Marriage as an end or the end of marriage? Change and continuity in Southern African marriages

Pauli, Julia; Dijk, Rijk van

doi:10.1080/23323256.2016.1243451

Cited by 35 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…At the same time, marriage itself has been in sharp decline. As the conversation at the beginning of this article suggests, it remains a highly desirable goal for men and women, and for their families, but marriage has become an elusive ideal, increasingly restricted to the middle classes (Pauli and van Dijk 2016). Approaching marriage in terms of recognition and the dikgang that accompanies it, I suggest that this elusiveness remains linked to ambiguity.…”

Section: Recognizing Marriagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The situation was not unusual. Marriage rates in Botswana, and across Southern Africa, are in sharp decline (Pauli and van Dijk 2016). While Mmapula was keen to see her children married, she was also very concerned that those marriages should be concluded in a specific way.…”

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confidence: 99%

“… 1 I use ‘conjugal relationships’ much as Julia Pauli and Rijk van Dijk (2016: 259) do: to connote ‘a range of [heterosexual] … relationships’ common in Botswana, variously understood in terms of ‘customary practices, residence arrangements, state and religious laws, and sexual and other types of exchange’ ( ibid . ), which may or may not lead to marriage.…”

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confidence: 99%

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‘We are seeing things’: recognition, risk and reproducing kinship in Botswana's time of AIDS

Reece¹

2019

Africa

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This article explores the ways in which families are reproduced in Botswana's time of AIDS. It argues that conjugal relationships are transformed into kin relationships through a gradual process of recognition in which they become visible, spoken about and known to ever wider spheres of kin. For women, this process is often catalysed by pregnancy; for men, by marriage negotiations – and for both, recognition is key to self-making. However, every shift in recognition is risky and tenuous, even reversible, and marked by dikgang – ‘issues’, conflicts or crises – the negotiation of which is crucial to its kin- and self-making capacity. Tswana kinship and personhood, in other words, are constituted in crisis, making them both highly fraught and highly resilient. In this context, HIV becomes one of many risks entailed in intimacy and kin-making – suggesting one explanation for persistently high rates of HIV infection in Botswana, and indicating an unexpected capacity in families to absorb crises such as the AIDS epidemic.

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Section: Recognizing Marriagementioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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‘We are seeing things’: recognition, risk and reproducing kinship in Botswana's time of AIDS

Reece¹

2019

Africa

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“…In terms of demographics, currently, 23.9% are married, 66% have never married, 5.6% are living together, 2.9% are widowed, 1% is divorced and 0.5% separated [35]. The low marriage rates in the district reflect the current state of marriage in South Africa that is in decline and at a national low [36, 37]. KwaZulu-Natal also has the highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the country [38].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male partner influence on family planning and contraceptive use: perspectives from community members and healthcare providers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

et al. 2019

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Background South Africa faces numerous reproductive challenges that include high rates of unplanned and adolescent pregnancies. The uptake and utilization of family planning services and modern contraception methods depend on numerous factors. The male partner plays a key role in reproductive health but data on this topic are outdated or have a predominant HIV prevention focus. The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of male partners on family planning and contraceptive (FP/C) uptake and use within the contemporary South African setting, and to identify further areas of exploration. Methods This qualitative study was conducted in a community and healthcare provision setting in the eThekwini District in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Data were collected from twelve community-based focus group discussions ( n = 103), two healthcare providers focus group discussions ( n = 16), and eight key informant individual in-depth interviews. Following a constructionist paradigm and using the health utilization behaviour model, data were analysed using thematic analysis, allowing a robust and holistic exploration of the data. Results The data from this study revealed the complex and evolving role that male partners play in FP/C uptake and use within this setting. Key themes from the data elucidated the dual nature of male involvement in FP/C use. Culturally influenced gender dynamics and adequate understanding of FP/C information were highlighted as key factors that influenced male attitudes and perceptions about contraceptive use, whether positively or negatively. Male opposition was attributed to limited understanding; misunderstandings about side-effects; male dominance in relationships; and physical abuse. These factors contributed to covert or discontinued use by female partners. Pathways identified through which male partners positively influenced FP/C uptake and access include: social support, adequate information, and shared responsibility. Conclusions Understanding the role that male partners play in FP/C uptake and use is important in preventing unintended pregnancies and improving family planning policy and service delivery programmes. By identifying the barriers that male partners present, appropriate strategies can be implemented. Equally important is identifying how male partners facilitate and promote adherence and use, and how these positive strategies can be incorporated into policy to improve the uptake and use of FP/C.

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“…In the new generation, although the marriage rate has reduced, it is yet the essential element for the anthropological understanding in social life (31). However, the attitude to marriage is one of the key mechanisms for predicting actual behavior in marriage, though it is affected by many social, cultural, and economic factors (19,32).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Desire and Attitude to Marriage Among Unmarried Iranian Youth: A Qualitative Study

Keshavarz¹,

Shariati²,

Ebadi³

et al. 2018

International Journal of Women’s Health and Reproduction Scienc

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Introduction Marriage is the most common custom in all societies, which is recognized as the most important and fundamental form of communication and intimate affiliation (1). From William Good's perspective, the global revolution and the process of modernization, as well as social factors affect the family, marriage, and individuals (2). Over the past decades, due to cultural and social transformations, including urbanization and globalization, significant changes have occurred in the process of marriage throughout most developing countries (3). Iran as a developing country, in transition from tradition to modernity, has faced changes in all aspects of social subjects such as marriage and mate selection. Nowadays, marriage is one of the particular challenging issues in Iran (4). Statistics recorded in the center of Iranian statistics indicate a decrease in marriage rate, to such a degree that the number of registered marriages decreased from 874 792 in 2011 to 704 716 in 2016 (5). Between the years 1986-2011, the percentages of unmarried women and men increased from 9.4 to 26.2 and from 18.5 to 40.5, respectively (4). Following a youth bulge in Iran, one third of Iran's population was made up of people 15-29 years of age. Undoubtedly, changes in the number of young people have been followed by changes in social and cultural conditions (4). In Iran, in a poll conducted by experts from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, it was determined that before marriage, young people had other priorities such as employment and education, so the marriage was in the seventh priority of Iranian youth. In recent years, the age of marriage has significantly increased in Iran, with an average increase of about six years in small cities and 10 years in Tehran city. At present, more than 11 000 000 women and men are on the brink of marriage, from which a significant proportion are now getting out of the appropriate age for marriage and fertility (6). Attitudes and decisions about relationships particularly marriage as a long relationship are important, because it can have consequences for one's happiness, lifesatisfaction, health and psychological well-being (7). In the context of attitude and marital pattern, quantitative studies have been conducted (8-13), though the number of qualitative studies have been very limited. The validity and reliability of the translated English version of attitude to marriage was examined in a quantitative study. It was reported that it was impossible to generalize the results, as a weakness of study, to other people of community. Given the structural impact of the socioeconomic situation on the attitude to marriage, it has been recommended that interview should be used along with a validated Abstract Objectives: Due to the importance of marriage in providing the society structure, foundation for family formation, and continuity of the generation, as well as considering the decline of marriage rate in Iran, this study was designed to explore desire and attitude to marriage among Iranian yout...

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Marriage as an end or the end of marriage? Change and continuity in Southern African marriages

Cited by 35 publications

References 41 publications

‘We are seeing things’: recognition, risk and reproducing kinship in Botswana's time of AIDS

‘We are seeing things’: recognition, risk and reproducing kinship in Botswana's time of AIDS

Male partner influence on family planning and contraceptive use: perspectives from community members and healthcare providers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Desire and Attitude to Marriage Among Unmarried Iranian Youth: A Qualitative Study

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