ABSTRACT
Despite growing national attention from policymakers and social service providers to the prevention of adolescent pregnancy, demographic trends indicate little reduction in the number of births to unmarried teenagers. Historically the empirical and theoretical writings pertaining to African Americans have been predicated on models of disorganization and deficit. These deficit models characterized the African American family culture as a monolithic entity comprised of broken, illegitimate families and unstable households, tacitly ignoring the pervasive socioeconomic factors that contributed to the manifestation of disorganized family patterns. Extending the model proposed by Burton, Dilworth-Anderson, and Merriwether-de Vries begin with a conceptual discussion of the temporal context. Define the temporal context as a focus on the timing of entry to a new role and the specific sequencing and synchronization of assumption of the parental and grandparental roles relative to age, peer reactions, and other social roles.
