Reasons For Concealment Research Articles

Concealed pregnancy among school-going adolescents in South Africa: A qualitative study on risks for maternal and child health

Objective: Concealed pregnancy is a public health concern with risks to girl-education as well as maternal and child health. This paper focuses on concealed pregnancy amongst adolescents attending schools in Limpopo province of South Africa. It defines concealed pregnancy, some reasons for concealment, methods used, partners in crime and implications for girl-education as well as maternal and child health.
 Materials and methods: A qualitative and exploratory study using in-depth interviews with 10 pregnant adolescents attending school, five parents and 10 educators on their experiences of caring for pregnant adolescents attending school was conducted.
 Results and Discussion: Results show that pregnant adolescents attending school conceal their pregnancies using various methods of keeping a secret, telling a lie, wearing baggy clothing, isolating and hiding among other students in overcrowded teaching spaces. They participate passively in learning activities to evade attention to themselves. Some authority figures such as educators and parents as well as other students are accomplices.
 Conclusion: To conceal pregnancies, pregnant adolescents attending schools flout antenatal care, thus increasing risks to women and children’s health. They also show lack of attentiveness to learning activities at school, thus losing chances to achieve an education.
 Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.19(4) 2020 p.620-624

BDSM: A Subcultural Analysis of Sacrifices and Delights

This is a qualitative investigation of 73 individuals in the Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, and Sado-Masochism subculture. There is tremendous stigma attached to this subculture, and while the academic community may be increasingly accepting, the general public is not as accepting or knowledgeable. Fear of negative consequences means that many engage in secrecy and concealment strategies as protective measures. Although there is much literature on the possible consequences and the reasons for concealment, there remain gaps. Our findings reveal how many conceal to cover up or to hide what outsiders may consider immoral or otherwise unacceptable behavior. Others conceal as a means to create a distinction for themselves as part of a secret subculture. Whatever their reasons, those in this subculture engage in a variety of strategies to manage their identity and to minimize their vulnerability.

Catastrophic Conditions in Couple Systems

SUMMARY A presentation of case studies forms the focus for an exploration of the discovery of an abortion or adoption used as the management of an unwelcome pregnancy which occurred in the context of the marital system. Managing an impasse in the middle phase of therapy in each case led to the emergence of information which then allowed the therapist to work with the couple system to alleviate the core situation out of which presenting problems emanated. In these cases the unwelcome pregnancy had the potential to be cataclysmic to the couple system. Therefore, the possibility that a couple is concealing an abortion or an adoption should be considered by couples' therapists when there is little or no response to usual strategies for change. The reason for concealment is immaterial. What is paramount is that the therapist bring the event to the fore of treatment and work with a couple to put closure on what is generally an unresolved issue.

Incest offences and alcoholism.

The purpose of this study was to clarify whether alcoholic incest offenders differ from other criminals who commit these offences. The series consisted of 45 cases of incest, of which 22 cases (48.9 per cent) gave an indication of alcoholism in the offender. The alcoholics showed more evidence of previous criminal offences, and this was especially true when considering acts of violence only. The alcoholics had also exhibited more often than the others aggressive features at home before the detection of incest. Statistically, significant differences were not arrived at as to depression, psychotic disturbances, intellectual defects, problems of jealousy, psychiatric hospitalization, and earlier sexual behaviour. The spouse had a rejective sexual attitude towards the offender in alcoholic cases more frequently than in other cases. The cause of this appeared to be mainly disgust at the abuse of alcoholic drinks and its consequences, as well as the result of a large family and/or poor living conditions. In more than half of the cases of incest in both groups actual intercourse had taken place. Generally, the relationship had, however, started by only touching sexual organs and so forth. According to the offender the victim had shown activity in one-third of the cases of alcoholics. The alcoholic offender tended to be under the influence of alcohol at least at the beginning of the relationship more often than the non-alcoholic person. Offences or an offence were reported by the victim or the offender's spouse in the cases of alcoholics more often than in the other cases; then the informer was usually an outsider. However, the victim's and the spouse's fear of the offender was one reason for concealment when the alcoholics were involved.