Journal of Woman and Family Studies
The Lived Experience of Child-Married Women Regarding Social Norms and Early Marriage
Document Type : Research/Original/Regular
Authors
1 Assistant Professor Department of sociology, Economy and Social Sciences Faculty, Shahid Chamran university of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
2 Associate Professor Department of sociology, Economy and Social Sciences Faculty, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
Abstract
The main purpose of this study is a qualitative study of women's lived experiences of social norms and early marriage in Khuzestan province. The participants of the present study are 24 women who had early marriages in different parts of Khuzestan province. In this research, snowball sampling method has been used to select the items. Their experiences were collected and rewritten through in-depth semi-structured interviews and sentences and phrases were analyzed using the Colaizzi method. In this study, after extracting important sentences and words from the text of the interviews, 452 initial codes were extracted, which were placed in 14 main axes according to the purpose and question of the research. Also, to confirm and validate the findings, the method of reviewing and monitoring the participants, the researcher's self-review in the process of collecting and analyzing data and recording all their mental assumptions beforehand and not considering them in the process of analyzing, reviewing and re-coding interviews were used by two other researchers. . The findings of the study indicate that the lived experience of women was revealed in fourteen themes.
Highlights
Background and Purpose
Children are one of the most vulnerable groups in society. The dangers in the family or community threaten their rights. Child marriage is one of these issues (Raj, 2010). The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) defines early child marriage as: «Every marriage takes place before the age of 18. The girl is physically and mentally ready to take on the responsibilities of marriage» (ICRW, 2006). The aim of this study is to understand the lived experience of child-married women in Khuzestan to understand the issue of social norms and early marriage. Very few studies have examined the roots, motivations, and consequences of child marriage (Noor, 2009; Stark et al., 2011; Delperato et al., 2017; Watson, 2018; Yunt et al., 2018; John et al., 2019) in these studies increase the risk of HI, premature pregnancy, depression, and dropout Also, according to UNICEF (2020), every year in the world, 250 million girls get married at a young age and the right to health, education, training, and Opportunity is taken away from them and their childhood is stolen, and if nothing is done, 350.4 million young girls get married every year until the age of 8. In developing countries, one in four girls gets married before the age of 15, and some brides are up to 4 or 2 years old.
In the study of early marriage by thematic analysis method and influenced by emerging categories to explain the concepts and categories of the conceptual framework of the research, around the paradigm of social and feminist psychology, family system theory, social development theory, gender schema theory, social learning theory and spectroscopy Designed, presented in a very concise manner.
Stress is a state of physiological or psychological stress caused by internal physical, mental, or emotional stimuli that tend to impair the function of the organism. Considering that lifestyle affects all aspects of human life, especially adolescence, and premenstrual syndrome is one of the most important aspects of a person's life, we can expect the type of behavior and attitude of the person. Affect this syndrome. Therefore, according to the present study, PMS was predicted based on coping styles with stress and lifestyle in high school students.
Method
In the present study, qualitative and phenomenological methods and purposive sampling methods were used. Research participants were selected from people who were married as children by definition. Questions in the field of experience, perception, and feelings about marriage, perception of love, premarital relationships, the degree of choice, and The sampling method were based on the snowball technique. A total of 23 participants were selected for sampling and in-depth semi-structured interviews. Participants in the study were selected from married girls under the age of 15 from the cities of Khuzestan province. In this study, after extracting important sentences and words from the text of interviews, 452 primary codes were extracted.
Findings
According to the purpose and question of the research, the main themes of «compulsion and lack of intellectual-social maturity», «tribal culture and traditional beliefs», «sterilized individuality», «disenfranchisement of the subject», «lack of awareness of sexual and physical capital», «Weak role and interaction», «Dominant behaviors and intimate partner violence», «female body of sexual object», «Female body of banal and tradable object», «Female body of origin of sexual domination and repression», «Divorce / Widow Love fantasy death», «Child/adult duality» were categorized.
Table 1. Input and output variables using stepwise regression
|
concepts |
Categories |
|
Age is not a criterion, family permission is important, family choice, spouse choice by family, marriage at a young age is common, good suitor conditions, not talking about father and brothers, respect for customs, respect for elders |
Forcedness and lack of intellectual and social maturity |
|
Relationships between tribes, strengthening family relationships, marriage decision-making by the family, familial marriage, stability of family-marriage relations |
Tribal culture and traditional beliefs |
|
Inability to say no, no reason to refuse, spouse's dislocation, spouse's childish look at me, lack of decision-making power, post-marital interest, deprivation of education, girls' safety |
The female body as a trivial object |
|
My talents burn out, I lose my job future, I have a child for my husband, I do not pay attention to my wishes, my expectations are not met, I am not taken seriously, my personal interests and desires are not recognized, I lack independence |
Individuality is barren |
|
Lack of emotional skills, complete lack of self-knowledge, dependence on spouse for growth, lack of independence in role play, lack of freedom in relationships, blame, lack of ability to defend oneself, lack of self-reliance, lack of self-defense, lack of power in life |
Deprivation of the subject's agency in the realization of the right |
|
Family abuse and selfishness, forced communication, the feeling of aging, being seen by others, the advice of mother and wife, my husband's paternal role, family problems, lack of parenting skills, lack of awareness of marital issues |
Role weakness and stressful interactions |
|
Transaction of girls, economic poverty of the family, financial means of the suitor, reaching his mouth, lack of economic independence of women, their financial dependence on men, economic poverty of the family, marriage and reimbursement of expense |
Women's bodies as tradable objects |
|
Inability to respond to the sexual desires of the spouse, seeking self-satisfaction, not enjoying the relationship with the spouse, rape, relationship during pregnancy, relationship with fever and chills, running away from the spouse, difficult relationship due to lack of physical maturity |
The body as a sexual object (sexual violence / sexual activity) |
|
Spouse immorality, beatings, avoidance, disgrace in front of guests, remarriage, harassment, sarcasm, humiliation |
Dominant behaviors and intimate partner violence
|
|
Jealousy of my child, neglect of my spouse after having children, loss of pieces of self, desire for destructive relationships, refusal to have a relationship, distance from the line, difficulty in combining emotions with one's identity |
Childhood / adulthood duality
|
|
Family educational poverty, lack of awareness of reproductive health, puberty and premature birth, gynecological problems, lack of understanding of marital relationship, heavy bleeding, uterine infections, gynecological problems, reluctance to have sex |
Lack of awareness of physical and sexual capital |
|
Childhood with my child, climbing the ladder of dreams, lack of experience of love, not understanding the joy of love, losing dreams of life, not being the ideal spouse, fear of saying wishes |
The death of a fantasy of love / a lost child
|
|
Dissatisfaction with my spouse, arguing, allowing family to get divorced, lack of love, lack of understanding in life, lack of education for children about identity and sex education |
Divorce / Widow |
Discussion and Conclusion
Stopping child marriage requires a multilateral policy that focuses on girls, families, society, and government. Therefore, educational programs and reproductive health services should be provided for families and the community to reduce the risk of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity by stopping child marriage.
The findings show that despite the increase in the age of marriage, early marriage is still a problem in many areas and communities. These habits and misconceptions (lack of education for girls, rumors of girls leaving the house, premature puberty, protection of girls, financial problems) cause a young girl to marry an adult man. Therefore, early marriage is a response from mothers to the conditions of the social, cultural, and normative environment. Understanding and interpreting individuals in a way related to early marriage with geographical location, tribal culture and traditional beliefs ,and unfavorable living and living conditions in the living environment, including the contexts and contexts for families to turn to early marriage of children without considering Issues and needs such as ideological awareness and commitment of the mediator, the ability to assess the readiness of marriage of a girl and a boy in terms of social and emotional maturity and effective communication (Mehrabanifar et al., 2021).
In this study, the emphasis on traditional and religious values in some cultures, early marriage is a virtue and value. This is truer of women than men; however, the prevailing culture in society is to encourage marriage at an early age. In fact, until recently, this violation put a lot of social pressure on women. In many subcultures, the sooner girls get married (physical maturity to mental maturity), the better, and women's education or employment is not valued. In fact, parents think that if a girl gets married late, her hearing from her parents will be reduced and she can no longer be controlled.
Keywords
- Early marriage
- normative spectrum
- lived experience of child-women of Khuzestan
- sexual object
- right of body
Main Subjects
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