Women's Lived Experience of the Phenomenon of Early Marriage: A Qualitative Study

Document Type : علمی - پژوهشی

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Social Sciences Department of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

2 PhD student in Economic Sociology and Development, Ferdowsi University

3 BS student Social Sciences of Ferdowsi University

Abstract

Child marriage creates severe challenges for girls without the necessary physical, mental, and social preparation and strength from childhood to adulthood. The Important issue in this regard is the complex and multi-level effect of this phenomenon on various aspects of the social actors' lives, which makes the investigation of this phenomenon dependent on the in-depth analysis of women's lived experience of early marriage in the social and cultural context. This research, with a qualitative approach based on grounded theory, has investigated the mentioned issue among girls aged 13 to 17 in Boqhmech village, in the central part of Chenaran City, who had the experience of early marriage, in total 10 of these girls were interviewed. Based on the results, factors such as "intergenerational custom of an early marriage", "irrelevance of girls' education", "social pressure on unmarried girls", "closed and introspective cultural environment of rural society", "centeredness of patriarchy in the social system of rural society and lack of acceptance for love before marriage" will be effective on the phenomenon of "child marriage: the combination of childish passivity and traditional authority". The participants in the research employed strategies such as "carelessness in choosing a spouse", "prejudicial in entering into married life", "hasty in teaching the principles of marriage" and "choosing a spouse in the kinship network", and accepted consequences such as "to The risk of falling physical health", "psychological pressure caused by not being ready to accept the role of wife and mother", "the continuation of social traditions supporting early marriage", "the experience of alienation from oneself in the role of the wife" and finally "social isolation".

Keywords

References

Ahmed, S., Khan, S., Alia, M., & Noushad, S. (2013). Psychological impact evaluation of
early marriages. International journal of endorsing health science research, 1(2), 84-86.
Azimi, K. (2020). The trend of girl child marriage in Iran based on national census data.
Sexual and reproductive health matters, 28(1), 1820655.
Bahrami, V., Haghi-karamallah, M., & Ghorbani, A. (2022). Data study of early marriage
foundation for girls in Poldakhtar city (case study: Zivodar village), Social and Cultural
strategy, 11(4), 472-508 [in Persian].
Barthes, R. (2000). Mythology in the present time, Translated by Yusuf Ali Abazari,
Arghanoon, 18, 136-85 [in Persian].
Bhanji, S. M., & Punjani, N. S. (2014). Determinants of child (early) marriages among
young girls: a public health issue. Journal of Women’s Health Care, 3(3), 1-3.
Callaghan, J. E., Gambo, Y., & Fellin, L. C. (2015). Hearing the silences: Adult Nigerian
women’s accounts of ‘early marriages’. Feminism & Psychology, 25(4), 506-527.
Chenani, F., Rezai Fard, F., Jalali, F., & and Jahangiri, S. (1401). Investigating the causes
and harms of child marriage, Culture and Art Studies, 7(1), 105-114 [in Persian].
Coole, D. (2016). Women in political theory. In Democracy: A Reader (pp. 307-314).
Columbia University Press.
De Beauvoir, S. (2001). The Second sex, Translated by Ghasem Sanavi, Tehran: Toos
Publication [in Persian].
Ebrahimi, H., & Fakhraeei, S. (2013). Investigation of the social factors associated with early
marriage in Naghadeh, The journal of sociology studies, 3(21), 93-110 [in Persian].
Eftekharzadeh, S. Z. (2015). The lived experience of women in early marriage, research
journal social work, 1(3), 108-156 [in Persian].
Erikson, E. H. (1980). Identity and the life cycle, New York: Norton
Ervin, J. (2003). Giving students what they need. British Journal of Guidance & Counseling,
34(4), 143-156.
Fataeei, M., Motlagh, M., & Aghajani-Mersa, H. (2022). Studying the contexts and
consequences of child marriage in Lorestan province. Social work journal, 9(32), 105-
142 [in Persian].
Flick, U. (2013). An introduction to qualitative research. Translated by Hadi Jalili, Tehran:
ney Publication [in Persian].
Glasser, W. (2006). Choice theory: A new psychology of personal freedom. Translated by
Nooruddin Rahmanian, Tehran: Ashian [in Persian].
Goli, S., Rammohan, A., & Singh, D. (2015). The effect of early marriages and early
childbearing on women’s nutritional status in India. Maternal and child health journal,
19(8), 1864-1880.
Güler, Ö. & Küçüker, H. (2010). Early marriages among adolesencent girls in Afyon
karahisar, Turkey. Eur J Gen Med, 7(4), 365-371.
Hajiloo, F., Aghayari, T., & Alipour-Abdar., F. (2021). The underlying causes of child
marriage (a case study of women with lived experience referring to health centers in
Tabriz. Journal of Women and Society, 12(48), 103-116 [in Persian].
Harvey, V.S., & Retter, K. (2002). Variations by gender between children and adolescents on
the four basic psychological needs. International Journal of Reality Therapy, 21(2), 33-36.
Iman, M., T, Goli., A., & Zaree, A. (2015). Studying the spatial pattern of marriage
prevalence among urban women under 20 years of age and their child bearing, Urban
sociological studies, 5(14), 1-24 [in Persian].
Jensen, R., & Thornton, R. (2003). Early female marriage in the developing world. Gender
& Development, 11(2), 9-19.
Kohi, K. (2018). Investigation of child marriage in country with emphasis on East
Azarbaijan Province, Children Rights journal, 1(3), 129-149 [in Persian].
Lal, B. S. (2015). Child Marriage in India: factors and problems. International Journal of
Science and Research, 4(4), 2993-2998
Lotfi, R. (2009), health consequences of early marriage in women, Women and Health
journal, 2, 68-79 [in Persian].
Mehta, R. (2017). She Came to Stay: Bangladeshi Women in India Negotiate Cross Border
Child Marriages. Available at SSRN 2946108
Motiee, N. (1997). Feminism in Iran in search of a native approach. women journal, 33, 1-12
[in Persian].
Műller, K. (2016). Early Marriages and the Perpetuation of Gender Inequality.
Naveed, S., & Butt, K. M. (2015). Causes and consequences of child marriages in South
Asia: Pakistan's perspective. South Asian Studies, 30(2), 161.
Özcebe, H., & Biçer, B. K. (2013). An important female child and woman problem: Child
marriages. Turkish Archives of Pediatrics, 48(2), 86-93.
Portaleb, N., & Mousavian Analjaq, S. b. (1400). Child marriage: a phenomenological
approach, Child Rights journal, 3(10), 1-13 [in Persian].
Ritzer, J. (1995). Contemporary sociological theory. Translated by Mohsen Solasi, Tehran:
elmi [in Persian].
Safavi, H., & Minaeei, M. (2014). The lived experience of adolescent girls in the role of wife
(study of early marriage of Aran Bidgol girls) .Women's Journal, 6(1), 87-106 [in
Persian].
Sanford, K. (2005). Attributions and anger in early marriage: wives are event-dependent and
husbands are schematic. Journal of Family Psychology, 19(2), 180.
Santhya, K. G. (2011). Early marriage and sexual and reproductive health vulnerabilities of
young women: a synthesis of recent evidence from developing countries. Current opinion
in obstetrics and gynecology, 23(5), 334-339.
Sarukhani, B. (1370), encyclopedia of social sciences. Tehran: Keihan Publications [in
Persian].
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (2015). Order the book Fundamentals of qualitative research:
techniques and stages of generating grounded theory, Ebrahim Aafshar, Tehran: ney
Publication [in Persian].
Svanemyr, J., Chandra-Mouli, V., Christiansen, C. S., & Mbizvo, M. (2012). Preventing
child marriages: first international day of the girl child “my life, my right, end child
marriage”. Reproductive health, 9(1), 31.
UNFPA. (2006). Ending child marriage: A Guide for Global Action, International Planned
Parenthood federation and the forum on Marriage and the Rights of Women and Girl,
London.
Unicef global databases (2020). Child marriage is a violation of human rights, but is all too
common, Retrieved from: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/child-marriage/.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics