Examining the intersection between marriage, perceived maturity and child marriage: perspectives of community elders in the Northern region of Ghana

Abstract

Child marriage is a widespread global phenomenon that is prevalent in many developing countries including Ghana. The practice of child marriage has its roots in how marriage, adolescence and readiness for marriage are construed in practising communities. This study presents the views of community elders towards the practice and examines constructions of marriage and maturity and their influence on child marriage. Data were collected from seven elders from selected communities in the Northern region of Ghana. Individual in-depth interviews were used to gather participants’ perceptions of constructions of marriage and markers for determining maturity of girls for marriage. An inductive qualitative method was used to analyse transcribed data. Elders’ views indicated that early marriage was strongly influenced by community constructions of marriage and social indicators of readiness for marriage. The main indicators of maturity for marriage for men were economic independence and an awareness of sexual desire while the overt markers of physiological development and mastery of domestic tasks were indicators for girls. Knowledge about the cultural construction of marriage and readiness for marriage is helpful to influence policy making and interventions on early marriage.

Keywords:

• Child marriage
• marriage
• northern Ghana
• readiness for marriage
• community elders

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Hajara Baba for her assistance with data collection, transcription and entry to and navigation within the research setting.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University and is part of the first author’s doctoral dissertation.