A family systems perspective was used to investigate adolescent motherhood among low-income Hispanic families living in high-crime areas. The study focused primarily on the mother-daughter relationship. A semistructured interview was administered separately to mother and daughter in 11 mother-daughter dyads. Using open and axial coding of the data, a grounded theory of adolescent motherhood emerged. The study identified adolescent motherhood as an attempt to restore a sense of stability and balance not only to the life of the teenager but also to that of her mother. The finding that participants became more dependent on and were more supervised by their mothers after their pregnancies raised some paradoxical questions concerning the issue of separation and individuation.
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