Intergenerational explanations are widely available to account for poor health and social outcomes such as those associated with teenage motherhood. Within these explanations, medical journals represent authoritative voices that shape understandings of disadvantage. Teenage motherhood was understood through the metaphor of a ;cycle of disadvantage' within this medical literature. Disadvantage is constructed as the result of poor individual choice or family deviance, and the role of the individual and the family in transmitting disadvantage is highlighted. Suggestions for health interventions consequently focus on identifying deviant individuals and families, rather than on ways to address the social context of disadvantage.