...WRITING EARLY MARRIAGES IN MAASAI LAND ADM NO; BOBIT/LMR/1575/16 LECTURER; DR. J. NDAVULA DATE; DECEMBER 1,2015 Abstract Reasons for early marriages The main reasons girls are forced to marry early are for the parents to acquire wealth and to be respected in the community (Ondiwo, 2002). Within the Maasai community the male spouses are likely to be a few years older than the girls; some may be more than twice their age, and most of them are wealthy. Parents who make such marital choices look upon marriage as an economic arrangement. Within the Kuria community the tradition is practiced because of interests in acquiring wealth. There are rampant cattle rustling incidences in the area because of poverty. Some parents find it safe to marry off their daughters to compensate for their stolen herd since early marriages are done in exchange for livestock The poverty stricken families also see early marriage as a way to take off their shoulders the responsibility of bringing up girls (Hinshelwood, 2001; Jens, 2003; UNICEF, 2000; UNICEF, 2002). In the event that the parents of the girl child have been given some money or material wealth and the girl has refused to join her husband to be, men from her husband’s side will abduct her. During abduction, the girl will be beaten to make her submissive. If she cries out aloud, her mouth will be closed forcefully. Some of the girls who have been abducted have ended up dying during the struggle (Ondiwo, 2002). Early marriage problem...
Words: 1229 - Pages: 5
...Omid Rahimzadeh The Effects of Early marriage The concept of early marriage is one of the most controversial issues among people in different cultures. To paraphrase it more prudently, majority of psychologist ponder that this critical social phenomenon changes one's life dramatically in terms of facing hardship in life, having emotional adversity, and depriving of having social skills. The following paragraphs further elucidate this debatable statement. To begin with, facing hardship is one of major effects of early marriage. To give a cogent example, a couple needs to overcome their financial burden in life along with unexpected social issues. To provide another comprehensive example, a couple not have ample social life experienced they may encounter problems in handling their life. As a result, early marriage changes the nature of one's life dramatically. Second, the other important effect of early marriage is having emotional adversity. For instance, being enforced to marry someone can create unhappiness in both sides of marriage. If they are unhappy with each other then the relation might be ruined, causing things to become worse. Consequently, a girl or boy will give up their responsibilities during their life and gradual, they do not have enough good feeling to continue their partnership. Therefore, early marriage has own negative effects on one's emotional traits. Lastly, early marriage deprives the couples of their basic education and learning. For example,...
Words: 326 - Pages: 2
...between marriage of young adults and mental health. In other words, how marriage influence on mental health. Actually, some recent researches have been indicated that the marriage itself bears a mental health benefits, indeed the age at first marriage, life cycle and transition to adulthood are all the identical variables, which may describe the influence on mental health. Hence, this article was organized to test the main hypotheses, how the marriage confer mental health in accordance with different life course. The reason for studying this particular phenomena and interestingness of this issue is probably that this current issue has been rising and becoming popular in our modern days. Millions of examples of early marriages, high rate of divorce and abandoned children, amount of uneducated people, are all consequentially have an impact on mental health with what lot of young adults face with. In this study, the author is willing to answer the for several questions which might explain the causal relationship between marriage and mental health of young adult, beside this he classified young adults into different categories to analyze what sort of mental health outcomes would arise out of different group of adults. The questions, which are assigned to this study, are: a. What is the effect of marriage on mental health and other relationship circumstances? b. What kinds of effect does it carry? c. Is there differences among mental effects as result of first marriage age...
Words: 1455 - Pages: 6
...from the Marriage Project of the Institute for American Values. Maggie Gallagher, the principal investigator, is an affiliate scholar at the Institute and the director of its Marriage Project. The Institute is grateful to Amara Bachu, Douglas J. Besharov, Norval Glenn, Dana Mack, Steven L. Nock, and Maris Vinovskis for their scholarly and editorial suggestions, and to the William H. Donner Foundation for its generous financial support of this initiative. The contributions of other supporters are also greatly appreciated. On the cover: Maternity (1950) by Milton Avery. Oil on canvas, 32 X 46 inches. Collection of Sally M. Avery. ©1999, Milton Avery Trust/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY. © 1999, Institute for American Values. All rights reserved. No reproduction of the materials contained herein is permitted without the written permission of the Institute for American Values. ISBN 0-9659841-5-X Institute for American Values 1841 Broadway, Suite 211 New York, NY 10023 Tel: (212) 246-3942 Fax: (212) 541-6665 info@americanvalues.org www.americanvalues.org The Age of Unwed Mothers Is Teen Pregnancy the Problem? Executive Summary Why have three decades of intensive national effort to reduce teen pregnancy not been more successful? Largely because for three decades, we have framed the problem falsely. What we have called our “teen pregnancy” crisis is not really about teenagers. Nor is it really about pregnancy. It is about the decline of marriage. What has...
Words: 27687 - Pages: 111
...not yet of marriageable age or between adults who will presumably marry eventually, but who are engaging in sexual activity prior to marriage (Wikipedia, 2009). Premarital Sex is so common nowadays because of the messages we receive from most TV shows and movies that tells us “everyone is doing it”. So, is it okay to engage in premarital sex? That is the common question among teens and engaged couples but then again, there are a lot of factors to consider – Is it moral? Is it safe physically and emotionally? What are the causes and effects of premarital sex? What are the teachings of the Church regarding the issue? Is it moral? Morality is such a big factor to consider when deciding whether or not to have premarital sex. The Bible refers to premarital sex as fornication. Fornication is sexual intercourse between people who are not married to each other (Premarital Sex, 2009). According to the Bible there is a distinction between premarital sex and adultery. “Adultery involves married persons while premarital sex involves those who are unmarried. Premarital Sex is just as much as sin as adultery and all other forms of sexual immortality. They all involve having sexual relations with someone you are not married to” (Premarital Sex, 2009). Is it physically and emotionally safe? People don’t usually consider the physical and emotional effects of premarital sex. Safety is one thing that should be given a careful thought. Condoms could not totally reduce the risk of getting...
Words: 1627 - Pages: 7
...legitimate alternative lifestyle to heterosexual monogamy. Homosexual “marriage” and adoption should not be sanctioned by the state. This is because Marriage is a two-in-one flesh communion of persons that is consummated and actualized by acts which are reproductive in type, whether or not they are reproductive in effect (or are motivated by a desire to reproduce). Reproductive acts are unique in that they belong to a class of acts by which children come into being/are made. They are the ONLY class of acts by which children come into being as participants in an organic community or family established through the parent’s marriage Marriage is naturally ordered to the good of procreation as well as to the good of spouse unity. Unity is possible because of men and women, in reproductive-type acts, become a single reproductive principle. In marital acts of a male and female the bodies of persons who unite biologically are not reduced to the status of mere instruments because The end, goal, and intelligible point of sexual union is the good of marriage itself. Therefore, Homosexuality is not an alternative lifestyle to heterosexual monogamy. Homosexual marriage should not be sanctioned by the state because it alters the nature of marriage and the founding of a family. This occurs as the nature of marriage turns into simply a long-term erotic relationship. Once same-sex marriage is recognized, it severs “marriage” from its purpose of procreation – in which case there is no reason...
Words: 523 - Pages: 3
...country. Excessive population is the worst among all current problems. The rate of population is increasing day by day. There are many reasons behind this problem. The main three reasons for this over population are illiteracy, early marriage, and lack of government rules about family planning. Firstly, the literacy rate of this country is very poor. Most of the people of this country live in villages. Most of them are illiterate. They are not aware about the gravity of the problem of over-population and do nothing to stop the increase of population. Most of them are poor. They do not know how they cause population problem. The child birth rate in villages of Bangladesh is so high than the city people. Moreover, they do not know about family planning nor do they cure for planed families. So, this is a major cause of over-population in Bangladesh. Secondly, early marriage is a great cause of excessive population in this country. Though government has strict rules to stop early marriage, this marriage is common in this country especially in villages of the country. It creates adverse effects in population growth. According to the UNICEF 66% of the Bangladeshi girls get married before the age of 18 years and this is one of the highest rates of early marriage in the world. These girls get more child baring years, and take more child. So, this is an other cause of population density. Furthermore, the lack of government rules and regulations about family planning is also a major...
Words: 408 - Pages: 2
...Haunted by Premarital Sex How we found healing after four years of marriage Brian and Heather Jamison Due to the downplay of the negative effects of consensual premarital sex by both the secular world and well-meaning Christians, its consequences are often ignored and allowed to wreak havoc in marriages and other relationships over extended periods of time. As time moves forward, it can be difficult for a couple to dig down to the heart of the problem. But intimacy in marriage can be reclaimed. It involves acknowledging past sin, receiving and giving forgiveness for it, and rebuilding the marital foundation. Four Keys to Reclaiming Intimacy 1. Acknowledgment. Reclaiming intimacy that has been lost from the effects of premarital sex must begin with an honest acknowledgment of sin. Premarital sex isn't a mistake. It isn't an accident. It isn't just an unwise action. It is sin. Rationalizing it by way of age, circumstances, naivete, or any other manner does nothing to undo the reality that it was a personal choice to rebel against God. Early in our marriage, we justified our previous immorality with the idea that neither of us had been sexually active with anyone else and that we had planned to get married to each other someday anyway. We both saw premarital sex simply as an early consummation of our marriage. Not until we acknowledged before God that every bit of pleasure, fulfillment, and esteem we had achieved through premarital sex was stolen at the expense...
Words: 407 - Pages: 2
...Introduction Child marriage is a formal marriage or informal union entered into by an individual before reaching the age of 18. The legally prescribed marriageable age in some jurisdictions is below 18 years, especially in the case of girls; and even when the age is set at 18 years, many jurisdictions permit earlier marriage with parental consent or in special circumstances, such as teenage pregnancy. In certain countries, even when the legal marriage age is 18, cultural traditions take priority over legislative law. Child marriage affects both boys and girls, though the overwhelming majority of those affected are girls, most of who are in poor socioeconomic situations. Child marriage is related to child betrothal, and it includes civil cohabitation and court approved early marriages after teenage pregnancy in many cases, only one marriage-partner is a child, usually the female. Causes of child marriages include poverty, bride price, dowry, cultural traditions, laws that allow child marriages, religious and social pressures, regional customs, fear of remaining unmarried, illiteracy, and perceived inability of women to work for money. Child marriage is a harmful practice1 which severely affects the rights of a child and further deprives the child from attaining other aspirations like education. Every year, about 14 million adolescent and teen girls are married, almost always forced into the arrangement by their parents. There is a correlation between poverty and child marriage. Girls from...
Words: 1087 - Pages: 5
...defense of marriage and strengthening of families in regards to early childhood and how each differs I’m going to start off with the Republican party of Texas which firmly believes that marriage is God-ordained and that it can only be a legal and moral commitment between a natural man and a natural woman which they consider to be a foundational unit of a healthy society. The platform opposes any type of recognition to allowing benefits to couples who label themselves as domestic partners and are not legally married. They also advocate the removal of laws that place an unfair tax on a families income. And at last the Republican party of Texas supports the traditional Judeo-Christian values on family and opposes the continued attack on these traditional values. Republicans oppose any type of government mandated pre school or kindergarten (Republicans of Texas -Strengthening families promoting life and protecting health, pg 7) Libertarians on the other hands differ completely then those of the Texas republicans. Libertarians support full protection of people from federal and state legislation that go against ones individual rights to not allow marriage base on gender orientation. They believe that the government has no authority in deciding who can and cannot get married and that marriage is a private contract and shouldn’t be defined by the government or licensed, and hope to remove any legislation and or polices regarding to what a marriage is. In...
Words: 765 - Pages: 4
...Cause and Effects of Divorce Marriage symbolizes a unity between two people. Some marriages last and some result in divorce. For instance, a newlywed couple could start off exceedingly romantic. As the marriage progresses, more problems and issues arise that are left unsolved. Feelings could build up over time and every little action he or she does could increasingly annoy the other spouse. Conflicts are not resolved properly and as time passes, the couple may start to have more and more disagreements about unimportant subjects. There are three main causes of divorce: lack of communication, early marriages with unexpected pregnancies and drastic career changes, which are listed below. First of all, lack of communication is the main cause of divorce. Communication is the revealing of thoughts or ideas and is an important aspect of all relationships. If effective communication is not present in a marriage, then the relationship will suffer and slowly weaken. To have an effective communication with one's spouse, one should try to be as open as possible by revealing all emotions and feelings. A result of a failed marriage could be divorce. Divorce is common because there is a lack of effective communication. On the other hand, one might believe that a lack of communication is not the reason why divorce is common. The lack of communication in a relationship cannot be the single reason why marriages fail. All couples are not the same. It could be possible that they have good communication...
Words: 1121 - Pages: 5
...Effects of Divorce on Children Elizabeth O’Connor Psychology 210 Liberty University Online Abstract The purpose of this research paper is to examine the effects divorce has on children. This paper will look at several areas of child development and introduce some statistics on children affected by divorce. It will discuss pre and post-divorce family environments and the factors that lead to it, as well as the effects 25 years post-divorce. It will also summarize studies conducted by other researchers and present ideas found to be true from clinical interviews and following a group of children from 18 months post parental divorce to 25 years later. Other topics will include family functioning pre and post-divorce, the impact of father involvement post-divorce; as well as common behavioral issues present with children of parental divorce families. In conclusion a summary of how variations in home life, parenting style and personalities can affect the outcome of long term effects on children of parental divorce. I. Introduction Several studies have been conducted over the years analyzing the effects divorce has on children. This research has proved to be a valuable tool in the field of psychology. This year over one million children will experience parental divorce (Demo & Supple, 2003) and the effects can last a lifetime. Of those one million children fifty percent of them are under the age of six (Wallerstein & Lewis, 2004). II. Statistics In the United...
Words: 2037 - Pages: 9
...Marriage is a moral contract between two individuals that choose to share and live their lives by specific beliefs and ideals. A once cherished practice, marriage is progressively losing the meaning and values behind it due to state legal practices. The need to abolish marriage as a legal contract, from a symbolic interactionist perspective, can best be determined by studying the societal changes displayed by today’s high rates of divorce, increased rates of children being born and raised by single parents and state and federal benefits marring the sanctity of marriage. If we remove state mandated control and deregulate marriage, we can in turn strengthen and encourage marriage based on a couples own perspectives and strengthen the quality of family. Early Americans viewed marriage as the staple to a quality family. Men and women found compatible mates they could spend the rest of their lives with, for reasons of love and procreation. They viewed marriage as forever and worked hard to keep their marriages strong. The symbolism behind a strong marriage meant a strong quality family unit. Today, with the tax benefits associated with marriage, it is more of a social contract that is not based on moral obligations, but financial benefits. The Federal tax benefits they give to married couples provide incentive for individuals to get married. This incentive takes the focus away from personal and moral beliefs and persuades an individual to focus on financial reasoning. For example...
Words: 1197 - Pages: 5
...relationship, education, and crime. One of the best-known causes for absence of a father is divorce. The divorce rate of societies these days is drastically increasing and is reaching a height that was never reached before. The three countries with the top divorce rate are Belarus, United States, and Sweden; and they record divorce rates of 52.9%, 54.8%, and 54.9% respectively. There are multifarious reasons why a couple decides on a divorce. The most significant cause of the divorce is lack of communication between spouses. Failure to communicate each other’s feelings and struggles increases the tension and doubtfulness in marriage. Lack of commitment of marriage also plays a role in divorce. When a spouse is unfaithful and is unwilling to put effort into making the marriage successful, it often brings frustrations and anger into marriage. In many cases of early marriage of teens, lack of maturity or financial problems also can...
Words: 790 - Pages: 4
...diverse and self-absorbed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that approximately 46% of all marriages end in divorce. As a result, children often suffer irreparable damage emotionally, socially, and academically. This paper seeks to examine the vast biosocial, psychosocial, and cognitive aspects related to divorced parents and the stressors and consequences there within. In addition, many children are drastically affected by the three periods that occur during a divorce. The results incur that, although sometimes the situation improves, most children often experience lower academic success, as well as decreases in their biosocial, psychosocial, and cognitive development. The Impact of Divorce on Children under the Age of 18 Overview of Divorce Divorce is a common reality in every country and culture throughout the world. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that approximately 46% of all U.S. marriages end in divorce (Marriage and Divorce, 2013). Therefore, researchers have placed a lot of focus on divorce over other methods of terminating a cohabiting relationship (Berger, 2011). In addition, Berger (2011) says, “Divorce occurs because at least one half of a couple believes that he or she would be happier not married” (p. 619). Thus, researchers question why divorce has become a popular escape from a troubled marriage. The answer could lie somewhere between the increased materialism, rationalism, and humanism of modern societies...
Words: 1702 - Pages: 7
