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Revista de Antropologia

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GONCALVES, Helen  and  KNAUTH, Daniela Riva. Aproveitar a vida, juventude e gravidez. Rev. Antropol. [online]. 2006, vol.49, n.2, pp. 625-643. ISSN 0034-7701.

This manuscript demonstrates how important is the concept of enjoying life for the subjects studied. It was part of a qualitative study carried out in Pelotas during 2001-2002, including 23 adolescent mothers aged 18-19 years, and 10 of their mothers. The aim of the study was to understand the context of adolescent pregnancy among youngsters belonging to poor or medium socioeconomic level families, who are part of a birth cohort study/1982. During the field work, the concept of enjoying life was highlighted in the narratives. This concept helped qualifying, classifying, and justifying youth's behavior. The analyses show that the youngsters should live in an enjoyable way of living, acting positively or negatively according to the context and to the social values. Pregnancy is seen as a consequence of this behavior, after transposing socio-cultural limits in adolescence. Therefore, enjoying life highlights how do they feel, and explains why some behaviors are more criticized in this period of life course.

Keywords : qualitative study; enjoying life; ethnography; adolescent; adolescent pregnancy; young.

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