Growing Up Together: Teenage Pregnancy and Motherhood in the Israeli New Orthodox Sector as Reflected in Drawings and Interviews

Abstract

Moria Diamanda, Dafna Regevb* & Sharon Snirc a The School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel;b The School of Creative Arts Therapies and the Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel;c Department of Art Therapy, Tel Hai College, Qiryat Shemona, Israel Moria Diamand is a graduate of the master's program in art therapy at the University of Haifa. She works as an art therapist at the Meital Center, which forms part of the Haruv Institute, a center for treatment of children and teenagers who have a history of sexual trauma. Dafna Regev is a senior lecturer at the School of Creative Art Therapies and a faculty member of the Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center at the University of Haifa, Israel. She works in a private clinic. Sharon Snir is a senior lecturer and head of the Art Therapy MA Program at Tel Hai College, Israel. She specializes in research and teaching research methodology in art therapy. Her articles have been published in leading journals in the field of art therapy.*CONTACT Dafna Regev daf.regev@gmail.com The School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.AbstractThis article discusses the experiences of 14 Jewish New Orthodox teenagers (over 18 years of age) who gave birth out of wedlock and raised their children as adolescents. Drawings of the mother–child relationship and semistructured interviews with the mothers were used to assess their perceptions of parenthood, and their perceptions of their own parents' relationship with them. The analysis was based on the principles of grounded theory. Three themes emerged from the data analysis, which was based on grounded theory: (a) factors leading to teenage pregnancy out of wedlock, (b) parental characteristics of New Orthodox teenage girls, and (c) pregnancy and motherhood in adolescence, and in particular, coping and growth versus self-destruction. The findings showed that becoming pregnant for a religious teen may be experienced as a period of turmoil and generate feelings of ostracism and loss. Assistance during pregnancy and early parenting support emerged as insufficient. The discussion centers on ways to provide more information and awareness about sexuality and contraception in the New Orthodox community. Counseling and support services should be more easily available and accessible to religious girls in these communities.

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