Browsing by Author "Sarfo, Elizabeth Anokyewaa"

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    Exploration of child marriages in Ghana : experiences of young female spouses, parents, elders and professionals
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University., 2020-03) Sarfo, Elizabeth Anokyewaa; Naidoo, Anthony V.; Salifu Yendork, Joana; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Psychology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Early marriage is the practice of marrying an individual below the age of 18 years. It is a widespread global practice that is believed to have a myriad of effects on its victims, their offspring and the practising communities. While Ghana is one of the many countries worldwide in which early marriage is being practised, literature on the reasons, cultural underpinnings and implications of the practice in this context is sparse. My aim in this study, therefore, was to identify and examine factors that contribute to the practice of early marriage and their related implications on the psychological wellbeing of adolescent married girls in the Northern region of Ghana. Specifically, I sought to gain an understanding of adolescent girls’ reasons for marrying early and their subjective experiences in their marriage. I also sought to understand the social constructions of marriage and adolescence from the perspective of the female spouses’ parents and elders in the community and their respective role, if any, in influencing the early marriage of adolescent girls. Finally, to gain insight into the perspectives of child marriage from professionals working in the area of child marriage, I explored the role of governmental and non-governmental organisations in preventing and engaging with the practice through the possible interventions and measures they have employed in eradicating early marriage in the communities they work in. Twenty-one married girls, eight parents and seven elders from selected communities in the Northern region of Ghana were engaged in individual in-depth interviews to garner their views and experiences on the possible reasons and implications of early marriage on adolescent girls. Nine staff of governmental and non-governmental organisations in the Northern region participated in a focus group discussion on their experiences with working with married girls and the interventions they employed in preventing the practice in the communities they work in. Findings indicated that, although some adolescent girls choose to marry, their motivations were influenced by economic and socio-cultural reasons in addition to their own perspectives of life, personal struggles and difficulties they encountered. Similar to the adolescent girls’ reasons for marrying, parents proffered economic and sociocultural factors as core reasons for marrying their daughters off. Additional reasons for supporting early marriage pertained to difficulty in nurturing their children, power imbalances between child and parent as well as intergenerational differences between parents and children on compliance with cultural norms and values. Early marriage had both positive and negative implications on the psychological health of the young girls and the implications were basically reflective of age at marriage, expectations for marriage and relations with the husband and in-laws, stressful chores and abuse. Findings also indicated a strong influence of cultural values and constructions of marriage, adolescence, gender and sexuality on the practice of child marriage in Ghana. Possible interventions for the prevention or eradication of early marriage among adolescent girls are reflected based on the adolescents’ motivations for marriage, and other interventions suggested by parents and staff of governmental and nongovernmental organisations.
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    Understanding child marriage in Ghana: The constructions of gender and sexuality and implications for married girls
    (Routledge, 2020-01) Sarfo, Elizabeth Anokyewaa; Yendork, Joana Salifu; Naidoo, Anthony Vernon
    Child marriage is the practice of marrying an individual below 18 years. The drivers of this practice include poverty, gender inequality, cultural and religious norms among others. While Ghana is one of many countries worldwide in which child marriage is practised, the literature on cultural underpinnings and implications of the practice in Ghana is sparse. This paper aims to discuss how constructions of adolescence, gender and sexuality in Ghana affect the practice of child marriage. It further examines the implications of child marriage for married girls and argues for research into the causes and mental health implications of the practice.