pregnant in their teen years. Their findings indicated that teenage girls who are most likely to become pregnant are characterized by low self-esteem, an unfavorable attitude toward themselves, low educational expectations, and an external locus of control, perpetuating the intergenerational cycle of teenage motherhood. Other factors, such as misbehavior and instability, also contribute to teenage pregnancy. The misbehavior and instability can be due to the girls’ cognitive, biological, 6 and emotional development, which have not yet matured. Teenagers’ relative immaturity can therefore be considered a factor contributing to teen pregnancy (Hardy & Landry, 2000). Gallhager (1999) noted that pregnant teenagers generally have a negative attitude toward the relationships with men in their lives, but idealize the idea of a relationship between themselves as mothers and their unborn children. Some teenagers perceive motherhood to be a gratifying, as well as a safe way, to give and receive love. This view may represent an attempted solution to problems related to relationships and sexuality, as teenage pregnancy often occurs in situations where the girl has become estranged from her family (Gallagher, 1999). In such instances, stressors within the family’s behavioral system contribute to the development of an environment in which the girl engages in inappropriate behavior, which is an unsuccessful attempt to give and receive love. Educational programs intended to reduce teen pregnancy also assist the adolescent in dealing with problems of self-image and low self-esteem. According to Schaalma, Abraham, Gillmore, and Kok (2004), "Models of cognitive change applied to other health-related behaviors also apply to the promotion of safer sex practice" (p. 259). Programs that provide this information are more likely to be successful than those that do not (Kirby, 2007). Therefore, many programs have been developed and implemented to address these issues. Despite a broad array of interventions targeted towards pregnancy prevention or improving outcomes for parenting teens, teenage pregnancy continues to occur. One reason for the failure of programs to prevent teenage pregnancy is that school practices are not in touch with teen mothers and adolescent needs (Carnegie Council on 7 Adolescent Development, 1995; Gallagher, 1999). The dramatic changes in society, especially in recent years, have contributed to adolescents growing, developing, and experimenting with premarital relations at an earlier age than previously. Research that evaluates programs from the perspective of the program participants and that enables the voices and views of teen mothers to be heard, may enable providers and schools to develop better teen pregnancy prevention programs. It is important to develop programs capable of assisting teen mothers in becoming good parents as well as productive citizens. Situation to Self When I was younger and in high school, I had a chance to see firsthand how teenage pregnancy hampered the girls who became pregnant and how it destroyed their chances at experiencing potentially successful careers. This motivated me later to try to find a way to help other girls and to research the philosophical assumptions that could guide them to success. The assumption that I brought to the present research related to phenomenology, which is concerned with how experience is both personal and social. It is also private and non-sharable in some respects. But a positivistic paradigm often associated with this approach is inappropriate for studying phenomena because it cannot describe the essential phenomena of the human world. Among these essential phenomena are values, meanings, intentions, morals, feelings, and the life experiences of human beings. A case study with a phenomenological approach was chosen for the present study because such an approach focuses on the lived experience as constituted in the consciousness of participants (Creswell, 2007). It is from this perspective that this study was guided. 8 Problem Statement The teenage birthrate in the U.S. is a problem. Although the birth rate of teenagers in the U.S. has dropped since the 1950s, it “remains one of the highest among other industrialized countries” (Hamilton, Martin, Vetura, 2007, p. 1). In 2011, a total of 333, 771 teens gave birth (Solomon-Fears, 2013). Because teen-aged mothers are at risk of not completing their education and of becoming dependent on welfare, programs that focus on helping them avoid risky behaviors in the future and helping them become selfreliant adults are needed. However, there is a gap in the research relating to the effectiveness of such programs. The problem investigated in this study was the effectiveness of the Teen Pregnancy and Prevention Program from the women’s point of view provided by the Teenage Parenting Center located in southeast Georgia. This was accomplished through face-to-face interviews with, a survey of, and personal written reflection by student parents who had graduated from the program. Purpose Statement The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to examine the lived experiences of young women who became pregnant as teenagers and participated in a Teen Pregnancy prevention program in order to evaluate the effectiveness