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<h1>Does Religion Protect Against Teen Childbearing?</h1>
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How to prevent teen pregnancy by understanding female sexuality </div>
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<span class="submitted">Published on October 3, 2012 by <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/experts/nigel-barber-phd" title="View Bio">Nigel Barber, Ph.D.</a> in <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast">The Human Beast</a></span>
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<a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/mating" title="Psychology Today looks at Mating " class="pt-basics-link"> </a><p>It is probably fair to say that many <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/religion" title="Psychology Today looks at Religion" class="pt-basics-link">religious</a> people are <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Atheism-Will-Replace-Religion-ebook/dp/B00886ZSJ6/">obsessed with controlling sexuality</a> (1). In particular, they are concerned with imposing rules of acceptable sexual conduct. So can <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/parenting" title="Psychology Today looks at Parenting" class="pt-basics-link">parents</a> protect their teenage daughters against unwanted <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/pregnancy" title="Psychology Today looks at Pregnancy" class="pt-basics-link">pregnancy</a> by promoting religion in the home?</p>
<p>Given that most religious communities are strongly opposed to extramarital <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/sex" title="Psychology Today looks at Sex" class="pt-basics-link">sexuality</a>,
one might assume that membership in a religious community would protect
teenage women against sexual intercourse and unwanted pregnancy.</p><p>So
what could possibly go wrong? Plenty it seems. To begin with, just
because religious people endorse restrictive views on sexual behavior –
popularly known as “family values” – it does not mean that they are
going to live up to them.</p> </div>
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<p> </p><p><strong>Religious people do not always live up to their family values</strong></p><p>They
may do the opposite. There is a surprising amount of evidence that
religious conservatives may be over represented in the ranks of those
who prefer kinky sexual behavior (2). Much of this is anecdotal. For
example, there is a long string of well-known conservative politicians
and preachers whose penchant for casual sex undercut their public
pronouncements on the issue. Politician Larry Craig is the poster person
for such scandals. (Of course, liberal politicians have had their share
of sex scandals as well). </p><p>Various scientific studies find that
religious people are apt to be involved in recreational sex. A
pioneering study of sex between men in public restrooms identified many
of the participants as religious conservatives (2). Residents of
religiously conservative states also spend more on online <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/pornography" title="Psychology Today looks at Pornography" class="pt-basics-link">pornography</a> (3). </p><p>Just
because people reject extramarital sex in principle, it does not mean
that they turn down sexual opportunities in practice. So there is no
reason to suppose that teens living in more religious states would be
protected against unwanted pregnancies.</p><p>Indeed, the scientific
evidence is in the opposite direction. More religious states have much
higher teen birth rates and this is true even with income level and
abortion rates statistically controlled (4).</p><p> </p><p><strong>Why?</strong></p><p>Stated
religious views on sexuality are clearly inconsistent with actual
conduct. Researchers believe that efforts to repress sexual behavior can
facilitate the opposite outcomes, including sexual obsessions and <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/self-control" title="Psychology Today looks at Self-Control" class="pt-basics-link">impulsive</a> sexual activity (3).</p>
<p>Religious intolerance of teenage sexuality can have undesirable consequences for teen birth rates. One problem is that sex <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/education" title="Psychology Today looks at Education" class="pt-basics-link">education</a>
tends to be patchy and inadequate. If teens scarcely know how they
might become pregnant, it is difficult for them to protect themselves.</p><p>One
of the biggest lapses in sex education involves insufficient
instruction on contraceptive techniques. So when sexual intercourse
begins, young women from religious families are less likely to be using
contraception (4).</p><p> </p><p><strong>How to reduce teen pregnancy</strong></p><p>Almost everyone agrees that teenage childbearing is harmful to young women – and to their offspring – in terms of lost <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/career" title="Psychology Today looks at Career" class="pt-basics-link">career</a> opportunities, earning capacity, education, health, and a variety of other outcomes, including risk of criminal offending.</p>
<p>Prevention
is not a simple matter but it is not rocket science either. It is no
accident that some of the most effective programs are conducted in
secular countries such as Sweden where teen births are extremely low
compared to the U.S. (5). </p><p>Sweden’s success has a number of factors (5) including:</p><p>1. Extensive sex education in public schools with a focus on responsibility.</p><p>2. Ready availability of contraceptives.</p>
<p>3.
Virtual elimination of child poverty that is important because young
women are primed to succeed in careers and consequently less interested
in early motherhood.</p><p>Conversely, the high teen birth rates in poor states in the U.S. reflect <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/child-development" title="Psychology Today looks at Child Development" class="pt-basics-link">childhood</a> poverty, poor sex education, and hostility to birth control.</p>
<p>Given
that religious conservatives oppose adequate sex education and birth
control for teens, religion is part of the problem rather than part of
the solution.</p><p> </p><p>1. Barber, N. (2012). <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Atheism-Will-Replace-Religion-ebook/dp/B00886ZSJ6/%20">Why atheism will replace religion</a>: The triumph of earthly pleasures over pie in the sky. E-book.</p>
<p>2. Humphreys, Laud (1970). Tearoom trade: Impersonal sex in public places. Chicago, Aldine..</p><p>3.
Edelman, Benjamin (2009). Red light states: Who buys online adult
entertainment? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23, 209-220.</p><p>4.
Strayhorn, J. M., and Strayhorn, J. C. (2009). Religiosity and teen
birth rate in the United States. Reproductive Health, 6, 14-19.</p><p>5.
Barber, N. (2008). The myth of culture: Why we need a genuine natural
science of societies (pp. 92-96). Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge
Scholars Press.</p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<br><a href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com" target="_blank">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</a><br><br><img src="http://users.moscow.com/waf/WP%20Fox%2001.jpg"><br>
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