Discursive constructs of abortion amongst a group of male and female students at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Abstract

Abortion is a very controversial topic and over the years, many different attitudes have been formed around it. Previous studies have looked at people’s attitudes towards abortion in relation to gender, age, race, socio-economic background, religion, education and even marital status. The current study aimed to investigate the change of attitudes that students would have towards abortion given a range of circumstances (from serious to less serious). The role of gender in these attitudes was also looked at. This study conducted two separate semi-structured focus groups for each gender (6 males and 5 females). In the two focus groups, each vignette with a particular circumstance was read out to the students followed by questions. These follow up questions were discussed amongst the students present in the focus group. The responses from the students were recorded using a Dictaphone. From the Dictaphone, the information received from these interviews was transcribed. Thereafter, content analysis was used to analyse the findings which aimed to identify different themes. Following this, discursive constructs around abortion as well as conclusions were formed and discussed.