Enhancing collaborative partnerships: Empowering parents to address adolescent pregnancy in South Africa

Adolescent pregnancies continue to pose significant challenges in South Africa, impacting economic, health, social, and family domains. This paper explores the challenges of parents facing an adolescent’s pregnancy within a South African context, underlined by the Ubuntu theoretical framework to suggest interventions for social work practice. A qualitative phenomenological research approach was utilized. A qualitative phenomenological research approach focuses on exploring and understanding individuals' lived experiences of a particular phenomenon. This study employed a non-probability purposive sampling technique and selectively recruited 32 parents from the Tshwane and City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, Gauteng, South Africa, whose adolescents experienced pregnancy within that past year. The participants participated in semi-structured interviews conducted by eight field workers. The data analysis, according to Tesch’s eight steps of thematic analysis, revealed critical themes related to parents' challenges regarding their adolescent pregnancy. The findings included those parents of pregnant adolescents experienced stigma, financial hardship, and strained family relationships. Findings further indicated that high unemployment and widespread poverty worsen their struggles, highlighting the lack of community support despite Ubuntu principles. The study urges collaboration among social workers, health practitioners, and educators to involve parents in prevention efforts through sex education and awareness programs, promoting communication and reproductive health skills. Current and previous volumes are available at:https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net HOW TO REFERENCE USING ASWDNET STYLEErlank E. C. (2025). Enhancing collaborative partnerships: Empowering parents to address adolescent pregnancy in South AfricaAfrican Journal of Social Work, 15(2), 31-38. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v15i2.4