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MAY BE RECALLED with earlier due date if requested. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE 5/08 KIPrqlAchres/CIRC/Dateoue indd A FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF SELECTED [HRH-IARRIED I-‘IOTEIERS By Patricia J. Knowlton A PROJECT REPORT Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of ILASTER OF SOCIAL WORK Approved: Director of Research Director of School Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan August, 1967 '7 «1.. a I .1. I .| I‘m, ..a q l. «w. _. 3 m In. 3 .J o ’I‘ . \II 0 . . LI} .. N u I v .. . I a u‘ \ .- .. . ‘ e Jaw... . .L U V at: ~fl . .n , .. .1 un. . ~J— 1 t" 7-. 1‘; LI. } ... - War-VFW ‘0 ..n m...- ..If 1. a . 53...? Burn)?” yarrndhiuuylkfiueb «L THFSTS .' "3 :J’ / /’ I I 'AKRNRMs L (due ‘- O 3.; .1 \d '\ ‘33:“, ’5” 1 FEB 2 4 2013 OVERDUE FINES: 25¢ per day per item RETURNING LIBRARY MATERIALS: Place In book return to remove charge from circulation records ABSTRACT A FOLLOW-UP STUDY CF SELECTED Ulfl-LATEIED I~IOTHERS by Patricia J. Knowlton This paper is a follow-up study of unwed mothers who had resided during pregnancy in a maternity home in Jackson, Michigan. The unwed mothers were sent a questionnaire in which information was requested concerning social background factors, education, marital status and involvement with males, acceptance by family and community, self-concept, goal achievement and agency services, Some of the findings includedr compared with those unwed mothers who were satisfied with their relinquishment decision, those who regretted having relinquished their babies for adoption appear to have been less able to achieve their goals after pregnancy, tended to turn to males sooner or to become more deeply involved, and to engage in pre- marital intercourse more often. They received more followaup services from the agencies with which they worked and indicated more desire for professional help than did the other group. In general, the unwed mothers in the sample found the community quite accepting of them upon their re- turn. All of the girls indicated satisfaction with the maternity home and most felt that the agencies with which they worked gave them the kind of service wanted. ACKI‘IO NLEDGMEN TS I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Lucille Barber, Dr. Gordon Aldridge and Dr. Gwen.Andrew of the School of Social work without whose patience and generosity this study could not have been completed. A special thanks must go to Mrs. Rosalind wood, Director of the Florence Crittenton Home of Jackson, Michigan, whose cooperation and creative suggestions were invaluable in the preparation of the study. And to my husband, Douglas, who provided encouragement and support at every step of the way, I am most grateful. ii TABLE OF COI‘ITEflfTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii LISTOFTABIJ iv CHAPTER I.anPoDUCTION...................... 1 Statement of the problem Agency setting Review of literature II. 1.13THOm MID PPDCEDUELE‘J. O O O C O O O O O O O O O I O O O 13 Selection of cases Method used Procedure III. FD‘IDEIGS AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Social background factors Education Marital status and involvement with males Family and community acceptance Agency services and followhup IV. SUI-MARY 1:31)DIJ:.’3(:‘LTSIPS1:01“Q o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 34 Hypothesis 1 Hypothesis 2 Hypothesis 3 Additional findings Findings as related to sub-groups APPENDIXA: QUESTIONIIAH’LE................... 40 APPEI‘IDZEXB:Emma-000000000.00000000000 [4J4 BIBLID GFAPEIY O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O I O O O O O O O C 45 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. LIST OF TABLES AGE OF THE-ED HOTHE‘RS IN THE CRITERION GROUPS AT Tll-EOFEZABLSS'BLRTEI............... SOCIAL CLASS STATUS AS SUGGESTED BY FATFflt’S' OCCUPATIOI‘IS...00.000.00.00..... OCCUPATIONAL STATUS OF UI'L'IED MOTHERS IN THE CEiITLRIOA‘I GFQUPS O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O GRADE LEVEL AT TII-IE OF CONCEPTION. . . . . . . . . . ACADLI'ZIC ATTAETIZEII‘IT AT TIT-LE OF QUESTIONNAIRE . . . . I'ARITAL STATUS OF UIE‘IED I'EOTHERS AT TILES OF FOIII—OT/I-UP . o o c o o o o o o o o o o o o o LENGTH OF Til-IE Bmflfll LEAVING I-IATFRI‘IITY H01 IE AIID I'IAPRMGE o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o SThlADY OR SERIOUS DATING SOON AFTER LTEAVDIG TITS ILATEPJ‘IITY ADELE o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o DICIDEI-ICE OF PRii-LARITAL DITERCOURSE AFTER LEAVING I'IATEIINITYIDI'IEooooo000000000000. ACCEPTANCE BY FAI-ZILY UPON RETURN OF UNZIED 1~IOTHERS . ACCEPTANCE BY COI'fl-LUIIITY UPON RETURN OF UNITED MOTHERS ACCEPMNCE BY PEERS UPON RETURN OF UIDED I-EOTHERS . . IEIPFUINL‘BS OF SCHOOL PEIBOIUEL IN ASSISTE‘IG TIRE I‘:OTH.§IRS Umli RETUR-No o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o SEILF CONCEPT AS DEDICATED BY PROPORTION OF POSITIVE Emits-E's. C C O O O O C O O O O O O O I O O O O O ABILITY TO ACHIEVE SCHOOL OR L-IORI’C GOALS FOIIOL-JII-IG RETUIEITUCOIH‘IUIIITYoQ0000000000.... INCIDENCE OF FOLLO'L'I-UP SERVICE H ADOPTION AGENCY. . PROBABLE HEIEFUIRCE‘SS OF FOLIO'JI-UP COI‘ITACTS, AS iii Page 18 19 20 21 22 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Statement of the_problem. For several years prior to and during the time this study was carried out, the writer was employed by the Michigan Children's Aid Society as caseworker, and worked in close cooperation with the Florence Crittenton Home of Jackson, Michigan. Throughout this period, one of the concerns most often expressed by both the Home's director and the caseworkers who served the Home, was for the girl's life adjustment after leaving the maternity home and returning to her community. The situations of many were of course known either to their workers or to the Home itself and on the basis of eXperience it was possible to make educated guesses about others. But there were necessarily many unan- swered questions and gaps in information. No systematic inquiry had been done from the Home which might satisfy the professional concerns of its personnel and which might suggest the effectiveness of the services offered during this critical period in the girls' lives. In discussing this with the Home's director, it was decided that in a pilot effort of this kind, with its special problems of confi- dentiality, it would be well to garner as much information as possible. Some areas which were felt to merit attention were the degree of social acceptance the girl found in her community after having had an out of wedlock child, the degree to which she was able to succeed in her work or school goals after leaving the Home, the kind of relationships with 2 males and patterns of sex behavior after the pregnancy and her concept of self. The unmarried mother has traditionally been the object of scorn, contempt, rejection and abuse. Perceived as a threat to mores and legiti— macy, she has often been seen as a bad girl who has deliberately defied the accepted societal conventions. The double standard of sexual conduct has allowed and even encouraged men to freer sexual expression outside. the marital relationship, but no such latitude has been permitted women, by and large. Punishment has ranged from simple condemnation to death; despite the sentimentalism of other times and more recently, the sympa- thetic clinicalism which sees her as a person with a "problem", she has always been judged as someone outside the pale, different from and in- ferior to others. Leontine Young states: "For ages past the girl who bore a child outside the limits of wedlock has been the target and frequently the victim of public attitudes and emotions. While these public attitudes have varied from one historical period to another and from one culture to another, there is, taken as a whole, an amazing and rather appalling consistency in the way she and her child have been con- demned by society."1 The baby, too, has often been the victim of the public's harsh judgment. It is more the fact of pregnancy and less the fact of premarital or extramarital sexual coition which arouses the public ire in present society. we live in a fastdmoving world today in which values and mores are changing and in which illicit sex is actually condoned in society's 1Leontine Young, Out 9; wedlock, New York, McGraw Hill Book Co., InC., 1954, p. 2. 3 practices. These inconsistencies have been explored by such investiga- 3 the latter emphasizes the tors as Albert E11152 and Clark Vincent; effects of "fun morality" on our attitudes toward sex outside the marriage relationship. These inconsistencies in our thinking about sex and its consequences permeate every level of society and influence the behavior of our youth. In addition, young people today have freedom never before so enjoyed, ease of transportation and socially speaking, many of the responsibilities for self that the adult has. Schmeideberg states: "The burden of restraining herself is placed wholly on the young girl. She is besieged on all sides by erotic allurements. . . ,is given complete freedom and encouraged to have dates unchaperoned, to dance and to pet, yet she is expected to abstain from intercourse. In moderation, these pleasures may help to delay the need for full gratification, but in excess they have a deleterious effect. we must face the contradiction in our culture. Having overcome many of the old taboos about sex, we now sit back and keep our fingers crossed, hoping no harm will come from it."u Rose Bernstein also points out changes in our culture in this area: "The idea of extramarital sex experience is accepted among many college students: among some groups its practice is almost a social sine qua non. However, the professed code of behavior has not kept pace with the changing practices, and the ideal of chastity and marriage continues to be 2Albert Ellis, The Folklore g: §E§n New York: Boni, 1951, Chapter 9. 3 Clark Vincent, Unmarried Mothers, The Free Press of Glencoe, Inc., 1961. UMeIitta Schmeideberg, M.D., "Psychiatric-Social Factors in Young U.M.s," Social Casework, Vol. 32, January, 1951, pp. 3-7. .‘H I. :11! A Lg. cherished along with other cultural fictions. As long as the violation of the professed value is conducted with a decent regard for secrecy or is not otherwise detected, society is content to accept the implied and overt contradictions resulting from the gap between our professed and operational codes."5 Theories regarding the cause of illegitimacy have reflected the cultural view of the unmarried mother at any given period. She has been regarded as oversexed, sinful, mentally retarded, a child of innocence wrongly seduced, a victim of poverty and ignorance and others. The most prevalent and widely accepted theory among the helping professions in recent years has been that an out of wedlock pregnancy is symptomatic of emotional disturbance, an acting out of inner conflicts or distorted need. ”Speaking generally, we know that the unwed mother is an unhappy and neurotic girl who seeks, through the medium of an out of wedlock baby to find an answer to her own unconscious conflicts and needs. She is acting out an unconscious, infantile fantasy, the roots of which are unknown to us, but the results of which constitute an urgent problem."6 More recently, many professionals who work with these girls have questioned the universality of this thesis, feeling instead that there are other factors, such as changing values, which can also lead to or produce an out of wedlock pregnancy. Whereas the putative fathers have until recently received little attention, partly because of society's different perception of their role 5Rose Bernstein, “Are we Still Stereotyping the Unmarried Mother?", Social work, Vol. 5, no. 3, July, 1960, p. 23. 6Leontine Young, "The Unwed.Hother's Decision About Her Baby," Journal_gf Social Casework, Vol. 28, January, 1947, pp, 27-34, In I 5 and partly because their complicity was hard to prove, the unmarried mother’s "guilt", patently evident in her profile, has been difficult to conceal. And it is the fact of the baby which the public seems most to condemn. But whether or not society is more or less concerned about the baby or that which causes the baby, the child is living proof of a breach in the fabric of our professed marriage and chastity values. All too often the child himself has been made to suffer as much or more than his mother. The connotations of words such as "bastard" and ”child of sin" bear ugly witness to the traditional station of the out of wedlock child: in many places the laws and practices mitigate against him. Birth certificates may carry the designation "illegitimate“ or inheritance laws place him at the bottom of the list to inherit from his mother, for example. The rise of illegitimacy rates in recent years has alarmed all segments of the public, particularly the fact that both in percentages and numbers there has been a large increase in pregnancies among girls between the ages of fifteen and nineteen. As the concern has grown, so have services grown to meet the needs of the girls, their parents and their children. Many social agencies, notably adoption agencies and maternity homes, have developed or expanded to meet the problem. In addition, more specialized skills have been applied. More and better trained caseworkers have turned their attention to this area. Not only have maternity homes expanded to handle the greater numbers of persons needing their services, but so too have the nature and complexity of their services grown. While at one time many maternity homes may have been gloomy shelters where little more than custodial and medical care were provided, most modern homes, particularly'those TIP 6 associated with national organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Florence Crittenton Association of America, Inc., regard themselves as social agencies. As such, they subscribe to standards stressing high quality of casework and group work, medical care, pleasant living con- ditions and a warm, accepting atmosphere, Major Jane wrieden of the Salvation Army summarized it this way: "The life-long social welfare of parents and child and a high standard of maternal and infant care are the foundation for a community service such as a maternity home, thus combining the knowledge and skill of social work with the essentials of a health program. The function of a maternity home, then, is primarily that of a social agency which deals with a problem that is basically social, psychological and medical. "7 Maternity home services have expanded to include all phases of health and helping programs: psychologists, psychiatrists, group worker, activity therapists of all kinds, as well as obstetrical Specialists and community volunteers are utilized. In the larger and more affluent homes, full casework staffs are maintained. Psychiatrists and psycholo- gists may be employed on at least a part time basis, and group work often is an integral part of the homes' routine program. In addition to medical specialists who may be in residence or on call, teachers of fully accredited high school and vocational programs, and crafts specialists may all be utilized to a greater or lesser degree. For, although there may not be full agreement as to cause of illegitimate 7Major Jane Wrieden, What Meaning Does the Maternity Home Experience Have for the Unmarried.Mother?," Paper presented at the National Conference of Social work, San Francisco, California, May 31, 955. 7 pregnancy, there is agreement that this period represents a crisis in a girl's life with which she needs skilled help to pass through unscathed. The modern maternity home is uniquely qualified to provide this help and feels a responsibility to do so. Although keeping in mind the relatively short period of residence, the home experience should be one which "helps a person pregnant out of wedlock to become whole and more ready to face life."8 Rosalind wood, Director of the Jackson, Michigan Florence Crittenton Home, stated maternity home self-expectations this way: "The test of successful treatment is not whether the girl conforms in the maternity home group, but, whether after leaving she is able to make a reasonably happy, adequate adjustment."9 Successful treatment usually includes the help of other agencies, perhaps for placement of babies in adoptive homes, and often for casework service or supplementa- tion. The agency providing the casework may be the one which made the original referral to the Home and provides continuous assistance throughout and following the girl's stay. If not, a girl leaving a maternity home may be referred to an agency in her own community for casework. Agency‘setting: The Florence Crittenton Home in Jackson, Michigan is one of the forty-seven maternity shelters in the federation known as the Florence 'Crittenton Association of America, Inc. Affiliates of the Association aMajor'wrieden, "What Is A Good Maternity Home?," Paper pre- sented at the National Conference of Social work, Atlantic City, New Jersey, May 17, 1951. 9Rosalind wood, Discussion paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Conference of Social work, Chicago, Illinois, May, 1961. Ev 8 must meet standards of the association and in return derive the benefits of ongoing consultative services, organizational assistance, and par- ticipation in Association meetings. The Jackson Home was founded in 1916. Operating under control of its own Board of Directors, composed of local citizens, the Home is supported partially by funds from the Jackson Community Chest and partially from fees. At the time the study was made, the staff was composed of the Executive Director, who is a trained caseworker, two housemothers in residence, the medical director who is a licensed obstetrician on call at all times, and a registered nurse, also on call. At one time, the girls delivered their babies in approved hOSpital quarters within the Home, but a few years ago this system was changed and they now go into local hOSpitals for delivery and return to the Home soon after for recovery care. Casework is provided by many of the referring agencies, with five Michigan Children‘s Aid Society branches providing the bulk of service because of proximity. Many girls coming from a long distance, perhaps far enough for it to be prohibitive for their caseworkers to visit, are referred to a Michigan Children's Aid Society worker for casework while in the Home. The maternity home has a capacity for twenty-six girls. The plant consists of an older brick building with cheerful interior, with dormitory quarters, Spacious living and dining areas and kitchen, quarters for housemothers, office of the Director and extra study-work rooms. There is a large semi-private lawn area in the rear of the Home where the girls often sun themselves or picnic in the summer. The Home is located in a residential area within walking distance of shopping center, library and city transportation. {ost house rules are made by 9 the girls themselves through a girls' council and atmosphere is permis- sive and relaxed. Most of the girls in residence are from areas of the state other than Jackson. Girls are encouraged to regard this as a home within a larger community and not as a hideaway. They are allowed to leave the Home, with the knowledge of the housemother, and visiting from parents and sometimes friends, is encouraged. The chief figure in the Home is the director, an especially gifted caseworker whom the girls, with few exceptions, come to hold in high esteem. A small home, this one does not have its own psychiatric and psychological services, but utilizes consultants whenever necessary. It also uses community resources for arts and crafts and other programs. A fully accredited school program is maintained, with the Jackson Board of Education pro- viding qualified teachers and assisting in the transferral of records and credits to and from the girls' home town schools where that is needed. Review of the literature. The writer was able to find no published research material which was specifically about unwed mothers who had released their children for adoption and only limited material having to do with the follow-up of unwed mothers generally. One widely known study was that done under the auSpice of Inwood House in New York City. This is an agency which serves the unwed mother during pre-natal and post-natal periods, providing medical care and casework services either in its residence or in foster homes. The purpose of the study was to learn the facts about what happened to clients who had been served by the Home. A group was selected out of a one year period (1945), and data was secured on fifty-four women. The 10 group was interracial, of diverse backgrounds and covered a wide age range. Half of this group had placed their babies for adoption through agencies, and the remainder either kept their children, or placed them in foster homes or privately in adoptive homes. Clients and sometimes family were interviewed directly. According to the researcher, “There was no evidence in the study that any of the women had been stigmatized by the out of wedlock experience to the extent of its interfering with their further development. Most of the women married and told their husbands about their out of wedlock experience. None of the married women had had more out of wedlock babies. . . .The majority of the group appeared to have made an adequate social adjustment since most of them were married or employed and were not financially dependent on the community. "10 Another recent study was conducted in New York City of unwed mothers who kept their first born children. The subjects, totaling 321, were selected from thirty-one hospitals throughout the five boroughs of New York City: personal interviews were conducted over an eighteen month period, spaced about six months apart. Much of the information obtained dealt with general living conditions, medical care, putative father, use of community resources, to name a few. Many of the girls and women in this group were from poverty levels and the findings reflect this fact. Conclusions and recommendations focus on problems of housing, inadequate income, the relationship with the child's father, the need for changes in school board policies which would afford adequate educational ioDorothy'LeVy3 "A Follow-up Study of Unmarried Mothers," Social Casework, January, 1955. .5.) Ne 11 opportunities for the younger unwed mother, provision of better child care and casework/counseling services.11 There are quite a few studies dealing with characteristics of the unwed mother, particularly those which may distinguish the girls who keep their babies from those who relinquish. Two, which writer feels are of special significance in their own right and which were helpful in the evaluation of the data in this report, are included. One of these is the study done by Clark Vincent12 in California, in which he studied girls in maternity homes and determined psychologi- cal and social factors, using as one tool the CPI. He found that the girls who kept their babies, on a group basis, had less positive CPI scores than those who relinquished. Further, those who kept showed less positive intra-family relationships and home situations than did those who released. Vincent speculated that the girls who kept had a desperate need for at least one primary relationship. Within the group of girls who released their babies, Vincent found a sub-group which showed the same characteristics as those who kept. These girls indicated that, if stranded on a desert island, their babies would be the one person they would want with them. It was speculated that the relinquishments of these girls were due to their youth, and possibly parental pressures. In another recent California study, Barbara Costigan13 examined characteristics of girls who kept and those who did not. Her sample was 11Mignon Sauber and Elaine Rubinstein, Experiences 9: the Unwed Mother §§_§ Parent, Community Council of Greater New York, 1965. 12Vincent. Unmarried.Mothers. PP- 13Barbara Costigan, "The Unmarried.Mother ~ Her Decision Regard— ing Adoption,” Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Southern California, 1964. 12 selected from the files of two public and one private agency and rated by experienced caseworkers. Among her more important findings were: 1. Good over-all agency service (which would include no gap in casework service and frequent interviews before the baby's birth) is related to the decision to relinquish and 2. student status is more important than age per se and may outweigh psychological adjustment in the decision to relinquish or keep the child. Costigan states: "Student unmarried mothers differ from non-students in so many characteristics, that they should undoubtedly be considered a special sub-group in any study of the characteristics of unmarried mothers." CHAPTER II METHODS AND PROCEDURE Selection of cases. It was felt that in order for follow-up data to have any meaning, a time period of at least one year should have elapsed since a girl was discharged from the maternity home. It was decided to take as the base population the group who had left the Home between June, 1959 and June, 1961, a total of 79 girls. From these, a final group of 64 was selected to receive the questionnaire. 31 questionnaires were re- turned, including those of a pre-test group, and 5 were eliminated, leaving a final sample of 26. The selection of cases was done jointly by the Home's director and the writer. Because of her good relationships with most of the girls, the ongoing, cooperative relationship with the girls' caseworkers who came regularly to the Home as well as the flow of communications from the girls back to the Home after leaving, the director was uniquely well qualified to assist in the selection. Reference was also made to the case records of the maternity home and, when necessary, informal inquiry was made to the girl's agency worker, some of whom maintained contact with the client. Factors which were felt to disqualify a girl for the sample were: leaving the Home before delivery, out-patient status, age currently 15 or under, husband known to be unaware, fear of further contact, family unreceptive to contact, girl known to be mentally defective or psychotic. 13 14 Method used. The method used to obtain the data was a questionnaire, sent to each unwed mother in the sample. The questionnaire was devised with the help of the Home's director and School of Social work personnel to answer some of the questions about the post-residence status of the girls. Before final approval, the questionnaire was tested on six girls with whom the writer had worked during their pregnancies and who were willing to assist with a research project. The questionnaires were filled out with the writer present after a short briefing and followed by an interview in which the girls' reactions to the form were obtained. Generally, their reactions were favorable, with no criticism or sugges- tion of substance offered. Consequently, there were no changes in the design and the questionnaires of this group were incorporated into the sample. For the mailed samples, a post office box was rented. The stamped, addressed return envelopes contained the name of the Home's director and the post office address, without further identifying infor- mation. The questionnaire, although necessarily referring to the subject of unwed pregnancies, also contained no name or other identify- ing information. A cover letter bearing the signature of the Home's director and explaining the purpose of the questionnaire was included. It was intended also to offer the girl reassurance about the origin and purpose of the study. Procedure The hypotheses to be explored were as follow& (1) the unwed mother frequently becomes involved rapidly with a male, often leading to 15 early marriage or repetition of behavior which could lead to another pregnancy, (2) the community today is quite accepting of the unwed mother, (3) the unwed mother's self-concept, already poor, becomes lowered as a result of this experience. The small number of the sample returning questionnaires who had kept their babies were not included in the evaluated sample. The remain- ing sample of 26 was divided into four sub-groups for purposes of evaluation. Those groups designated younger Regret and older Satisfied each contained 7 girls, while those designated older Regret and younger Satisfied each contained 6 girls. It was expected that differences would appear between those who stated that they sometimes or often regretted having given up their babies for adoption and those who stated that they never felt regret at this decision. Also, it seemed that there would be differences between older girls, twenty years or more, and those still in their teens. As stated previously, Vincent found a sub-group which showed characteristics which can be interpreted as indicating a less satisfac- tory adjustment than the larger group of which it was a part. Although we can in no way compare our sample with that of Vincent‘s, we know that many girls, having not resolved personal or social problems through the pregnancy or attendant casework help, may continue to view the baby they relinquished as a panacea for their problems and/or may continue to experience guilt for having relinquished him. Young states: "But. . . what happens afterwards? Doesn't the girl regret giving up the baby? That is quite possible and, if the girl is unhappy, even probably. Equally she may, and usually does, regret keeping him. For some of these very neurotic girls there is no completely happy solution. . . .It is in 16 the very nature of her problem that, however she chooses, one part of her needs will remain unsatisfied. . . .Observation confirms clearly that the girl who goes on to achieve some normal, adult satisfactions for herself displays no such regret."1u. Age differences are frequently seen in working with unwed mothers. Often this is due simply to maturation differences, frequently marked with adolescents. It was expected that age difference would be an important variable to explore. 14Young, Qgt_gf_wedlock, p. 213. CHAPTER III F DIDDICIS AND CONCLUSIONS Questionnaire results were divided into six areas: (1) social background factors, (2) education, (3) marital status and involvement with males, (h) acceptance by family and community, (5) self-concept and achievement, and (6) agency services and followeup. Social background factors. At the time the study was being designed, nationality and reli- gion were not felt to be relevant to its purpose and these data were not obtained. Two of the girls who returned questionnaires were Negro; one had relinquished her baby and thus remained in the primary sample, while the other had kept her child. The remainder of the group was white and predominantly of Anglo-Saxon ancestry. All of the girls were believed to have been single at the time they were in maternity home residence and to have had no previous pregnancies. The total sample ranged in age from 16 to 24 years; the range in the younger Regret and Satisfied categories was 16 to 19, while in the older Regret and Satisfied categories the range was 20 to 24 years. Age at time of pregnancy is often mentioned in the literature as an important factor.1 Society is most concerned with the younger unwed mother because of her immaturity and her dependence on family and society itself. 1Vincent, Unmarried Mothers, pp. 1—2. 17 18 Vincent has shown that the greatest percentage of pregnancies for any group falls in the twenty-five to twenty-nine year old category.2 Because of the maternity home's priorities, ages seldom range beyond the middle twenties. The study's base age of sixteen also to some degree limited age findings. TABLE 1 AGE OF UN'WJD I-IOTHERS IN THE CRITERION GROUPS AT TITLE OF BABIES' BIRTH Criterion groups Age by number 14-16 17—19 20 and above Total Regret Young 5 2 O 7 Old 0 3 3 6 Total 5 5 3 13 Satisfied Young 2 4 O 6 Total 2 7 4 13 Occupation has been found to have a high correlation with social class.3 It was felt that the occupations of the unwed mothers‘ fathers and, to a lesser extent, because of their ages, the occupations of the unwed mothers themselves, might suggest the social class standing of the girls in the sample. Some of the girls gave non-specific answers to the question regarding father's occupation (supplying such designations as 2R¢L,p.4. 3Hollingshead, August B. and Redlich, Fredrick c., Social Class and Mental Illness, New York; John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1958, p. 394. 19 "factory," for example), and some did not respond; it was thus possible only to divide the groups into rough categories, and the three selected were blue collar, white collar and professional. {ost of the occupations fell into the blue collar category, although since this may have included intermediate supervisory personnel as well as unskilled laborers, it is difficult to assign class meaning to it. TABLE 2 SOCIAI.CIASS STATUS AS SUGGESTED BY FATHERS ' OCCUPATIONS Criterion groups Occupational level by number Blue collar White collar Prof. Other Total Regret Young 5 .. .. 2 7 Old 3 .. .. 3 6 Total 8 .. .. 5 13 ‘ Satisfied Young 2 1 1 2 6 Old 4 1 1 1 7 Total 6 2 2 3 13 Fewer than one-half of the girls were engaged in full time employment outside the home; the rest were either students or housewives. A greater proportion of girls in the Regret categories were housewives than in the others, because of their higher marriage rate.* *In this and several other cases, space does not permit the placement of the table immediately next to the related textual material. In these instances, to preserve sequence, the table may be found at the " top of the following page. d9 20 TABLE 3 OCCUPATIONAL STATUS OF UIU'IED I‘IOTHERS IN THE CRITERION GROUPS . . Occupational level by number Criterion groups - - St de t House Tech. or Unempl. P f T tal u n S Wives Clerical Unskld. ro ' O Regret Young 2 3 1 1 .. 7 Old .. 3 3 .. .. 6 Total 2 6 4 1 .. 13 Satisfied Young 3 .. 2 1 .. 6 Old 2 1 1 1 2 7 Total 5 1 3 2 2 13 Education. Costigan, in her California study of unwed mothers, found signi— ficant differences between girls who had been students at the time of pregnancy and others in her sample.“ Her results suggested that in the decision regarding the baby, student status may outweigh psychological adjustment. In this regard, it was the students actually attending high school or college at the time of pregnancy who showed the greatest tendency to relinquish. Also, in her sample, almost one-half of the students rated as fairly well or well adjusted, as compared with one- third of those in the entire sample. Because of its accredited school program, many of the younger girls admitted to the Jackson Florence Crittenton Home are students. It was of interest to note that most of those in the older Satisfied cate- gory were students in college when they became pregnant, while a fairly L; Costigan, op. cit. 21 large proportion of those in the older Regret category were out of school at this time. TABLE 4 GRADE LEVEL.AT TIME OF CONCEPTION Criterion groups Grade level by number 8th-12th H.S. Grad. College Drop-out Total Regret Young 7 o o o o o o 7 Old 2 3 . . 1 6 Total 9 3 .. 1 13 Satisfied Young 6 .. .. .. 6 Old 1 1 5 .. 7 Total 7 1 5 .. 13 At the time of the questionnaire, many of the girls had completed high school and some had entered or continued in college. A substantial number of the girls in the Regret category had dropped out of high school before graduation, while all of the girls in the Satisfied categories had either completed high school or some college, or were in the process of attending high school or college. 22 ’ TABLE 5 ACADEl-IIC mum-mm AT TIME OF QUESTIONNABE . . Academic attainment by number Criterion groups Attending Dropped H.S. College T tal H.S. Our Grad. or better 0 Regret Young .. 3 2 2 7 Old .. 2 4 .. 6 Total .. 5 6 2 13 Satisfied Young 2 . . 3 1 6 Old . . . . 1 6 7 Total 2 .. 4 7 13 Marital status and involvement with males. One of the assumptions made in designing the study was that many ' ‘ unmarried mothers become involved again rather soon with males, leading either to early marriage or behavior which can result in another preg- nancy. Further, it was thought that the less contented the girl, the more likely this was to happen. The results obtained suggest that this is a possibility. TABLE 6 MARITAL STATUS OF UNWED MOTHERS AT TIME OF FOLIOW—UP ...» . Marital status by number Criterion groups Marriedi Single Total Regret Young 4 3 7 Old 5 1 6 Total 9 4 13 Satisfied Young 1 5 6 Old 3 4 7 Total 4 9 13 *The married category includes three girls who were either divorced or separated from their husbands. 23 Probably because of age, the younger girls in the Regret category tended to wait longer than the older ones before marrying, while all of the older ones in that category who married did so in two years or less. TABLE 7 LEE-IGTH OF THE BETLZI LEAVDIG 1\'LATEMJITY H0133 AND MPMAGE . . Time span by number* Criterion groups Less than One to Two years one year two years or more Regret Young 1 .. 3 Old 3 2 .. Total 4 2 3 Satisfied Young 1 .. .. Old .. 1 2 Total 1 1 2 *Table includes only those subjects who had married. Since involvement does not necessarily mean marriage, the ques- tion was asked, "Did you start dating steadily or seriously soon after leaving the Home?" The younger Regret group showed more affirmative answers than did any of the other groups. TABLE 8 STEADY OR SERIOUS DATING SOON AFTER LEAVDJG THE I-‘iATERNITY HOME Response by number Criterion groups Yes ”A No Total Regret Young 6 1 7 Old 3 3 6 Total 9 4 13 Satisfied Young 3 3 6 Old 3 4 7 Total 6 7 13 In order to assess further involvement with males, the question was asked, "Since leaving the Home and while not married, have you found yourself physically involved with a fellow (that is, "going all the way")?" Again, those in the younger Regret category answered affirmatively more than those in the other groups. It is possible that some of the girls were unwilling to answer candidly because of their concern that the director of the maternity home or others whom they held in esteem might see their questionnaires. 25 TABLE 9 mama-ICE OF PRELARITAL nmmcouasa AFTER LEAVE-JG I-TATERNITY HOME , Response by Number Criterion groups Affirmative Negative No Response Total Regret Young 5 1 1 7 old 1 5 . . 6 Total 6 6 1 13 Satisfied Yomg 2 LI” 0 o 6 Old 1 5 1 7 Total 3 9 1 13 In a follow-up question regarding the use of precautions to avoid pregnancy, the group which had admitted sex relations was split almost evenly between those who indicated they had taken precautions and those who indicated they had not. It should be added that only one member of the entire sample reported that she had had another pregnancy after leaving the maternity home and marriage had been her solution to the problem. The findings in this area suggest that the less contented unwed mother in this sample tended to turn to and become reinvolved with males soon after her return to the community. Girls in the Regret groups showed a larger proportion of marriages than did the others. The younger Regret category showed earlier serious or steady dating and greater incidence of premarital intercourse after leaving the maternity home than did any of the others. 26 Family and community acceptance. An effort to assess the long-term post-delivery relationship with family was not made. There were several questions in which.alter- native answers might have suggested parental pressure or influence, but only one direct question regarding family acceptance was posed. Almost all of the girls indicated that upon their return home, their families had acted better towards them or the same. TABLE 10 ACCEPTAI‘ICE BY FAI-‘IEY UPON RETURN OF UNWED I-‘ZOTHERS . . Indication of acceptance b number Criterion groups Better florse A Samg» Total Regret Young 4 1 2 7 Old 3 . . 3 6 Total 7 1 5 13 Satisfied Young 2 1 3 6 Old 2 1 4 7 Total 4 2 7 13 Probably because of public education through the mass media as 'well as shifting values, the community today seems increasingly accepting of the unmarried mother and less critical, albeit with some painful exceptions. Most of the girls in the sample indicated that people had been friendly to them upon their return. A few (as shown under the column "Other" in Table 11) indicated that it was "some of each" or other suggestion of mixed reaction, or, as in one instance, overcompensation in that people were ”over solicitous.” Many of the older Satisfied group either deluded themselves regarding community knowledge of their 27 pregnancy or were better able to conceal it, as indicated by their proportion of responses under "No one knew." TABLE 11 ACCEPTANCE BY COMMUNITY UPON RETURN OF UNWED MOTHERS . Indication of acceptance by number Criterion groups Friendly Unfriendly No one knew Other Total Regret Young 5 .. .. 2 7 Old 5 . . 1 . . 6 Total 10 .. 1 2 13 Satisfied Young 5 .. .. 1 .6 Old 3 . . 3 1 7 Total 8 .. 3 2 13 In the case of peer acceptance, a larger number of girls felt that no one knew about their pregnancies. It may have been that no one knew with certainty whether or not they had left because of pregnancy, but it seems unrealistic to think that they all escaped without rumors and speculation about their conditions. The "Other" category again includes qualified answers such as "friendly but distant" and "it was half and half." 28 TABLE 12 ACCEPTANCE BY PEERS UPON RETURN OF UTWED MOTHERS . . Indication of acceptance by number Criterion groups One of Not No one Other Total 4group Accepted knew Regret Young 3 .. 1 3 7 Old 3 .. 3 .. 6 Total 6 .. 4 3 13 Satisfied Young 2 .. 3 1 6 Old 2 .. 4 1 7 Total 4 .. 7 2 13 Caseworkers who deal with unwed mothers often have cause to be grateful to school officials and teachers who assist these girls both before leaving and after returning to school. However, there are also many situations where the unwed mother is treated punitively by school personnel; her attempts to resume a normal school and social life may be rendered difficult or even impossible. The girls in the study sample were asked to assess the helpfulness of their school officials and teachers in assisting them to readjust to school upon their return. The answers were quite evenly divided among the alternative response choices. A high proportion of the older girls either were out of school and did not give a response, had gone to new schools, or had returned to the relative anonymity of college and indicated that school officials did not know of their pregnancies. I W 29 TABLE 13 HELPFUIJ‘JESS OF SCHOOL PERSONNEL IN ASSISTDIG 'UNNED MOTHERS UPON RETURN Degree of helpfulness by number Helpful Helped Made more Other Total some difficult Criterion groups Regret Young 1 2 3 1 7 Old .. .. .. 6 6 Total 1 2 3 7 13 Satisfied Young 3 2 1 .. 6 Old .. 1 '.. 6 7 Total 3 3 1 6 13 It appears, then, that most of the girls found, upon returning home, that their families acted better or at least the same towards them and that their neighbors, acquaintances and friends who knew of their pregnancies were, for the most part, accepting and friendly. School personnel were regarded by the Satisfied groups as helpful to some degree in most instances; girls in the younger Regret category found that shcool personnel made things more difficult as often as they helped. Some workers feel, and the hypothesis was made, that often the unwed mother is a troubled individual with a poor concept of self. In addition, the pregnancy, by its socially and morally unacceptable nature causes a further deterioration of this image. In the questionnaire, the girls were asked questions relating to their feelings of self worth: (1) did the fact they became pregnant make them feel "bad," (2) did they blame themselves for things more since the pregnancy, and (3) did they seem to have more self-confidence now than before the pregnancy? It is possible that a question might have been interpreted in such a was as to 30 make the negative assessment the "good” answer. he results for the younger Regret and younger Satisfied categories showed no significant patterns. However, the older Satisfied group showed a fairly consistent pattern of positive answers, suggesting an adequate self image and improved self-confidence, while the older Regret group tended to regard themselves much less favorably. TABLE 14 sum CONCEPT AS 1131011"st BY PROPORTION OF POSITIJE maroon Criterion groups 1 fl. Positive responses to questions by number* - Did not no greater more self- feel ”bad“ self blame confidence Regret Young 4 3 4 Old 2 3 3 Total 6 6 7 Satisfied Young 3 2 3 Old 5 4 6 Total 8 6 9 *Table includes only those subjects who gave positive responses to the question. To determine the degree, to some extent, of personal achievement and satisfaction, questions were asked regarding the attainment of school and work goals. It was Speculated that the girls expressing some regret about their decision in placing their babies would have been obtained less satisfaction in achieving their goals. The results suggest that, at least in the sample, this may be the case. Compared to the high goal achievement rate of the Satisfied groups, the Regret groups showed only a modest rate of success, with notable disparity between the successes of the older Satisfied and older Regret groups. 9:11:73: 15 ABEITY T0 AIS-.112“: SCIECCL CR '. EH SCALD FCIIC.;IIE-RETCRK ; CCIICIZTY . . Sea. achievement 2? “2::er Criterion groups , - H A~_:H- _ ,-g‘ _ ‘,- ouccess;ul bnsuCCCDb-*$ toner -ctal Regret Young 3 3 1 7 Cld 2 3 1 : é ‘ 4 Total 5 c 2 -3 Sati sfie ed Y01rg 6 .. .. o C'ld 5 2 .. 7 Total. 11 2 .. 13 Agency services and follow-up. Good professional services, both from maternit" home and other community agencies are considered essential for the unwed mother's welfare, both during and after prey .ancy.5 These include all phases of service, from intake through maternity home residence to follow-up. In order to gain retrospective client appraisal of the services offe red them while pregnant and afterwards, the girls were asked whether they thought that (1) under the circumstances, their stay in the maternity home was a pleasant one and (2) if they got the kind of service they needed from the agency with which they worked. In every instance the girls gave a positive response to the maternity home question and some made additional emphatic comments (”definitely so"). In the case of the question regarding agency service, all but one of the girls gave positive responses. In follow—up questions, there Child Welfare League of America Standards for Services to Unmarried Parents, Child Welfare League of America, New York, 19:0. 32 were several implied criticisms, such as references to a specific worker, but it appears that this group of girls generally felt that the adoption agencies with which they worked gave them the kind of service needed, if not all they desired. Because of the near unanimity in both of these questions, no tables are furnished for them. Follow-up service is regarded by many workers as one of the most important segments of casework with the unwed mother.6 It sometimes happens that, when the girl has released her child for adoption and re- turned home, with all the problems she left and usually more, casework service is terminated or responsibility for its continuance placed on the girl. The girls were asked if they had continued to see their agency caseworkers after leaving the maternity home and, if having seen them, they felt this was helpful to them. TABLE 16 INCIDENCE OF FOIlOWsUP SERVICE EY.ADOPTION AGENCY Criterion groups ' Incidence of follow-up by number Received ho follow-up Follow-up Total Regret YOung 3 4 7 Old 4 2 6 Total 7 6 13 Satisfied Young 1 5 6 Old 2 5 7 Total 3 10 13 Patricia Hughes, "Improved Services to Unmarried Parents Through Maternity HomeeAgency Cooperation," Paper read at Annual Meeting of the Michigan Association of Children's Agencies, Lansing, Michigan, May 25, 1961. 33 All of the girls who continued to see their caseworkers for followeup service indicated that they found this helpful. Those who had not seen their caseworker or some other helping professional were asked if they thought this kind of service could have been helpful to them. Of those not receiving this service, more of those in the Regret cate— gories thought this could have been helpful to them than did those in the Satisfied categories. This suggests that the girls in the Satisfied group, whether realistically or not, felt less need for further help than did the girls in the Regret group. TABLE 17 PROBABLY HELPFULHESS OF FOIIOWFUP CONTACTS, AS AS PERCEIVED BY THOSE NOT RECEIVING IT Criterion groups Perceived helpfulness,gby-number* Helpful Not helpful Regret Young 4 ._ Old 2 .. Total 5 .. Satisfied Young 3 1 Old 1 3 TO 133.]. L1, 4 *Table includes only those subjects who did not receive followeup service. CHAPTER IV SUMVARY AN D DISCUSSION The general purpose of the study was to learn what happens to the unwed mother after she leaves the maternity home. The following hypo- theses were explored: (1) the unwed mother frequently becomes involved rapidly with a male, often leading to early marriage or behavior which could result in repetition of pregnancy, (2) the community today is quite accepting of the unwed mother, and (3) the unwed mother's self- concept, already poor, becomes lowered as a result of this experience. In addition differences were expected between (1) those who indicated regret about their decisions to relinquish their babies and those who did not, and (2) those who were in their teens and those in their twenties. Cases were divided into groups on the basis of age and satis- faction with relinquishment and these four groups were used as criterion groups in exploring the study hypotheses. A sample of unwed mothers who had been residents of the Florence Crittenton Home in Jackson, Michigan was carefully selected and a pre-tested questionnaire sent them. An adequate test of the hypotheses would involve a much larger sample as well as a more sensitive instrument than the questionnaire used. However, the results may suggest directions for further research in this area. Hypothesis 1. The items regarding marriage, dating and premarital sex relations appear to suggest support for this hypothesis, especially as it relates 34 35 to the subgroups of unwed mothers. The girls in the Regret category showed a higher proportion of marriages than did those in the Satisfied groups. The girls who regretted their decision about their babies, par- ticularly the younger ones, tended to begin serious or steady dating soon after leaving the maternity home. Of those in the Regret group, more indicated premarital intercourse after leaving the Home than in the Satisfied group. Again, the younger Regrets showed a larger number answering this item affirmatively. The questions regarding length of time between maternity home and marriage and precautions to prevent pregnancy were inconclusive. Hypothesis 2. The hypothesis that the community today is increasingly accepting of the unwed mother appears to be supported by the appropriate question- naire items, at least for those girls who acknowledged people's awareness of their pregnancies. Host of the girls in the total.sample found, upon their return home, that their neighbors and acquaintances acted friendly; no one felt that people were unfriendly. The older Satisfied group had the lowest percentage of positive responses for this item and others related to this assumption, since a large proportion of them felt that no one knew of their pregnancies. This may be partly realistic and partly wishful thinking. In the case of peer acceptance, a great many of the girls in the Regret groups felt that they had been accepted back as one of the group, but again many girls felt that their pregnancies were unknown to others. The older Satisfieds stood out in the frequency of their "no one knew" responses, which may be due to the comparative ease of concealment by older girls, especially those in a college situation 36 and/or to greater concealment efferts on their part. On the item re- garding school personnel, the younger Satisfieds seemed to feel that school officials and teachers were of some help to them upon their return, while a great number of the younger Regrets felt that school personnel made things more difficult for them. One wonders at the rela- tionship, if any, between this item and the drop-out rate of the young Regrets. Hypothesis 3. This hypothesis cannot be fully supported by the questionnaire items. The only significant pattern was seen in the responses of the older Satisfieds, who gave a high percentage of positive answers to the self-concept items, suggesting a good self image and improved self confidence. Additional findings. The differences among the subgroups in academic achievement between time of conception and time of questionnaire was marked. The number of high school graduates and college students among the Satisfieds increased and there were no dropouts in either group. On the other hand, more than one—third of those in the Regret category had dropped out of high school by this time. In ability to achieve school or work goals upon returning to the community, the Satisfieds appear to have been more successful than the Regrets. This suggests that the latter may be less able to obtain the satisfactions and successes needed for an adequate and productive adjustment. 1'4. 37 The services of the Jackson Florence Crittenton Home received unanimous endorsement from all of the girls. Few girls could think of ways that these services could be improved and some had additional favorable comments. Agency services, too, received a largely favorable response, with most of the girls feeling that they had gotten the services needed; in most cases the primary service was regarded by the unwed mother as a good home for her baby. Follow-up service from agency was received by a fairly large number of the girls in the Regret group, compared with the Satisfied groups. All of the girls receiving follow-up indicated that they had found this helpful. Also, in the Regret groups, those who had not re- ceived followaup contacts indicated that they felt this could have been helpful to them. In contrast to this, the Satisfieds who had not received this service felt that it would not have been helpful. These responses seem to suggest a greater feeling of need on the part of the Regrets against one of greater security on the part of the Satisfieds. It is reasonable to suppose that the agency workers recognized the greater needs of the Regrets and encouraged follow-up contacts. It is possible that this was not done so often with the Satisfieds, who may have appeared better adjusted and less in need of such service. Althoug the data does not reveal the length of time before release or degree of ambivalence of the unwed mother regarding giving up her child before so doing, it may be that some of the follow-up revolved around these areas, whereas the girls with greater certainty about their decision wished to get through the mechanics of release as quickly as possible. M 38 Findings; as related to sub-groups. The results appear to justify the expectation that there are differences between those who regret their decision to relinquish their babies and those who do not experience this regret. The girls in the Regret groups of the sample appear to have been less able to achieve their goals after the pregnancy; they tended to turn to males sooner or to become more greatly involved, and to engage in premarital intercourse more often. In addition to the fact that despite the passage of time, they still had not fully accepted the relinquishment of their babies, they also showed a greater need and desire for professional help after the pregnancy. Although there is neither kind nor quantity of data to support a thesis that these girls are like many girls who keep their babies, in the way that Vincent showed in his study, the findings seem to point to possible adjustment problems which the writer would suppose to have been present before the birth of the baby. Judging from incidence of follow-up with these girls, these problems are being recognized by some means, if only by immediate needs relative to placement of the child. It may be speculated that the regret about baby and the less satisfactory adjustment are not related in any cause and effect fashion, but are both a result of the girls' greater immaturity and greater needs. The frustrations and limited personal successes following pregnancy, in cyclical fashion, would tend to intensify the problem. It is here that a caseworker might break the cycle by helping the girls, not only through personal counseling, but through assistance in meeting tangible goals, such as finishing high school or finding a satisfactory job. This means not only following up but following through and might necessarily involve a lengthy period of time. One wonders, too, at the frequency of family A T 39 contacts with agency following the birth of the baby. It may be that community referral sources could be put to better use at this time, also. It appears that there is relatively little documented information about what happens to the unwed mother who relinquishes her child, especially the younger, middle class girl, such as most of those in the sample, who make up an increasingly large segment of the growing unwed mother population. What are the factors related to her success or failure in making a normal life adjustment? How does this event color her attitudes and affect her marriage and family life years afterwards? What about the ones who do not succeed? Who are they and what can be done to help them? And what about recidivism? Who are the girls from this group who have more illegitimate children; why does it happen and how do they meet the problem? To answer these and other questions, a first step must be more comprehensive, well designed followeup research. It should include detailed background and diagnostic information, using case record material and where needed, validated testing devices. writer would suggest that personal interview method rather than the less reliable questionnaire be employed. These girls are interrupting their lives, leaving their homes, enduring the trauma of having an out of wedlock child in our society and being returned to the community every day, in much greater numbers than generally realized. It behooves the social work profession, for the sake of the girls, their children, and their families, present and future, to learn everything possible about unwed mothers, in order that they may re- turn to take their places in society as satisfied, productive citizens. #23 APPENDIX A QUESTIONAIRE Maiden Name (If you wish): ‘ ?Age now: Present Occupation: 7 a, (hade: (If now in School) Kind of work father does or did: (hade Completed: (If not now in School) How big is the town you are living in: , What Year: 100,000 or more 50,000 - 100,000 Purital Status: 25,000 - 50,000 (Single, Married, Divorced, Separated, 10,000 - 25,000 Widowed) Under 10,000 IHEASE CHECK THE BEST ANSWER TO THE FOLLOWING: 1. Did you keep or release your baby for adoption? Kept Released 2. How old were you when your baby was born? 3. Have you at any time since regretted the decision you made about the baby? Yes, often Sometimes Never 4. where did you go to live after leaving the maternity home? Home town Another community 5. If you went to another community to live, what was the reason? (Check more than one if necessary.) Better job Go to School Embarrassed or afraid to return Family friction Other reason (specify) 6. How did your family seem to act towards you when you returned? Better than before Worse than before About the same 7. In general, how did your neighbors and acquaintances who knew of your pregnancy act towards you when you got back? Friendly, accepting A, Unfriendly, critical 1 Other, (specify) FORM: A-7""84 Page 1 40 r--. 41 8. How were you taken back into your own crowd? As one of the group Not accepted No one knew Other (specify) 9. If you were in school when you became pregnant, how helpful were your teachers or school officials in assisting you to re-adjust to school? Very helpful Helped some Made things more difficult 10. What grade were you in when you became pregnant? 11. If you were working when you became pregnant, how helpful were your employers in assisting you to re-adjust to work? Very helpful Helped some Made things more difficult 12. Have you been able to attain the school goals you had when you were pregnant? Yes, they are working out as planned Not as well as I wished They have not worked out at all 13. Please indicate briefly what some of these goals were. 14. Have you been able to attain the work goals you had when you were pregnant? Yes, they are working out as planned Not as well as I wished They have not worked out at all 15. Please indicate briefly what some of these goals were. 16. If your school or work goals have not worked out at all, what do you feel is the reason? (Answer briefly in own words.) 17. Do you sometimes feel that the fact that you became pregnant means that you are"bad"? Yes No 18. Since the pregnancy, have you found that you blame yourself for things more than before? Yes No FORM: A-7"“84 Page 2 .-.. 63'. him 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 42 Do you seem to have more self confidence now than before the pregnancy? Yes No Did you start dating steadily or seriously soon after leaving the Home? Yes No Did you start dating seriously or steadily because: Your friends expected you to Your parents expected you to You wanted to Did you date the particular fellow you did because: Your friends expected you to Your parents expected you to You wanted to He was the first fellow who asked you to go out If you did not date within the first few months following the pregnancy, was it because: Your friends felt you should not Your family felt you should not You felt you should not Other (specify) Does your family usually approve of the fellows you date? Yes No Since leaving the Home and while not married, have you found yourself physically involved with a fellow (that is,”going all the way”)? Yes No If so, did you or he take any precautions to avoid pregnancy? Yes No Sometimes If married, how soon after leaving the Home did you get married? Have you been pregnant out of wedlock since leaving the Home? If the answer to No. 28 is "Yes", please indicate what solution you chose to meet the problem. (Check more than one if necessary.) Abortion Released for Adoption Marriage Other (specify) Kept child FORM: A-70084 Page 3 I. }* 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 43 If married, did you marry the father of the baby which you had in the Home? Yes No If married to someone other than the father of your baby, did you tell your husband about the baby? Yes No If the answer to No. 31 is "Yes”, why did you decide to tell him? He would have found out anyway You felt you had to be honest wfizh him Other (specify) Do you feel that staying in the maternity home was a fairly pleasant experience under the circumstances? Yes No Do you feel that you got the kind of service you needed from the agency with which you worked? Yes No Please explain briefly in what way these services were or were not satisfactory. Did you continue to see your agency caseworker for a while after leaving the Home? Yes No If you did continue to see your caseworker after leaving the Home, do you feel that this was helpful to you? Yes No Please explain briefly in what way these visits were or were not helpful to you. If you did not continue seeing your caseworker after leaving the Home (or some other professional, such as a counselor or psychiatrist), do you feel that this kind of service could have been helpful to you? Yes No Please state in your own words, if you wish to do so, how you feel that services to unmarried mothers may be improved, either by agencies or maternity homes. 0 Any other comments. '~«-., . ... "'-.- -. 7-... '- "““ n-.. 1" 3" 3‘ APPENDIX B January 14, 1963 Dear friend, You are probably surprised to hear from us and wonder what all of the questions on the enclosed form are about! .As you know, we at the Home are very much concerned about the girls who come here to stay with us. We often wonder what happens to them after they have left, how their plans work out, and how things go for them generally. We do some soul-searching, too, about how we could have done a better job in our attempts to help. If we had some of these answers, we might then, through a better understanding of the girls and their problems, improve our services to the many girls we serve each year. The only people who can really give us answers are those who have been through the experience. The enclosed questionairre is designed to do just that. It will only take a few minutes of your time to fill out and slip into the self-addressed envelope. Je are sending this to a selected number of girls and every one is really needed to give us a complete picture. You can be sure that your questionaire will be treated with complete confidence. You do not even have to use your name if you would rather not. But we do need these soon, so that we can complete our study. Also, I am sure that you will not want to leave this lying around, so the sooner you get it in the mail, the better. Your help could mean a lot to many girls. Thanks so much for your assist- ance. Our best wishes to you. Sincerely, 203M [0on (Mrs.) Rosalind Wood Rw:hw BIBLIOGRAPHY Bernstein, Rose, "Are We Still Stereotyping the Unmarried Mother?" Social work, Vol. 5, No. 3, July, 1960, p. 23. Child Welfare League of America, Standards for Services £9_Unmarried Parents, New'York, 1960. Costigan, Barbara, "The Unmarried.Nother - Her Decision Regarding Adoption," unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Southern California, 1964. Ellis, Albert, The Folklore 9£_§g§, Boni, New York, 1951. Hollingshead, August B. and Redlich, Fredrick C., Social Class and Rental Illness, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1958, p. 394. Hughes, Patricia, "Improves Services to Unmarried Parents Through Maternity HomeeAgency Cooperation," Paper read at Annual Meeting of Michigan Children Association of Childrens' Agencies, Lansing, Michigan, May 25, 1961. Levy, Dorothy, VA FollowaUp Study of Unmarried.Mothers," Social Casework, January, 1955. Sauber, Mignon and Rubinstein, Elaine, Experiences 9£_the Unwed Mother g§_§_Parent, Community Council of Greater New York, 1965. Schmeideberg, Melitta, M.D., "Psychiatric-Social Factors in Young U.M.s," Social Casework, Vol. 32, January, 1951, p. 3-7. Vincent, Clark, Unmgrried.Hothers. The Free Press of Glencoe, Inc., 1961. WCod, Rosalind, Discussion paper presented at the National Conference of Social work, Chicago, Illinois, May, 1961. wrieden, Major Jane, "What Is A Good.Maternity Home?" Paper presented at the National Conference of Social werk, Atlantic City, New Jersey, May 17, 1951. wrieden, Major Jane, "What.Meaning Does the Maternity Home Experience Have for the Unmarried Mother?" Paper presented at the National Conference of Social work, San Francisco, California, May 31, 1955. Young, Leontine, Out gf_Wedlock, New York, McGraw Hill Book Co., Inc., 1954. p. 2. 45 46 Young, Leontine, “The Unwed Mother's Decision About Her Baby," Journal 9_f_ Social Casework, Vol. 28, January, 1947, p. 27-34. . I . I I I In I I I I II. . I . 7 . A ._ .... I . I n.I-"I IO. ' I z .. ..I . I II. I . I I . I . I . . I. . I n I v I‘l‘ll' S ‘|\' . EIIIO . . R 9 . . . A. ll . I R|38 3| . I . .l 7 . . . Il' . a I I I . I I I . . . Sll! . . I I I2 RI|1||| . . I I . . VII— . II I I . NI . . . I I I . I.. ‘\.|. I I... I | U . Ellrilll. . . A 3 . . . Tl I Sull‘g . I . I | I | N . . . A . . . . . . I 1 I I I l D In. . . I I .o C . . I . . ||3 . I I quill . I I . I I I II I I. | I . . I . I . 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