cover image Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy,

Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy,

Kristin Luker. Harvard University Press, $27.5 (304pp) ISBN 978-0-674-21702-7

A fresh perspective but a patchy read, Luker's latest charts the history of society's obsession with pregnant teens and the social ills they have come to represent. The author of Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood, Luker is a professor of sociology and law at UC-Berkeley. Her central theme--teenage motherhood should be considered ""a measure, not a cause of poverty and social ills""--will be embraced by liberals, but both sides of the debate over teen pregnancy will benefit from the author's analysis of society's prejudice. Luker points out that although older women and white women became the largest group of unwed mothers in the 1970s and '80s, it is ""the teenage mother--in particular the black teenage mother--[who] came to personify the social, economic, and sexual trends that... affected almost everyone in America."" Although full of dismantled misconceptions and startling statistics, Dubious Conceptions is marred by such unilluminating observations as, ""A marriage license is no guarantee that...a father will continue to support his children financially or even come to visit them."" Later in the work, Luker interjects the voices of young mothers. Their naivete is heartbreaking--""It's even harder than they say it is. I knew it would be hard, but not this hard,"" says one--and they are the ones who best underscore the importance of Luker's work. Teenage mothers are not a disease but young people whose problems, along with society's, require a real understanding of the issues. (May)