Socio-Cultural Barriers to Preventing and Managing Teenage Pregnancies: Perspectives from Two South African Schools

Abstract

This paper reports on a study conducted in two South African co-educational high schools in uThukela, KwaZulu-Natal. Within this context, a qualitative case study approach was employed to explore the challenges school managers and teachers face in averting and managing pregnancies among the uThukela schoolchildren. Insights into this phenomenon were gathered using structured interviews, document reviews and observations. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory guided the data analysis and interpretation. Thematic analysis unveiled how cultural practices and poverty in uThukela jointly impede school managers’ efforts to prevent and manage teenage pregnancy occurrences within the respective schools. This paper expounds on this finding.