Cockrill, K., Upadhyay, U. D., Turan, J., & Greene Foster, D. (2013). The stigma of having an abortion: development of a scale and characteristics of women experiencing abortion stigma. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health , 45 (2), 79-88.
Background
Despite abortion being common in the United States, the majority of the women who have abortions report significant social stigma. In every year, more than 1.2 million Americans have abortions. Although women make decisions to abort due to various circumstances, the majority of them encounter social stigma as a result of that decision.
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Methods
An initial item pool was generated using abortion as a story content analysis to create a measure of abortion stigma. The final item pool was then used to assess the individual level stigma amongst 627 women. Interviews were used to get feedback from the respondents. The factor analysis was then conducted on the survey responses to minimize the number of responses and create a validity and reliability scale.
Results
The majority of the women who make decisions to abort report increased social stigma. These women develop worries about being judged, isolation, community condemnation, and self-judgment. The high levels of stigma were high amongst the Catholic and protestant women. Religion plays a key role in the development of stigma as women with strong religious beliefs reported increased levels of stigma. Self-judgment and greater perception of community condemnation were the leading factors in the development of stigma amongst women with strong religious beliefs. At the same time, age, race, and education played a key role in influencing the level of stigma amongst women who abort. People between the ages of 19-24 are the ones who experience increased stigma as a result of abortion. The level of stigma is significantly low amongst the women between ages 15-18.
The race was also found to impact on the level of stigma amongst the women. The level of stigma was found to be high amongst the whites followed by the blacks. It was lowest amongst the Asians. The results also show that women with a college education have high levels of stigma as a result of abortion. The feeling is relatively low in women with a high school education level. However, the high level of stigma was found to be amongst the women who are Catholic. The stigma was also found to be high among the women who had not to have any birth before. In overall, the valid and reliable scale shows that women who abort have had serious problems with regards to their levels of stigma and relationships, a factor that has a negative effect on their psychological well-being. This can be used to evaluate the intervention programs aimed at reducing stigma experienced by women who have had an abortion.
Evaluation
I think this research provides crucial information regarding the level of stigma amongst the women who abort. Through the use of interviews to get the responses from the participants, the research gives a valid conclusion regarding the levels of stigma associated with abortion in the United States. This research is therefore credible and provides valid information about abortion and stigma related issues.
