Mixed Messages: Norms and Social Control around Teen Sex and Pregnancy

by Stefanie Mollborn

Overview

Sex is bad. Unprotected sex is a problem. Having a baby would be a disaster. Abortion is a sin. Teenagers in the United States hear conflicting messages about sex from everyone around them. How do teens understand these messages? In Mixed Messages, Stefanie Mollborn examines how social norms and social control work through in-depth interviews with college students and teen mothers and fathers, revealing the tough conversations teeangers just can't have with adults. Delving into teenagers' complicated social worlds Mollborn argues that by creating informal social sanctions like gossip and exclusion and formal communication such as sex education, families, peers, schools, and communities strategize to gain control over teens' behaviors. However, while teens strategize to keep control, they resist the constraints of the norms, revealing the variety of outcomes that occur beyond compliance or deviance. By showing that the norms existing today around teen sex are ineffective, failing to regulate sexual behavior, and instead punishing teens that violate them, Mollborn calls for a more thoughtful and consistent dialogue between teens and adults, emphasizing messages that will lead to more positive health outcomes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190633301
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/14/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	934,396
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Stefanie Mollborn is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Table of Contents

Preface Chapter 1: Norms and Social Control of Teen Sexuality Chapter 2: Theorizing About Norms and Social Control Chapter 3: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell": Sexuality Norms and Social Control at Home Chapter 4: "What Are People Going to Think?": The Influence of Close Friends and Peers Chapter 5: "Scare It into Us": School Norms and Social Control Chapter 6: "Carrying a Stigma": Communities and Teen Sexuality Chapter 7: "Say One Thing and Do Another": Teens React to Norms and Social Control Chapter 8: Conclusion Appendix: Research Methods Notes References Index

Editorial Reviews

"Stefanie Mollborn's Mixed Messages is a significant contribution to this body of work and presents a new and different lens through which to view and understand teenage sexual behavior decision making in the 21st century — the lens of norms. The ways in which Mollborn weaves these personal experiences and reflections into a rich tapestry of knowledge keep us engaged and wanting to turn the page. The way in which she places her tapestry on theoretical hangers and supports then enables us to have a clearer understanding of the complex picture she presents and leaves us able to ask yet more questions and search for yet more answers." — Elizabeth Cooksey, Ohio State University, American Journal of Sociology

"Mollborn is...committed to advancing theorizing on social norms. Mixed Messages is a clarion call to radically alter the messages adults transmit to you about sex." — Sinikka Elliott, The University of British Columbia, Social Forces

From the Publisher