through the agency; one girl.made her own adoption plan through the Court, and one child was made a ward of'the Probate Court after the mother disappeared. Forty-four mothers made use of the agency's temporary boarding care until such a time as they could make a final decision concerning their child. Three used long-time boazding care for their babies. Other services which were given by the agency to some of the mothers in this study included casework with members of the girl's family; foster'boarding care for the girl both.be- ford and after confinement; help to the girl in obtaining em- ployment; and clarification of legal procedure in a bastardy charge, or secret marriage. A very detailed description_of the services offered to the illegitimately pregnant woman will be found in the 1952 Annual Report of the Ingham County Branch of the Michigan Chil- dren's Aid society. A copy of the section explaining services for unmarried mothers may be found on pages 165-167 in the appendix. 135 This study is concerned with the illegitimately pregnant mother only; therefore, the many contacts with, and services given to, her dhild while in the temporary boarding home or after signing of the release are not included in this thesis. I MOTHER'S DECISION REGARDING CHILD The 54 women included in this study expressed varied plans for trair child. At the time of intake 55 girls were requesting adoption, 7 were planning to keep the baby, and 12 were undecided as to the best plan for the baby. After the birth of the child these figures were changed, since three of the babies did not live after a premature birth, and one girl had an abortion. At the time of the study, two babies had not been born, and since one girl had left the com- munity, her decision was unknown. For those on whom informa- tion was available at the birth of the baby, 26 girls wanted adoption, 20 said they wanted to keep the child, and l was undecided. Of the women who produced living children only 5 of those requesting adoption at intake failed to follow through with their original plan. All of the women who wanted to keep their child at intake did so. Among the 12 women who were undecided, 4 placed their'children for adOption. "many....unmarried mothers need to cling to the child because of their attachment to his father, and the hope that through.the baby they can still main- tain a tie with him. Others who have been led into pregnancy as a result of their own disturbed family relationships need to keep their babies as a help in working out their relationships. Some need to reinforce 154 their dependency upon their families; others, to bring about their emancipation from an overly dom- inant family." TABLE XI DECISION'NADE BY 54 ILLEGITIMATELY'PREGNANT WOMEN WED USED THE SERVICES OF THE INGRAM COUNTY BRANCH OF M.C.A.S. DURING 1951 AND 1952 REGARDING THEIR CHILDREN Af er . DECISION At Intake Baby's Birth Final Decision No. Percent No. Percent No. Percegt TOTAL 54 100.0 54 100.0 54 100.0 Adoption . 55 64.8 26 48.1 28 51.9 Keep Child 7 15.0 20 57.1 18 55.5 Undecided 12 22.2 1 1.8 O 0.0 Other» 7 15.0 8 14.8 *Child dead or'not born at the time of study. In the Flint study of 19472, '75 mothers of the total of 114 were referred before the birth of their babies. Of these 75, 45 requested adoption service and followed.through with this plan. EleVen, who planned to retain custody of their dhildren, came to the agency requesting other services. Of the remaining seventeen, five who originally decided to keep the child changed their decision in favor of adoption after the child was born, while 12, whose original plan was to place, de- cided after birth to retain custody. One mother miscarried during the pre-natal period, and another did not complete any plan with the agency's knowledge. lBrower, Bernice R., "what Shall I Do With My Baby?", The Child, April, 1948, p.167. Spencer, op. cit., p. 68. v v- .-V a a . a ‘ - ...v. 155 As would be assumed, a large percent age of the married or divorced women had their children placed for adoption be- cause of more social pressure in their position, since many of these women had a legitimate child and were fearful of losing this child through a charge of promiscuity. The Ohio studyl made in 1949 of 45 women who were il- legitimately pregnant after marriage showed that all of the married women who continued their marriage had their children placed for adoption. In the current study the change in the mother's plan fol- lowing birth was accountable to such intangibles as emotional bonds developed during the period of gestation, guilt and fear of religious arrl social condemnations, feelings of fail- ure to child and psychological transformations common to the situation. The more obvious factors for change of plans were such things as a reversal in attitude on the part of the mother's parents and relatives, a variance in the mother's ability to support the child, and a recognition of the need for a practical and permanent plan for the child. rThe atti- tudes of the girl's family toward the pregnancy and the dis- position of the child seemed to be an important factor in de- termining the final decision for the baby. In instances where the parents were willing for the girl to make her own decision, she was more apt to keep her baby. 1 Ebert, Lisa, op. cit., p. 81. 156 There were indications in the records that group atti- tude among the mothers in the maternity home had an effect upon some girls' decisions to keep their children. Rome in a study of 50 unmarried.mothers at the Jewish wh- ternity Home of Boston in 1959 found that group attitudes in the maternity hone in favor of keeping the baby resulted in girls changing their plans from adOption to boarding care for their babies. The popular concept in literature that adoption is the only solution seemed.to influence some girls to ask for such service. Significant for judging what final decision a girl was likely to make was the kind of relationship ske had with the alleged.father and whether she thought of the baby as a means of marriage. Helping the mother reach a decision that was for the best interests of the child and most acceptable to the mother was considered a basic casework service, essential to a de- sirable placement program.1 In evaluating the services given to these mothers it must be understood that a child care agency should not em- phasize one particular area of service sudh as boarding care or adoption. The agency should be able to offer adoption 1Hanna, op. cit., p. 2, "the basic need of every unmarried mother is for social services to assist her in planning wisely for the care of the child." 157 service, infant boarding care, and the possibility of foster care for mothers and babies together as part of its own ser- vice. In addition, a placement agency should use any com- munity facilities necessary to provide the variety of ser- vices needed by the unmarried mother. "As long as the services are available, it mat- ters little whether the agency that provides it is a family welfare agency, a child-placing agency, a specialized service, or even whether the support canes from private or tax funds."1 The primary objectives of'any agency are to meet the needs of the individual client and to provide the facilities necessary for implementing this objective. 1Morlock, Maud, "Foster Home Care for Unmarried Mothers," The Child, September, 1958, p. 51 CHAPTER VIII INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS The psychology of the woman who gives birth to an il- legitimate child is an exceedingly complex one. The general findings presented in this study show a great variability among the women, and consequently any conclusions made will not be highly generallized.'-. The most common denominator among the women in this study seems to be their emotional immaturity. This is es- pecially evidenced in their relationship to the alleged father and in their lack of foresight in having sexual relations without considering the consequences of their actions. Many other examples may be cited to substantiate this hypothesis. From psychiatric orientation it is known that emotional immaturity is a result of childhood conflicts and a consequent inability to mature psychosexually, and to form satisfactory adult relationships. From the information available regard- ing the 54 women who had continuing services from the Michigan Children's Aid Society during the years of 1951 and 1952, un- happy home lives and.unsatisfactory parent-child relationships seem to be significant factors. Thirteen, or 24.1 percent, of the women came from broken.homes. These women often had very unstable home lives and usually considered their child, hood to be unhappy. Fhw if any of the 57 women whose parents were classified as "married" had satisfactory relations with their parents. Generally speaking, parental rejection was 159 characteristic of the group. In some instances it took the form of open abusiveness. Most of the time, however, the re- jection was less overt, but was apparent in their parents' attitude toward the women. Domineering parents were also com- mon, although the actual extent could not be determined due to lack of information in the case histories. Psychological studies usually show that basic to the domineering parent is his rejection of the child. From the present study, one may infer that the unresolved Oedipus complex was characteristic of this group of women. This is understandable in view of the relationship which ex- isted between parent and child. Psychoanalysts show that only with the help of kind and loving parents can this diffi- cult psychosexual period be resolved. Consequently the writer assumes that due to the women's unsatisfactory childhood ex- periences they were unable to develop beyond the Oedipal period. This is an important factor in understanding the emotional im- maturity encountered in these women. Further indications of the unresolved Oedipus complex are evidenced in their relation- ship to the putative father, and their attitude toward their children. In some cases there is evidence that the reputed father represented the father figure. For instance, women whose fathers were abusive tended to select men with similar characteristics or a married man. A child by such a man would represent an unconscious attempt to satisfy the woman's in- cestuous desires. 140 Feelings of hostility were frequently observed in their attitude toward the alleged father. The type of hostility evidenced by these women is known to have its roots in child- hood conflicts and consequently represents misplaced hostility. Rather typically these women had difficulty in expressing hos- tility toward their parents and sometimes denied these feel- ings completely. The reason for this may be best illustrated in connection with the rejected child. The child who feels unloved has a lot of negative feelings toward his parents for depriving him of his much needed desire to be loved. However, this hostility has to be repressed for fear of further rejec- tion and consequent loss of love. These hostile feelings be- come more acceptable in relation to other people who become identified with either parents. Consequently the feelings which these women evidence toward men are in part their ex- pression of’hostility toward their own fathers for rejecting them or for having disappointed them as a love object. Hostility toward.women, which was frequently encountered in this study, was generally due to their feelings of rejec- tion by their own mothers. This feeling tended to be projected onto other women and was expressed by having sexual.relations with married.men. The women obtained satisfaction from taking the man away from another women who desires him. A child con- ceived by a married man also fits readily into the unresolved Oedipus complex. Closely related to hostility is masochism which these women frequently evidence. Guilt over unacceptable feelings 141 tends to foster a wish for self-punishment. The masochistic trends of the women in this study may be a result of incestuous desires and their guilt in relation to their feelings of hos- tility. Since these conflicts were never satisfactorily resolved, self-punishment continues to be an important factor in the psychology of these women. This masochistic tendency is best illustrated by their conception of an illegitimate child. Studies of the unmarried mother frequently show that a child born out of wedlock represents an attempt to satisfy these masochistic tendencies. Other reasons for having a child born out of wedlock may be postulated. The writer offers the hypothesis that the child represents an expression of hostility and aggression. It is Obvious how such an action serves to punish.the family who feels disgraced by such conduct. In the women who were married at the time of conception, this same feeling seems to be in connection with their husbands. This study shows that the child is frequently used as a method of controlling the alleged father and consequently is again an eXpression of hostility. Although 19 women kept their illegitimate children, this fact does not indicate that they had.much feeling of warmth or motherliness for them. Generally speaking, their attitude was rejecting. Eight did not care for this child themselves. From the previous discussion regarding the women's immaturity, and.the use they made of the child, their attitude toward their offspring is not surprising. CHAPTER IX SUNNARY’AND CONCLUSIONS Children born out of wedlock constitute a problem of Special consideration to society. It is estimated that one birth out of every twelve is illegitimate. No doubt the re~ ported births out of wedlock is incorrect due to the tendency to conceal the fact of illegitimacy. The actual number is,“ therefore, probably much higher than the recorded amount. The purpose of this study was to examine the cases of 54 illegitimately pregnant women who came to the Ingham County Branch of the Michigan Children's Aid Society for assistance during the period of 1951 and 1952 and to describe the ser- vices provided for them. The study revealed.that 26 of the girls were less than 21 years of age, 58 were 24 or younger, and 4 were over 50. Twenty of the alleged fathers were married. They ranged in age from 17 to 56 and were engaged in various occupations, with a large representation of white-collar and semi-skilled workers. Fifty-nine percent of the girls were either the eldest or the youngest in their families. This information was known for less than half of the fathers, but where available showed no consistent pattern. Three out of four of the women who indicated religious affiliation gave their religious preference as Protestant, the others said they were Catholic. The alleged fathers' choice of religion was similar to the girls'. For almost 145 half of the women their residence was with their parents. Fourteen were living alone or in their own hanes, 7 lived with other relatives, and the others had varied living ar- rangements. Nearly three out of four of the girls were single. Of the others, the largest number, ll,were divorced, and 5 were married. For 41 this was their first child, 8 had one or more legitimate children, and 6 had one or more illegiti- mate children. Half of the girls went beyond twelve years of formal schooling. Only one had less than an eighth grade education. Two had completed four yeaie or more of college. Half of the girls were classified as having average or higher intelligence, 6 as of low or dull mental ability, and 6 as having superior intelligence. The majority of the girls gainfully employed were either in sales or clerical work. The girls' homes were considered first from the point of view of whether they were broken or unbroken,and then discussed on the basis of familial relationships and emotional adjust- ment. There were 57 unbroken homes, but in none of these was there a happy relationship where the parents were devoted to each other and to the children and.where the emotional tone was easy and relaxed. Theeconomic situation of the families differed widely with a few being financially harassed. The majority of the girls came from middle class families Where the fhther was in a skilled or semi-skilled trade, or owned his own small business. 144 The girls came to the agency on referral from other social agencies, physicians, or hospitals and maternity homes where they had.applied for pre-natal care or confinement; from rel- atives and friends; and through miscellaneous sources. The services which.they requested in the intake interview were of a concrete, definite nature, related to the practical as- pects of their problem and the services which they understood were given by the agency. In studying these cases the attitudes of both the girl and.ber family toward her pregnancy and her baby were'consid- ered. The relationship with the alleged father was viewed-in length of time she had known him and.how well. This relation- ship was classified as: (a) Unknown, (b) Gone with for a time, (c) Casual acquaintance, (d) "Pick-up," (e) Employer, (f) In love with, and.(g) Hoped for marriage with. All attitudes toward pregnancy at intake were found to be composites of many feelings. The reaction of 15 of the girls appeared to be guilt, shame or rejection with no healthy compensatory factors; 9 could not accept the reality of their pregnancy at all; 16 seemed to have little emotional reaction; 14 showed fairly mature attitudes in Which the situation was faced on an adequate adult levdL The attitude was influenced by the girl's family's attitude toward the pregnancy. Only 52 girls told any family member of their pregnancy. In 10 of these cases the family was essentially rejecting, in 8 they were overtly accepting but expressed feelings of shame 145 and disgrace; in 14 the parents' evaluation of the situation was in terms of the girl's feelings,and their primary concern was to ease the situation for her. Factors similar to those affecting the girl's attitude toward the pregnancy also influenced her feelings for the baby. A study of the services received showed that of the 55 girls requesting adoption at intake, 26 received this ser- vice. These 26 babies were placed in adoptive homes either by Michigan Children's Aid Society or Michigan Children's Institute. Forty-four of the girls used temporary boarding care for their children pending decision concerning an ulti- mate plan for the baby. In the remaining cases the girls made their own plans for the babies immediately after con- finement. Thirty-five girls received maternity care planning. The putative father was seen in 15 cases. Casework was done with the families of 14 girls to help them better under- stand the girls' problems. Miscellaneous services were also given to the girls. Besides the concrete and specific ser- vices essentially related to the practical aspects of the problem, the caseworkers also helped to alleviate the emotional pressure of the girls' situations. Most of the girls utilized the casework relationship to work through some of their dis- turbed feelings around family relationships. The girlfls relationship with her own family was found to be of primary importance in her adjustment as noted in the last chapter. Unhealthy family situations were found in a greater or lesser degree in practically 100 percent of the cases. 146 It was seen in the study that the girl's relationship with the key people in her life, namely her family and the alleged,father5 had much significance in judging what final decision a girl will likely make about her child. In summarizing the results of this study it is found that the agency offered a fairly complete program of services to unmarried mothers. The agency was generally known for its placement program and for this reason the majority of the people who used the agency either as a referral source, or as clients, thought mainly of adoptive service. It was found that 65 percent of the referrals were made in the first four months of pregnancy which could be accounted for by early confirmation of pregnancy, or the age of the young expectant mother Who had considerable anxiety about her position. Two executives directed the agency during the two-year period of the study, and there was a lapse of time between these two administrators when there was no agency head. In this two-year period there was variation in the follow-up service offered to the unmarried motherwwho decided to keep her child. Little if any indication of any attempt for follow- up service is found in the ealdy'months of the study. Later, in the period when an effort was made to offer such service, it was found that these mothers had little or no desire for such service. None of the 18 mothers who retained custody of their children used the agency's boarding homes beyond the period 147 in which a decision about a future plan for the baby was being reached. In working with the pre-natal group the agency was faced with the problems of (1) limited agency funds for medi- cal and hOSpital cost, (2) occasional waiting period for ad- mission to a maternity home, and (3) lack of boarding homes to meet the needs of those girls who could not use maternity care and might request a boarding home. These clients could be: (a) the older women, (b) the very young girls, (c) the Working girls, (d) girls who want to keep their babies with them, (a) physically or mentally handicapped girls, (f) girls unable to adjust to communal living, or (g) girls applying late in their pregnancy. The girls' pre-natal expenses varied and.were paid for according to where they lived and how much medical attention was required. The 54 cases necessitated 1,227 different contacts with 54 agencies, institutions, organizations, family groups, or individuals. The attitudes of the girl's family, toward her pregnancy and her diSposition of the child, seemed to be an important factor in determing the final disposition of the case. The parents who evaluated the situation almost entirely in terms of’the girl's own feelings and whose main concern was to ease the situation for*her, were willing to accept any decision the girl might make regarding the disposition of 148 the child. Those girls had more of a tendency to keep their babies. Significant for judging What final decision a girl.was likely to make was the kind of relationship she had with.the putative father. The girl who kept her baby seemed to be one whose relationship with the alleged father was that of love and/or expectation of marriage. There are indications in records that there is such.a thing as group attitude among the mothers at the maternity homes, whidh operates to bring pressure upon the girls either to adopt or to keep their children, depending upon the thinking of a certain group. The common concept that a placement agency plans for adoption only and1she popular literature which encourages adoption as the only solution seems to influence those girls who are undecided in their own thinking about what plan to make fer their children. There are few publicized agency services fhr the unmar- ried mother as such, since most publicity known to the public is related to adoption. This has undoubtedly come about because adoption in the majority of cases has seemed to be, in our social structure, the best solution for both the mother and the child. Therefore, agencies have tended to see one particular service to the unmarried mother and, 'as a consequence, many unmarried mothers who cannot fit this service to their own needs do not seek agency help. It is 149 therefore, assumed that many unwed mothers receive no agency service. Part of this is caused by a failure on the part of the community to provide an adequate financial program; and failure to analyze the existing services in terms of'how well they meet the unmarried mothers' needs. It is concluded that important factors contributing to illegitimate pregnancy are those in the area of parental at- titudes toward the girls and the general emotional relation- ships within the family. These same attitudes will be deter- minate in the final decision which the girls make for their babies. In concluding it may be pointed out that any program of casework service to the unmarried mother must be focused on helping the girl make the best possible adjustment with the reality implications of her situation. The many decisions to be made must be hers, and ones that she can accept. In reaching those decisions she will need the help of the most highly skilled worker, who has a considerable degree of self- awareness and understanding of the psychological and social forces operating within the unmarried mother situation. This worker, with a sympathetic and understanding attitude, can give evidence to the girl that she does not share the con- demning feelings of the community. This is not something that the worker does in verbal reassurance, but if the worker really understandsizhe needs of the girl, she will sense this from 150 the worker's attitude in the interview. It is for this reason that a caseworker dealing with illegitimately pregnant women should be mature, flexible, sensitive, alert, and skilled in a helping process which can meet the needs presented in this type of problem as well as an awareness of the resources and the laws of the community and of the state. BIBLIOGRAPHY B O OKS Barrett, Robert 8., THE CARE OF The UNMARRIED MOTHER, Alex- andria, Virginia, 1929 Deutsch, Helene, PSYCHOLOGY OF'WOMEN, Vol. II, Grune and Stratton, Inc., New York, 1945 English, 0. Spurgeion and Pearson, Gerald H.J., EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS OF LIVING, W.W. 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Haymman, July, 1947, Mimeographed'by the Federal Securi- ty Agency, Social Security Administration, Children's Bureau? I. .7. .C (I 155 Fredericksen, Hazel. THE CHILD AND HIS WELFARE. San Francisco, ‘W.H. Freeman and Company, 1948 Guibord, Alberta and Parker, Ida R., WHAT BECOMES OF THE UN- MARRIED MOTHER? Research Bureau on Social Case Work, Boston, 1928 Kinsey, A.C., Pomeroy,'W.B., and Martin, C.E., SEXUAL BE- HAVIOR IN THE HUMAN MALE, Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders Co., 1948 "Needs of Unmarried Parents and Their Children as Seen by a Caseworker", Elise de la Fontaine, Community Service Society of New York City, 1947 Russell, Marian E., "Responsibility of the Hospital to the Unmarried Mother and Her Child," Pamphlet reprint from the August, 1958, issue of Hospitals Terman, 'Lewis 2.1., and others, PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS IN.MARITAL HAPPINESS, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1958 "The Referral Center: A Five Year Experiment, 1956-1941", Pub- lished'by the Council of Social Agencies of Metropolitan Detroit "Unmarried Mothers in the municipal Court of Philadelphia", Thomas Skelton, Harrison Foundation, Philadelphia, 1955 REPORTS Adoption Practice: Casework with Parent, Child, and Foster ‘Parent, CEIId Welfare League of America, Inc., DecemEer, 1941 Annual Regort g: the In ham County Branch of the Midhigan Ch en[§_Aid Soc ety, January, 1955_for the yearCI952 Brenner, Ruth. "What Facilities are Essential to the Adequate Care of the Unmarried Mother?" Proceedings of the Nation- al Conference of Social‘Work, New Ybrk, Columbia Press, 1942, pp. 426-459 Brisley, Mary. "The Unmarried Parent-Child Relationship", Child Welfare League of America, Inc., December, 1959 French, Thomas, M.D. "The Importance of the First Interview with the Unmarried Mother", at the Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis-~an address Morlock, Maud. "Unmarried Mothers in War Time", Presented at Regional Meeting of the National Conference of Social Work in New Yerk, March, 1945 I. 4 3 '0 .0 “ 156 Parker, Ida R., "A Follow-Up Study of 550 Illegitimacy Appli- cations", Research Bureau on Social Case Work, Boston, 1924 Ripple, Lillian. "A Study of Facilities for the Care of Un- married Mothers in Chicago." Published under’the auspices of the Chicago Council of Social Agencies, 1941-42 The Negro Unmarried Mother. Based on 18-months findings at Ithe Referral Center, Detroit, Michigan,February 1, 1956 to August 1, 1957 Women's HOSpital, Social Service Department, Description of Program. Mimeographed Report, 1941, Detroit Young, Leontine R., "Understanding the Unmarried.thher", An Institute at the Central Regional Conference of the Child Welfare League of America, held in Columbus, Ohio, 1955 NEWSPAPER ARTICLES "Anti-Shame Bill Opposed", The Detroit News, May 25, 1947 Lee, Jaie, "Mother is Overjoyed by Hope that Daughter May Be Protected", The Detroit News, May 25, 1947 "Not Branded", Detroit Free Press, December 51, 1950 UNPUBLISHSQ MATERIAL Buckberry, Elsie, "Maternity Program For'Unmarried Mother-~Uni- varsity Hospital", Unpublished Master's thesis, Institute of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1945 Burns, Ruth Ann, "Study of Fifty Unmarried Mothers", Project report, Master of Arts degree, thhigan State College, 1949 Cohn, Anne, "Survey of Services Given to Unmarried Mothers by the Jewish.Board of Guardians", Unpublished Master's thesis, School of Social Work, Smith College, 1958 Ebert, Lisa, "A Study of 45 Women Who Conceived Children Illegitimately After Marriage," Unpublished Master's thesis, School of Social.Work Administration, Ohio State University, 1950 Hammond, Louise L., "A Study of Childhood Experiences of a Selected Group of Unmarried Mothers Treated by Family Service Between January 1, 1948 and November 1, 1949, UnpUblished Master's thesis, School of Social Work Administration, Ohio State University, 1949 157 Heipp, Elsie, "An Analysis of Cases of the Unmarried Mother Pittsburg Children's Service Bureau in 1950", Unpublished Master's thesis, School of Social Work Administration, 'Ohio State University, 1954 Hosmer, Jane S., "Traits Predictive of the Successrul Outcome of Unmarried Mothers' Plans to Keep Their Children", Unpublished Master's thesis, School of Social Work, Smith College, 1940 Mattingly, Mabel H., The Unmarried MCther and Her Child", Unpublished Master's thesis, School of Applied Social Sciences--Western Reserve University, 1928 Mattingly, Mabe1.H. "The Unmarried Mether and Her Child", Unpublished Master's thesis, Institute of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1945 Mautner, Helen G., "The Unmarried Mother Over Thirty", Unpublished Master‘s thesis, School of Social Work University of Michigan, 1947 Rogvoy, Rose, "Unmarried Mothers Under E.M.I.C. in Wayne County", Unpublished Master's thesis, Institute of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1947 Rome, Ruth, "A Method of Predicting the Probable Disposition of their Children by Unmarried Mothers", School of Social Work, Smith College, 1959 Spencer, Elizabeth.Burns, "A Placement Agency's Services to Unmarried Mothers", UnpubliShed Master's thesis, School of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1951 Terrill, Sarah G., "The Unmarried Father: A Study of Changing Attitudes in a Social Service Agency Dealing Primarily with the Unmarried Mether", Unpublished Master's thesis Wayne University, Department of Social Work, 1941 Tiefenthal, Nhrguerite, "Children Born Out of Wedlock in the State of Midhigan in 1948 Compared with.Similar Data for the Years 1956 Through 1942", Unpublished Master's thesis, Institute of Social Work, University of thhigan, 1950 Trindall, Phil Henry, "A Study of Casework Services to the Unmarried Mbther as Provided by the Dayton Children's Bureau", Unpublished Master's thesis, School of Social Work Administration, Ohio State University, 1952 Wilson, Ramona, "Unmarried Mothers Who Keep Their Children", Unpublished Master's thesis, Institute of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1950 " APPENDIX 158 STITU‘ T I Characteristics Oi the Prosoectile “other at tine o lipllcation° a. So roe of 9st°eral 1. Other A they a. Physican 3. Taternity 5313 H. Rel tive or Triend S. 3ther-—epecify 3. Ikiinoudl 3. His C. Position in Family U. 3811 5101’]. E. LiJin3 Arran m;;nts (with when living) E. Marital Status 1. Sin 1e 2. arried 3. Divorcel d. Separated G. Other Children 1. Le 'jt1 "1th 2. Illeji tirnat e H. Evucation and Training I. I.". J. frolorn“nt 1. woua tion K. lttitude Tet ard Parents 1. Ton ard Mother Hostile Indifferent Submissive without evidence of attachment Fond, but fears disapproval Deep affectioq Overly dependent Other Record nnosolc, hard Father Jostile ndifferent Submissive 40nd, but LL (J (TD) VVVVVVVV HJL‘D tt lout evidence of attachment rs disa reproval _ 0 Over y deg; " the? Record incomplete Relat1DCC‘1W witF Llle ed Fa‘her l. Identitr unknoun 2. Sin:1e contact or oick- no 3. Casual ECMU11HCJQCS Jut no eiotWOHDl relati onsliip 1. ”Lent ‘Hlt his" but no atts_clinent 5. lttacFed, hoped for Hariid e ). Iar:ie;*e plannede 7. Aecord io01vl Attitude oxa d ”P; QQHFV 1. Tails to accept re ality 2. jetted of iact 3. Peels dis raced I. Guilty re: (a) viole tion of religion (b) liolation of own loral co ie (0) Violation of parents' standards 5. Feels it is her ”bad luck” 3. Accepts it as her punishment 7. fielcones pregnancy (a) Punishrent of nerents (n) Punis‘ient of alleged faoh;:r (c) Seen as loans of getting noney (*) Seen as means of itsurf.; ‘arriq (e) Desire ior oaby (f) Proof f felininity or fertilit/ (g) ?ecord incololete Attitule Coward the Child 1. "as little or no realitt to her 2. Complete rej3ction 3. T3elin s not Hnown but adoptio" seen as only plan 4. fiould like to Feep but feels this is inoos s: ble 5. fiould like to keeo if plans can be reads 5. Feterniied to keep (a) To Lave something tFet oolon s to her (b) To tunish the alle ed father (c) To punish pareits (d) To phnish self (e) Desire for a biby (f) To other course acccotaile (1) Because of nebulous reasons (2) Because of personal co (g) Record incoaolete Plans for Eaby 1. .ants adeption 2. Vester car— pendiiM marfiia e 3. foster care 1ntil decision can be mile 1. Lon: tine foste er case .5. P];.;is to loeep (a) [At ho M?1V1th ilrnzly (b ) Place with relatives (c place in independent bfififfl‘l care \JJ [Vi—1.5) 3‘ . I 1.:- O '\] U ~\j‘1 . r l V C ) \L’ O Snarac A. 10 \1 O C. ency SLPViCE? {yqoostcl (CLeck awcj scrr‘ce re- estei) :lootive alannin* Katernltt home cére menvorarjf toarlinj care Loni-time boardinj care “”315 711 secuxfixl ore-cxmlfinc Emu: cnologmunlt “319 in develop n3 n3w liang arrangements qjencr foster 31re ior 33.5 Assistance in sccvr n sup‘ort from 9Llejei fatf‘ler Assistance in 33112-3; f1n3n Ciil resources for pre-confi;1en3n t and for conETne n3nt exvenses teristics of 9anily: t?1er° A”e fiducation accuoet tion ' 1teal status ’ 4 U‘WM jw:, :DF“® 4 ,. ‘1'.u\ 5.; “W“CJ ‘ .. {uEll‘l'LO S toward dau r ) ) ) ) ) ) t . ) Over-protecti e ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) 3 HtEP H- c.1— C. . g; o 0‘ 9.3 d- “: (D fiature acceptance Controlling but alf’ectionste fiiippflw nt Rejection Other Vecord H3 (D {LO inco njlete rd pregnancy pr3gnancy reality Cf L] without con- alleged father ;ir1's father bad conponions situational fac others tors u pflfifl D (D LY 93 cf *5 a) AAA 1': VVV C1- VVV H. C?“ x I —‘ OOOOOOOO . b‘lilvv Elli! ill! .5 r.l|4]||l-I'1 I‘ll! Ill!" Lu" (D I b— I x 5 .g t .2 AAA/\A/‘AVJ AAA‘NAA“- ( '1...» PS 4!“\JJ Do +4 $3 VVVV Cf \Jl 3.4 U ‘kuPJFHM L4: \\ 7“,-tv_. AAA/\AA (f) (.1; s C 0 £1) C+ H. O :3 VJ. C1- :1 v 3) Q C C+ 93 (D " J t I (D C) (1' } J O D 3 C1- ’1) wcvrsd*s 35 Ch. ‘ ’ (I) .L—- Lfia {mi to iLil's 135 <:r Sepaiatec Divorced 33-marricd Tumoer of narjiages itufle ttward daughter Av r- rotective W ‘ ac entanc 1:: "‘ re- n dtbo(ou 13JI L; 3; v1.1. {3‘3 :3” d- (D (D (‘5 ;3 O :3 'fl 93 ‘* O g 1rith 11cu? o:n I .1113 " v 1 Ari ‘9 .L D .. 9' 1. .9 r911o913 o1 o1bj _‘ 4.1, "a (1 191 10b er (9 “1th r913t1J9 (c 1 ency boardifi 9'99 for continued care 1 , ‘ ,, 1 _‘ v-1: 1 ,n/ n, - __ (o 1;9nc; oo1ruan ”319 1or .iopt-an placeznent (9 H I B ,4 ',1 E .U .0 ‘- C L.) \ .D L) I U .1 “. _ o ‘ o ’ f‘ 1 T 1" ‘ ,"I, ‘ _, “““arJr 04 39“che p“OJ? ea Of tne a anCJ 3. 1399s t9d not 9r 7) use otW —r resources 1. liniss1on to 49+o1919y bone (a) floredce Critt9 ton—Jeerson (9) Florence CP1t*5flfiOh jetroit (c) Valley ?1mms-Detroit (d) 3va:;31199 Booth—Dotroit (e) TV93;91179 BootW-Crand Rapids (f) Otjer 2. $1n913191 resources for confinement (a) State Papers (b) ureau of Social fielfar: (c) 1119'99 f tler (d) Ctfléfi‘ 3. Arrangeatnts for lo 91 939 119999 L. dasework serviccs (e) Other agencies 7. implojficnt S93V1ce 3. F1n193131 assistance b; ajeqcy 1. L019 for 99 9rnity hom3 cara 2. Loan for confined9nt 9(39989 3. L099 109 LVJinv 9xo9nscs before ani aft9r con- finefie t . 7999 “9r9 “or 9197 3. anorzte 99rr1093 of tho arency . ?Oar' for a; licant T-th 19:91 procegure “Lu m H (1-5 . .1 _J O p *3, -[_ 0 ,r) p O ’(3 cf 0 "' Dr 0‘ F— ,o O (D ,3 SD d. n, -. -' D. .aseaorr .1" I: L 2. Tatar (a) I'91) in acceptia; reglity :5tu9tion (b) 919 in reaching decis1an coout plans for b 3.1.37 (c) H919 19 19J31091£j 01999 for own Future I ‘-‘*"1‘." ." ‘ J L\. -‘ . ‘- ., .— . . _. . ..t . . .1 “——-- .—‘--..‘ ‘9- ‘ “ug-_~“ ”ACAa - 71—1 L W . V J 7T Y 1 1...... u V‘V‘ . . .3 V... .11.. . _ ..1 n C e r 1 _ .1 O ....C. :1 n n1 O n: 0 VJ. n d _ e .... t P 8 C a PM _ 3 V O P 1Q .-.. 8 I O G o ....1. E O .P WEI. .0. ”M u 3 o 1...“. 0 :t o, a ...u 3 11.. m1 VJ-o 31.91.? n O .0 w... 0 1. a S S d S C C n... l 7.” p1 . .5 .0. 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I '31 ":O 1 D ; I .I.‘ 1‘ .13 O1 ’1' I .r URjOPl tl1e Tor . . :u1red. 11 until '51 "1‘! s 10mg .— on 3 1y rem: ... .1... CRT-3 ‘ Gardini 1 l _. _ 31 d. 3 L1 51(] ‘J . T-w‘r \ 1-d P851817. (' L .... s; ‘ 1”]. i S O : O 18.]. dec .0 ’l 1... .".OS 0 t 1 v x) .... -’\YIT . Ll ‘ Ll onl V “;“l .11.5~- C 9.11 1? . 1‘ J .. {Ft-9 e L. ' . plan 1'11 t O 77’ o' C [en swan ._~ ,\ 150* I ,1. 7. bot 1d--or 1 EDGE W J. 1 Y A C L111 C"; n J. I p r t" no, inj w 7 .. _A— t ‘Jr :— .. " 'r 1031 test tater .i~ ‘71 A 2010; " l' 'v -./ “OS .1. n .L ..— 1 .4... 1 . )A—J .L..‘. 3 'JLLK’ o" f7 .5 J [I .L ent .. q. 1ts . ‘ 4 A I BIL-“I” 1 Y .‘ A ,__ .{fl‘ )v.u -I. 3 11 on place: .1. D 1180 '4WI .1 ( ( .. n Cl (.3 ‘J dODt 3 ar lves ., fooa a 1 L- \J “an? H D I ._1 CO 1 (1'70 g o W 4.1. 1 A 1.0T ‘ ad .x O n l I. x/ .J' ‘. oot SILK o11owe out . l-\ xix r.) ‘3 1&8 a 1‘ I ... .1 ‘ w-ry‘w‘ A} “$‘ 30 CV) ¢ ‘- 'ince 01 - J H 1 . ‘0‘ 'al": ‘ shoe of g;,33u for Vide t:¢;orary boa awe not finalolgll funds are not Buff *oarfifn” car for does not indicate Conseq ontlj, it i coo) vmi for 0116 "1"'§ J A —h ..— 2 .‘. D lr1 in }-" 5:) D 31’1'S ~ ~v~< -‘ 7 -. ‘ ‘.- — w ’3 VL,-CM CEJ14QPOJlJG n .- 0 l 4.. . jfl‘ lcCLlltaoG sue nos _ . ." A . -1 res are snag wards ~ ' r1 1- H l - - o 'J O .L O *4.— 1 annual Report . ,.. ‘ P‘F" .' ”Tran Taro”, it is DOSSlJlQ for us t 300— pULH care foo those osbios Bosh 1 srsrs ; able to 1set uh: cost 0: care. ThJSe ioient, hovavor, t' provide apolomjs' babies W‘DSG Jo’sloo1333 and bao: round the desirability o- ear 3 afloption placensnt. s usual for us to ask that such llldPCH «e and elem tUol adoption plaoez13n1t of the Lich- stitlbo. (This pullic agsno; has P sources a nore sxtenled period of obsew°,stion to t desirable adoption pl1coflent.) Such culli- of the Probate Court panning accthanoe by ' ‘.°V-m «- ..M :44 :- 3, ~ lel‘gu julldpon's glo aoolutj, Inunan “aunt p lU—la {ACCOPRESS BWDER! —w ~ _ » - ..l r fl ”0.1168250" EMBOSSED ACCO PSGODUCTOS INCOUR’PORATED can sauna ~ 111111 11111111111111 11111111111111 31293 01756 8571