Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Cultural Practices

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

In some societies, traditional marriage customs may produce brides and grooms under the age of 18. International development groups refer to these as "child marriages" and consider them to be damaging to well-being, particularly for girls. Therefore, with wide support from Western nations, including the United States, significant resources are invested in campaigns to eradicate these practices. However, this movement has also been critiqued for relying on a notion that there is a clear and absolute boundary between childhood and adulthood that lies at 18 years. In fact, there is surprisingly little objective information available about why "child marriage" remains prevalent in some places despite its purported harmful consequences. The research supported by this award will address this question. Results from the project will support policy recommendations, and contribute to a wider critical engagement with the notion that early transitions to adulthood are necessarily harmful in all circumstances. Research will be carried out in north western Tanzania among a Sukuma population where around one-third of girls marry before 18 years. Data collection will take place within a demographic surveillance site managed by the Tanzanian National Institute of Medical Research. Taking a mixed-methods approach, qualitative and quantitative data will be collected over a two-year period. To build an understanding of early marriage grounded in ethnographic reality, rather than stereotype, the project will first utilize focus group discussions and in-depth interviews to identify perceived risks to wellbeing that characterize female adolescence and the role of early marriage in elevating or mitigating such risk. Multiple dimensions of female wellbeing (physical and mental health, education, food security, empowerment, and community respect) will then be assessed via a large quantitative survey, and analyzed to determine if 18 years emerges as a meaningful threshold demarcating harmful marriage, or whether alternative age categorizations, if any, better predict variation in wellbeing. Quantitative and qualitative data will then be used test the hypotheses that early marriage is either the product of parental coercion and a parent-offspring conflict of interests, or whether it is better understood as a parental strategy to enhance the success of daughters. Finally, the project will quantify associations between age at menarche, first reproduction and marriage to explore hypothesized links between physiological and behavioral transitions into adulthood. The project includes the mentorship of an American Postdoctoral Scholar, research experience opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, and capacity building for longer-term international collaborative research. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.