This study investigated differences in level of commitment between married and non-married individuals, effects of demographic variables by age, gender, parenting status, and ethnicity, and determines participant's awareness of and participation in the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative (OMI) were investigated. Students from a rural Oklahoma junior college completed the Perceptions of Commitment survey during spring 2004. Responses related to levels of commitment, social exchange theory, expectations, and communication were collected. T-test analysis revealed no differences in level of commitment for any of the variables investigated. Data revealed the majority of participants were unaware of OMI and had never attended a program and do not plan to in the future. Implications of this research may be useful to future investigators who are interested in the Perceptions of Commitment survey and those focusing on marriage education programs to meet the needs of targeted audiences.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of African Languages in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2003. / Nowadays marriage, especially the European civil marriage is considered as holiest-of holiest, as looked against the customary or traditional marriage. It is thus why Umtsimba-the traditional bridal party-is looked down upon. Indeed those who marry the customary way are considered as barbarians who know nothing, uneducated. This is because we have taken as respectable, the civil marriage-which according to the European culture as Christian marriage, and yet even that, is the same as the customary or traditional marriage because people marry one another. What appears, and which also is irrefutable truth, is that civil marriage IS In accordance with European culture religion which has been attached to European religion. Evidence of this is that the civil marriage, begins in court and, when divorce occurs, ends in court. What makes customary marriage to be looked down upon is that all African things are despised, yet there are no laws prohibiting that which is intrinsically traditional custom of the African people. CHAPTER ONE expresses the aims of this research, which also is what caused that it and all that has been done in this chapter, be written. Even the enthusiasm that caused the writing of this research, has been adequately displayed. The methods used to obtain suffident information concerning this research have also been thoroughly explained. CHAPTER TWO deals with the weather conditions, more especially that of Mphumalanga and Swaziland areas where most Swazis are found. A short story on the origins of the Swazis has also been given. The Christian faith as well as traditional religion. CHAPTER THREE concerns the different categories (in the social structure) so that different should be known between intfombi (maiden), makoti (young Wife), umlobokati (the betrothed), malukatane (daughter-in-law) and umfati (woman / Wife). The various designations have been given in years so that it can be easier to understand the differences relative their social development. CHAPTER FOUR deals deeply into all that relates to the Swazi umtsimba as it is. Falling in love / getting married of the umlobokati (the one who has been lobolwared), kuhlambisana kwetinkhomo (the reciprocal acknowledgement relationships by the families concerned) have been adequately explained. CHAPTER FIVE clearly explains what happens after the intfombi have been married. The lobola cattle have been explained as well as why lobola has to be paid. The kushiswa kwetinyongo (the burning of the gallbladders) winds up the whole umtsimba ceremony. CHAPTER SIX sums up the whole research exercise. Recommendations concerning this research show clearly what is commendable and should be maintained in order to preserve and keep the Swazi culture intact. The whole exercise stands on this that people must get back to their own customs, if culture, and let alone customs from foreign cultures. Let the people celebrate umtsimba because this is their way of getting married. = Kulamalanga lesiphila kuwo umshado ikakhulu Iona wesilumbi utsatfwa njengal<:mgcwelengcwele kunalona wesintfu. Kungako umtsimba sewunyembenywa nje. Vele labatekana ngendlela yesintfu batsatfwa njengemacaba langati lutfo. Ingani umshado wesilumbi lolisiko labo belumbi kepha lesesiwutsatsa ngekutsi uyinkholo, uhlonishwa kakhulu kube nanawo uyefana nalowesintfu ngobe kusuke kutekwana. Lokuvelako futsi lokulidniso lelingeke nani laphikiswa kutsi umshado wesilumbi ulisiko lesilumbi leleyanyiswe nenkholo yesilumbi. Bufakazi baloko kutsi umshado wesilumbi ucala enkantolo nanome sekwehlukanwa futsi uphelela khona. Lokwenta kutsi kutsatsana ngesintfu kubukelwe phansi kutsi vele tonkhe tintfo tesintfu tibukelwa phansi kantsi ayikho nemitsetfo levikela loku lokuyinsila yebantfu SEHLUKO SEKUCALA sibeka ebaleni inhloso yalolucwaningo. Lekungiko lekwenta kutsi kubhalwe lolucwaningo nako kuvetiwe kulesehluko. Inshisekelo lenta kutsi kubhalwe lolucwaningo nave ibhaliwe ngalokwanele. Tindlela lekusetjentiswe tona kute kutsi kutfolakale Iwati lolwanele ngalolucwaningo nato tibhaliwe ngalokuphelele. SEHLUKO SESIBIU sibuke simo selitulu ikakhulukati, sendzawo yaseMphumalanga naseSwatini lapho kutfolakala khona emaSwati lamanyenti. Umlandvo lomfisha ngemvelaphi yemaswati nawo uchaziwe. EmaSwati bantfu lebalandzela inkholo yebuKhristu nenkholo yesintfu. SEHLUKO SESITSATFU sicondzene netigaba tebantfu ngekwehlukana kwabo. Tigaba tehlukanisiwe kuze bawati umehluko lokhona emkhatsini wentfombi namakoti, umlobokati, malukatane kanye nemfati. Tigaba talabadvuna nato tichaziwe ngekwehlukana kwato. Tigaba tebantfwana tehlukanisiwe ngeminyaka khona kutewubalula kucondzisisa kahle umehluko. SEHLUKO SESINE sijule kakhulu emtsimbeni unjalo. Kugana kwemlobokati, kuhlabisana ngalokuphelele. wonkhe wesiSwati njengobe kwetinkhomo kuchaziwe SEHLUKO SESIHLANU seneka ebaleni lekwentekako nangabe intfombi seyitekiwe. Tinkhomo temalobolo tichaziwe kanye nekutsi kulotjolelwani. Kushiswa kwetinyongo kusonga wonkhe umtsimba kutsi sewuphelele. SEHLUKO SESITFUPHA sisonga wonkhe umsebenti welucwaningo sewuphelele. Tincomo ngalolucwaningo tikuveta ebaleni lekutusekako lekumele kutsi kulandzelwe kute kutsi emasiko esiSwati ahlale agcinekile. Lomsebenti wonkhe ume ekutseni bantfu ababuyele emasikweni abo bayekele emasiko ebantfu bekuchamuka. Bantfu ababuyele bagidze umtsimba wesintfu ngobe ngiyona ndlela yabo yekuteka umfati.

The present thesis has been designed to discuss how the minimum age for marriage has been determined in Islamic Fiqh with a focus on the case study of the Family Law No 36 of 2010 in Jordan. It is the contention of the present researcher that the marriage of minors cannot comply with the guidance of both the Holy Quran and Hadith because neither specified a clear cut minimum age for marriage. A considerable confusion exists among Muslim scholars regarding the determination of the minimum age for marriage leading to the prevalence of child marriage in some Muslim societies. This confusion has arisen when Muslim scholars have sought to derive the minimum age for marriage from de – contextualised verses of the Holy Quran and texts of the Hadith that refer to the physical and natural symptoms of puberty and encourage both young men and women to marry at an early age. In order to fully examine such a problematic issue, identify the root causes lying behind it and, hopefully make a contribution towards solving it, the present study has sought to jurisprudentially contextualise such an issue within the Islamic Fiqh. The researcher has argued that determining the appropriate age for marriage based on the original context of pertinent verses of the Holy Quran and texts of the Hadith as well as the international criteria for human rights is the sole legal guarantee that safeguards the right of women to express their full and free consent to marriage.

No description available.

China-Vietnam marriages attract increasing public attention in China and trigger many discussions on the phenomenon of “Vietnamese brides”. The discussions are often linked to the rapid modernization of the border areas since the 1990s, caused by the re-opening of the border, the prosperity of the transnational economy, and the increase of cross-border mobility between the two countries. However, modernity in the borderlands has been “compressed” and unsystematic, which has a major impact on cross-border marriages. This study, thus, is designed to examine how individuals in China-Vietnam marriages have gone through the situation of compressed modernity. A qualitative research paradigm was adopted to guide this study and twenty-nine Vietnamese brides were identified as key informants and interviewed carefully for data collection. The aim is not only to refute the popular discourses that see Vietnamese brides as “traditional”, “money-loving” and “ignorant” women, but also to present how they construct a modern self, reclaim and reshape their identities as “Vietnamese brides”, and create different life chances and spaces through their cross border marriage and mobility. Findings and analyses show that Vietnamese brides’ making of a modern self is a continuing disembedment and re-embedment process within which gender relations are re-negotiated, reshaped, and reproduced. In terms of their different social class and positions, they have resorted to different ideals of femininities to recreate their images and identities as “Vietnamese brides”. Useful tactics, such as making concessions, running away, or excelling, have been developed or strategically adopted by these women to claim their agency and subjectivity in intimate relationships. Importantly, the specific context of the China-Vietnam border has provided varied opportunities and resources for Vietnamese brides to go beyond the state’s regulations and constraints on citizenship and to experiment the alternatives. Through taking advantage of the situations of 乱(chaos) and the benefits of living in the space “inbetween”, Vietnamese brides have developed different transnational networks and practiced their maternal citizenship at these border zones. Modernity is the outcome of globally connected histories but with uneven consequences. Although individuals are all included in modernity, they are differently positioned within it. Thus modernity is not monolithic and it is experienced differently and has varied consequences for gendered and sexual relations in different parts of the world. This research on Vietnamese brides has engaged with current academic debates around modernity and intimacy, and the purpose is to reveal the increasing complexity and diversity of patterns of intimacy in compressed modernity. It provides a good empirical case to elucidate that even within a relatively small specific region of the borderlands, there is also a highly complex and fluid social system of compressed modernity. Vietnamese brides’ varying practices of intimacy not only question the Western-centric theorization of modernity but also indicate their different ways to participate in and engage with modernity. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This study compares results of the six major forms of marriage counseling: individual interview, individual group, concurrent interview, concurrent group, conjoint interview, and conjoint group. Data are from five different approaches in research methodology. The first, termed the Pilot Study, reviewed the outcome records of 773 former marriage counseling clients. The second, termed the Experimental Study, assigned 63 couples on a random basis, although balanced for severity, to the three most popular forms of marriage counseling: concurrent interview, conjoint interview, or conjoint group. It included a pre- to post-counseling test comparison involving the MMPI, CPI, Polyfactor Test for Marital Difficulties, and the Marital Adjustment Inventory. The third approach, the Quasi-Experimental Study, compared test results from two groups of couples with serious marital problems: the first group comprised seven couples who had been in three forms of counseling, while the second group included twenty-one couples who had been in only one form. The fourth approach, the Survey Study, used a questionnaire to measure reactions of 200 subjects who had just completed various forms of marriage counseling sessions. The fifth approach, the Poll Study, involved a mail survey of 209 former marriage counseling clients who had been terminated from varying forms of marriage counseling for from one to three years.

The aim of this research was to develop a psycho-educational program to form a framework for educational psychologists to promote and facilitate the mental health of women who are unhappy in their marriages. The assumption is made that a mentally healthy and happy mother exercises a great influence on the rest of her family. The circumstances in unhappy long-term marriages appear to be a stressful situation which is associated with much uncertainty and confusion. It seems that women in such a situation tend to withdraw in order to attempt to address their pain, confusion and uncertainty in isolation, without being effective in solving their problems. Affluent women’s mental health in the situation of a long-term, unhappy marriage seems to be characterized by a spectrum of unpleasant emotions, an identity crisis, an unhealthy dynamic in their relationship with their life partner and the use of a number of defence mechanisms to ease the pain. Lack of knowledge regarding the specific ways in which their marriage upsets them leads to misperceptions in women. Long-term unhappiness and uncertainty in isolation can also lead to mental disorders that may assume alarming proportions. Clinical disorders are definitely not excluded. / Prof. C.P.H. Myburgh

Chapter one of this thesis examines one of the largest primary school construction program, INPRES SD, in late 1970s in Indonesia. Using the variation across regions in the number of schools constructed and the variation across birth cohorts, I show that in densely populated areas, primary school construction did not affect primary school attainment rate. More surprisingly, the program decreased secondary school attainment rate for both men and women due to a crowding out of teacher resources. Chapter two of this thesis examines how education distribution affects the marriage market, in particular, female marriage age. I first develop a two-to-one dimensional matching model with transferable utility in an OLG framework, in which the marital surplus allows complementarity between men's education and both characteristics of women: education and youth, to understand how female marriage age is affected by others' education.I then use INPRES SD as a quasi-natural experiment and find that a woman marries earlier and the spousal age gap increases when fewer women in her birth cohort graduate from secondary school and the education distribution of their potential husbands does not change.The empirical finding suggests that men's education and women's young age are complementary in generating the marital surplus in the current setting. Chapter three of this thesis examines how hukou system affects the marriage market in China. I build a bidimensional matching model in which individuals are determined by a continuous attribute (that indicates social economic status) and a discrete attribute (hukou status, either rural or urban). Urban hukou is more valuable for men than women since it's more likely for a woman to move to her husband's location upon marriage in a patrilocal society. The model gives predictions on the matching patterns which are validated using the China 2000 0.095% sample census.

Wong, Tak Yuen. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 29-30). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.6 / Chapter 3 --- The Roommate Problem --- p.8 / Chapter 4 --- The Existence of Stable Matchings --- p.11 / Chapter 5 --- Random Paths to Stability --- p.22 / Chapter 6 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.28

Using the contemporary example of same-sex marriage, the author uses his first-hand experience as a Member of Parliament to examine the "dialogue" theory of Charter of Rights and Freedoms politics and decision-making role of legislators. The dialogue between courts, legislatures and Canadians is robust and having a significant impact on public policy in Canada. However, many of those in the legislature are either unaware or uninterested in this changing fact of Canadian policy making. This is particularly troubling given the power MPs have when voting in the House of Commons on an issue of equality rights in the House of Commons in a free vote - as was the case in the issue at the centre of this thesis, the issue of same-sex marriage.