Alvarez, Mary Michaelle
Alvarez, Mary Michaelle
Famat, Ruffa Mae
An Assessment of the Awareness of Senior High School Students in
CTU – Argao Campus on the Effects of Teenage Pregnancy
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Freud's Psychosexual Theory of Development
An article entitled “Freud's Psychosexual Theory of Development”
says that Freud’s theory believes that parents’ play a critical
role in coming through their child’s interest in sexual
involvement. It also states that in order for a child to have a
proper development, he/she needs to meet successfully the 5 stages
of psychosexual development — oral, anal, phallic, latency, and
genital stages(Boundless, 2016). First of is oral (0-1 years of
age) wherein, during this stage, the basic need of an infant should
be met in order for them not to develop negative habits such as
nail biting. Next is anal (1-3 years of age) stage wherein toilet
etiquette should be properly implemented. Third is phallic (3-6
years of age) stage wherein in this stage, kids’ sexual desires
start to arise. After phallic is latency (6-12 years of age) stage,
the time when children begin to behave morally, mimicking or
adopting their parents’ values. Lastly is genital (12+ years of
age) wherein sexual impulses will start to reemerge during this
stage. If the previous stages have been met properly, adolescents
will have appropriate sexual behaviors.
If the child does not have proper parenting at each stage,
he/she might get stuck in that particular stage. The structure of
Frued’s model is composed of three parts that work together, mainly
id, ego, and superego. The id refers to largest part of human’s
mind which is the main source of his/her biological needs which
includes their desire and impulses. On the other hand, ego refers
to the rational part of human’s personality or reasoning which
controls their behaviors in order satisfy their desires without
dealing with negative consequences. Lastly, the superego or
conscience occurs between the interactions of one person to another
(mostly parents to their child) to let them adapt to the
expectations of the society (Boundless, 2016).
In this theory, Freud believes that one’s level of
consciousness, which refers to the measurement of person’s
arousability, state of awareness, and responsiveness to both
internal and external changes of its environment, is having a
struggle which gives an impact to personality development and
psychopathology. According to an article, “Freud believed that we
are only aware of a small amount of our mind’s activities and that
most of it remains hidden from us in our unconscious. The
information in our unconscious affects our behavior, although we
are unaware of it.” (Boundless, 2016)
According to Philip (n.d), the five stages of psychosexual
development is very important in developing a person’s personality.
The development normal or abnormal behavior a person depends on the
his experiences during each stages.
Social Learning Theory/Social Cognitive Theory (Albert
Bandura)
Bandura’s theory states that people influences one another. Most
of human behaviors are influenced by what they observed from
others’ behaviors, attitudes, and results of those behaviors
(Learning Theories, 2016). This theory assumed that through
informative functions (e.g social media), modeling influences (what
behavior they one sees from others) creates learning principally.
This assumption is supported by four interrelated sub-processes:
attentional processes, retention processes, motoric reproductive
processes, and reinforcement and motivational processes. According
to Bandura (1971), attentional processes stated that: “A person
cannot learn much by observation if he does not attend to, or
recognize, the essential features of the model’s behavior.” (p.6)
This means that learnings of a person does not happen by simply
exposing him to a model, but by selecting numerous characteristics
of the model and attending closely to them or “they will even
perceive accurately the aspects they happen to notice.” Next is
retention processes. This process states that “A person cannot be
much influenced by observation of a model’s behavior if he has no
memory of it.” (p.7 ) This means that influences from the past can
achieve some degree of permanence. Third is the motoric
reproduction process which is concerned with processes in which
symbolic representations guide overt actions are involved.
According to Bandura, the amount of a person’s learning through
observation depends on whether or not the person has acquired the
“component skills”. Component skills refer to the patterns being
modeled which are the learner’s basis in order to achieve
behavioral reproduction. Lastly, reinforcement and motivational
processes states that, “A person can acquire, retain, and posses
the capabilities for skillful execution of modeled behavior, but
the learning may rarely be activated into overt performance if it
negatively sanctioned or otherwise unfavorably received.” (p.8)
Observational learning will be translated into action if there are
positive incentives provided. Bandura (1971) emphasized that
behavior of a person is learned before is being performed. Clearly
saying that one’s behavior may depend on influences of others.
Environment, people, and behavior are the three factors that
constantly influences each other (University of Twente, n.d.).
Theory Of Planned Behavior/ Reasoned Action
Azjen’s theory of reason action stated that “a person's behavior
is determined by his/her intention to perform the behavior and that
this intention is, in turn, a function of his/her attitude toward
the behavior and his/her subjective norm.” (University of Twente,
n.d.) A certain behavior came from an intention. Intention is
representation of one’s readiness to perform a certain action. We
must also take in consideration peoples’ beliefs on how the people
they care about will react to that behavior. According to Azjen
(1991), the general rule of the theory is that the stronger the
intention to engage a behavior, the more likely should be its
performance.
Given a belief, people usually evaluate this and are usually
affected by subjective norms. During their evaluation, they would
eventually control their perceived behavior towards that belief
resulting to an action intended to be performed. Their intention to
perform a certain action is then their attitude towards that
behavior.
Figure 1 shows a summary of the theories. From Freud’s theory
that states the impact of proper parenting tp Bandura’s theory
which explains how a certain behavior is created due to external
influences lastly Azjen’s theory which shows how personal intention
affects the person’s decision. As shown in figure one, parenting,
external influences, and doer’s consciousness and intention are the
main factors that can affect the doer’s behavior.
(BEHAVIORAL | PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT | PSYCHOLOGICAL
EFFECTSDoers intentionParentingInfluences from other
person/environment Consciousness)
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Based on records, the rate of teenage pregnancy cases in the
Philippines is continually increasing. Summing all the causes of
teenage pregnancy, social factors carries the biggest part of it.
According to an article entitled “Youth Problems in the Philippine
Society”, adolescent sexual behavior is one of them. Other social
factors also includes: immature and irresponsible behavior due to
complex teenage psychology and undergoes different emotions due to
peer pressure and transition from childhood, lack of sexual
education, and weak relationship with parents. In addition to this,
Agustino, Coming, Pogoy, and Verzosa’s (2014) study also supports
that the lack of sexual knowledge and on the effects of teenage
pregnancy are part of the causes. They also agree on the impact of
family ties on the child and sexual or physical drive as one of the
causes of teenage pregnancy.
F
Figure 1: Number of Live Births by Teenage Mothers Philippines,
2000-2010 (GMA Network, 2013, as cited from National Statistics
office)
Figure 2: Number of Live Births by Teenage Mothers Philippines,
2000-2010 (GMA Network, 2013, as cited from National Statistics
office)
Figure 1 shows the recorded data of the number of live births by
teenage mothers (aging 20 years old below) between 2000-2010. It
shows that live births given by teenagers aging 15-19 years every
year is increasing. Figure 2 shows clearer representation of Figure
1 in which, the graph shows an increasing slope telling us that the
number of live births by teenage mothers increases every year.
Several theories on the causes of why the trend of teenage
pregnancy is increasing will be presented below. Freud, Bandura,
and Ajzen’s theories explain the causes for this kind of behavior.
Freud’s psychosexual development theory supports the social
learning theory of Bandura (1971) in a way that both theories
explain the behavioral development of a teenager. Combining these
two theories, both can also explain what impacts the teenagers’
intention as explained in Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned
behavior.
As explained in Freud’s theory, a child is going to undergo five
developmental stages starting from his infant days to a grown
person. It is very important for the child to have proper parenting
at each stage in order for him to have a typical behavioral
development. In relation to the researchers study on teenage
pregnancy, the latency and genital stages give a big role to its
level of consciousness and especially on their awareness on sexual
involvement. The theory is relevant to teenage pregnancy because it
explains one of the major factors that affects an individual’s
behavior towards sexual activities. This theory also supports the
idea that parenting is very important in contribution to an
individual’s awareness on the happenings in the environment that
they belong to.
Similarly, Bandura’s (1971) theory explains how a behavior
performed by a teenager are influenced by what they perceive on
others. In relation to Freud’s theory, parents are considered to be
a model to their child. The child may inherit personalities from
their parents and their behavior also depends on how his parents
raised him. During adolescent years, other influences that a
teenager may acquire are from their peers, environment, and
community. Same with Freud’s theory, the statements of Bandura on
his social learning theory describes another factor which leads a
teenager to engage into teenage pregnancy. These influences include
peer pressure, social media, relationship with parents, and current
trend of the issue on teenage pregnancy.
Additionally, based on Azjen’s (1991) theory, involving oneself
to sexual activities is dependent on the teenager’s intention to
perform such behavior. The stronger the intention, the bigger
chance that he/she may perform sexual intercourse with the opposite
sex. The three theories including Azjen’s theory are connected to
each other. Freud and Bandura’s theories give an impact to Azjen’s
theory in a way that personality development and influences from
environment affect the intention and decision of a teenager.
Engaging themselves to sexual activities is greatly affected by the
factors around them including the kind of parenting they got from
their parents, their peers, social media, environment, and the
community they are in. Though factors are present, in the end, the
choice of a teenager to perform sexual activities will still depend
on how strong his/her intention is. That is why, it is very
important that during the child’s early stage of development,
parents are present and are giving them proper guidance.
Given that the rate of teenage pregnancy in the Philippines is
continuously increasing, many studies found out that the causes of
getting pregnant at an early age are the factors mentioned above.
Overall, the three theories mainly explains the main root of the
problem on teenage pregnancy.
The figure below shows that the factors affecting the teenagers
intention or decision on engaging herself into sexual related
activities includes their personality development which depends on
the kind of parenting they got from their parents, social
influences including their peers and social media, environmental
influences that involves sexual education and current trend
information of teenage pregnancy rate, and also their self
consciousness on doing such behavior. If a child has no proper
guidance and parenting up until their adolescent years and get
strong influences, she is more prone on getting involved to
pregnancy at the young age.
(TEENAGE PREGNACYSocial and Environmental Influences Teenagers
Intention/DecisionParentingConsciousness)
OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK
Because of the increase of teenage pregnancy rate in the country
and the slow decline of fertility rate, faster economic growth of
the Philippines may deprived. That is why, UNFPA (United Nations
Population Fund) is focusing on the full implementation of
reproductive health law which invests the quality education and
health services for teenage girls (VOA News, 2016).
According to Hor (2014), Philippines has the highest rate of
teenage pregnancy cases among the six major economies in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and according also
to Fernandez (2016), Central Visayas ranked seventh in the list
with most number of teenage pregnancy cases in the country. Based
on one of the researchers observation on her residence (Argao, Cebu
City), which is a municipality of Central Visayas, teenage
pregnancy cases are becoming rampant in the place. In consideration
to this, Cebu Technological University - Argao Campus has the most
number of students aging 15 - 19 years given that it is the only
university being installed in the place.
Last October 20, 2016, a 16-year old girl from Tulic, Argao was
reported to have committed suicide by jumping into the sea from the
port in Barangay Poblacion. The suicide note that she left said
that she was pregnant and scared to tell her parents because of her
conflict relationship with her parents and since they were so
strict on disallowing her to enter in the kind of relationship she
had.
Given the case of the girl who committed suicide, the awareness
of the effects of teenage pregnancy is very significant. The girl’s
suicidal act was shown to be dependent on the factors including her
parents, the pressure around her, and her own intentions. Her
action is also influenced by what the society or the people around
her might react to the situation. This drives her to perform her
suicidal act which may be for her, is the solution to her
problem.
With connection to the three theories, the researchers assume
that if a senior high school student from CTU-Argao Campus has
experienced pregnancy at an early age, she might already have a
lack of guidance or loose connection to her parents. Since teenage
pregnancy in Argao is rampant, a student may get influenced by
happenings around her, like the behavior of her friends and peer
pressure. As part of proper parenting, it is very important that
the parents of each student will give them awareness on sexual
related issues. In addition to this, the environment or the
community where the student belongs will also work together to
raise awareness on teenage pregnancy by implementing sexual
education.
The figure below shows that the factors affecting the senior
high school students in CTU-Argao Campus’ intention or decision on
engaging herself into sexual related activities includes their
personality development which depends on the kind of parenting they
got from their parents, social influences including their peers and
social media, environmental influences that involves sexual
education and current trend information of teenage pregnancy rate,
and also their self consciousness on doing such behavior. If a
child has no proper guidance and parenting up until their
adolescent years and get strong influences, she is more prone on
getting involved to pregnancy at the young age.
(Friends/Peer PressureSelf awarenessParents SHS student of
CTU-AC Intention/DecisionTEENAGE PREGNACY)
References:
Bandura, A. (1971). “Social Learning Theory”. Library of
Congress. Retrieved from
http://www.jku.at/org/content/e54521/e54528/e54529/e178059/Bandura_SocialLearningTheory_ger.pdf
Boundless. (2016, September 20). “Freud's Psychosexual Theory of
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https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/human-development-14/theories-of-human-development-70/freud-s-psychosexual-theory-of-development-267-12802/
University of Twente. (n.d.). Social cognitive theory. Retrieved
from
https://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20Clusters/Health%20Communication/Social_cognitive_theory/
Learning Theories. (2016). Social learning theory (Bandura).
Retrieved from
https://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html
University of Twente. (n.d.). Theory of planned behavior/
reasoned action. Retrieved from
https://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20Clusters/Health%20Communication/theory_planned_behavior/
Ajzen, I. (1991). The Theory of Planned Behavior. Organizational
Behavior and Human Decision Processes. (1-33). Retrieved from
https://cas.hse.ru/data/816/479/1225/Oct%2019%20Cited%20%231%20Manage%20THE%20THEORY%20OF%20PLANNED%20BEHAVIOR.pdf
Philip, T. (n.d) Psychosexual Development: Freudian Concept.
Retrieved from http://www.ignou.ac.in/upload/Unit%2023.pdf
Agustino, R., Coming, N., Versoza R., Pogoy, A. (2014) Lived
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Fernadez, R.J.T, (2016, August 6) Central Visayas has country’s
most number of pregnant teens. Sun Star Cebu. Retrieved from
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2016/08/10/central-visayas-has-countrys-most-number-pregnant-teens-490449
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