Existing literature and much of the research on marriage and family experiences have been largely and commonly problem-based and deficit-oriented. Even though some strength-focused approaches to the study of marriages and families have been undertaken and have gained momentum there is still much empirical work needed in order for us to understand the complexity and intricacies of what constitutes a quality marital relationship. In this qualitative research study, I analysed how quality of marriage is conceptualised and understood by Malays within a Malaysian context. I undertook the research in order to capture and understand how a cohort of Malay people understand and give meaning to the concept of 'good quality marital relationship'. Research studies on marital quality in Malay culture are very limited and numerically at least, they compare poorly to western scholarly output on this subject. Even though much contemporary marriage literature refers to the importance of gaining an appreciation of cultural issues related to marriage and family, there is a real need for more cross-cultural research. In examining Malay concepts of quality marriage I not only address a culturally-specific research need but attempt to use this to advance cultural sensitivity among relevant policy makers, practitioners, researchers and members of the public. In this research, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted in the Kubang Pasu district, in Kedah, one of the northern states of Malaysia with forty-five participants across different socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds. In what is an exploratory study I adopted a combination of maximum variation and purposive sampling and utilised a grounded theory framework to underpin the analysis. The data were analysed using both rigorous manual coding and NVivo qualitative software.

Afrikaans text / Suid-Afrika se samelewingstrukture beleef tans 'n grootskaalse morele aanslag wat manifesteer in verskeie patologiese verskynsels waarvan gebrekkige huweliksverhoudings een van die belangrikste vorm. Verwestersing word deur die literatuurbevindinge van die onderhawige studie uitgesonder as die enkele grootste oorsaak van disfunksionele huweliksverhoudings in swart geledere. Die Westerse kultuur het 'n uiteenlopende impak op swart mans en vrouens. Die vrou bevind haar as gevolg van verwestersing in In baie gunstiger posisiel terwyl die man vanwee verwestersing baie in terme van status en gesag prysgee. Dit is gevolglik verstaanbaar dat hy in In groot mate waarde bly heg aan die tradisionele kultuur wat hom bevoordeel het. Hierdie spanning tussen tradisionele en Westerse gebruike het tot gevolg dat man en vrou die huwelik met verskillende verwagtings betree. In terme van die fokus van die onderhawige studie het die vraag ontstaan of die swart persoon wat formele opleiding ondergaan in dieselfde mate die dilemma van kulturele verskeurdheid ondervind soos wat in tersaaklike literatuur voorgehou word. Hierdie studie handel spesifiek oor die invloed van Westerse en tradisionele inhoude op die huweliksverwagtings van die formeel opgeleide swart laat­ adolessent. By wyse van In empiriese ondersoek, aangevul deur literatuurgegewens, is bepaal in watter mate voorgenoemde diskrepansie by die formeel opgeleide swart laat-adolessent voorkom. Die volgende geld as die belangrikste bevindinge aangaande hierdie groep: • Hulle beskou hulself deurgaans as verwesters. • Die voltallige nukleere gesin word as die ideale gesinsvorm beskou. • Hulle is deurgaans begerig dat die ilobolotransaksie deel van die huweliksluiting vorm. • Die meerderheid verwerp die opsie om kinderloos in die huwelik te bly. • In hul verwagtings word 'n hoe prioriteit geplaas op kenmerke van die Westerse huwelik, naamlik + kommunikasie, + probleme wat onderling deur huweliksmaats bespreek word, + emosionele ondersteuning, + gelykheid en vennootskap in die huwelik, en + getrouheid in die huwelik. • Albei geslagte is genee om 'n huweliksvoorbereidingprogram byte woon. • Spesifieke potensiele huweliksprobleemareas het te make met + fisiese aanranding, + alkoholmisbruik, en + buite-egtelike verhoudings. Die stand van sake impliseer dat die formeel opgeleide swart laat-adolessent 'n eiesoortige huweliksvoorbereidingsprogram benodig wat hom/haar vir Westerse huwelikseise toerus, maar wat ook voorsiening maak vir tradisionele insprake wat steeds 'n appel tot hom/haar rig. / Societal structures in South Africa are currently experiencing a large-scale moral onslaught that is manifested in a variety of pathological phenomena - deficient marital relationships constitute one of the most important of these. Westernisation is singled out by the literature findings in this study as being the single most important cause of dysfunctional marital relationships among blacks. The Western culture has a quite dissimilar impact on black men and black women. Westernisation leads to the woman finding herself in a much more favourable position, while it demands from the black man an enormous sacrifice in terms of status and authority. He, understandably, remains to a large degree attached to the traditional culture that used to favour him. This tension between traditional and Western custom leads to men and women approaching marriage with divergent expectations. In terms of the focus of this study, the question arises as to whether the black person who has been formally trained experiences the dilemma of being culturally torn apart to the same extent as has emerged from the relevant literature on the subject. The present study deals specifically with the effect of Western and traditional contents on the marriage expectations of the formally trained black late adolescent. An empirical investigation, supplemented by data from the literature, has been used to determine the extent to which the already mentioned discrepancy occurs among formally trained black late adolescents. The following are the most important findings with regard to this group: • They generally consider themselves as being westernised. • The complete nuclear family is regarded as the ideal type of family. • They are generally keen to have the ilobolo transaction form part of the marriage contract. • The majority rejects the option of remaining childless in marriage. • In their expectations a high priority is given to the characteristics of the Western-type marriage, i.e. + communication, + problems being mutually discussed by marriage partners, + emotional support, + equality and partnership in marriage, and + faithfulness to the marriage partner. • Specific potential matrimonial problem areas concern + physical assault, + alcohol abuse, and + extramarital relationships. This state of affairs implies that the formally trained black late adolescent needs a unique marriage preparation programme that would equip him/her for the demands of a Western-type marriage, but that would also make provision for traditional demands that are still appealing to him/her. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Sielkundige Opvoedkunde)

Among other images, Scripture uses marriage as a picture of God's relationship to his people. Scripture also prescribes numerous ways for that people to build their relationship with him. In order to give Christian marriages as many tools as possible for bolstering of the relationship, this dissertation examines narrative, symbol, ritual, and memorials as a selection of Scripture's methods for "heart writing" or relationship building. These methods correspond to various uses of the Hebrew root zakhar, for "remember." Following the examination of Scripture's methods of "heart writing" through the use of narrative, symbol, and ritual, contemporary understandings of the physiological and neurological underpinnings for the deep internalization of relationship. The ideas presented in the first two chapters were explored in an empirical study which found that couples who utilize more narrative, symbols, rituals, and memorials in their marriages tend to also see their marriages as more sacred and experience the manifestation of God within the marriage. Groups were also compared on levels of physiological responsiveness (skin conductance, skin temperature, and interbeat interval) as a measure of emotional engagement during an interview that lead couples in discussion of narratives, symbols, and rituals in their marriages. Husbands in marriages that utilized few narratives, symbols, and rituals were the least emotionally responsive during the interview while wives in the same type of marriage were the most emotionally responsive. This dissertation concludes by translating some of the principles discovered into various methods of writing the marital relationship on the hearts of the individuals to build Christian marriages. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

Research Paper Submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial completion of the requirements for a Masters Degree (MA) in the field of Demography and Population Studies 2016 / Context: Various reforms that are approved by the law and are intended to foster gender equality have been established by eleven nations in the Southern African Development Community Region (SADC). However, irrespective of the efforts exercised to eliminate practices that inhibit females from being able to attain their human rights, early marriage remains to be one of the discriminatory traditional practices which occur under harmful customary laws and societal norms in a number of SADC nations. The practice of early marriage violates international human rights laws that are aimed at fostering gender equality, in particular, those of females. In addition, early marriage poses a serious threat to the health and social standing of females which often results in females being politically and financially subordinated in relation to their male counterparts as well as being subjected to sexual abuse and control by males. Despite several strategies that have been established by the Mozambican government that intend to improve education and employment as well as decrease the levels of impoverishment, gender inequality is still a predominant phenomenon that leaves females being the most marginalised in relation to males, in all sociocultural, political and financial domains. This research study sought to explore whether demographic and socioeconomic characteristics including region of residence, current age of the respondent, educational level, religious affiliation, type of place of residence, and wealth status are influential on age at first marriage. Methods: This study utilised secondary statistics acquired from the 2011 Mozambique Demographic and Health Survey. The 2011 Mozambique Demographic and Health Survey is a survey that includes a sample of 13 745 females who are between the ages 15-49 years old. The sample of respondents consisted of females who have been or are in a marital union of childbearing ages 15-49. Due to the event of interest being marriage, only 10893 females were or had been in a marital union while the remaining 2852 had never been in a union. Thus the analytic sample size utilised in this study was 10893 and the remaining 2852 cases were simply right censored. The outcome variable was age at first marriage and the predictors were the respondent’s current age, region of residence, educational level, religious affiliation, type of place of residence and wealth status. A Cox Proportional Hazard Regression model was employed in order to analyse the time of first entry into a marital union, systematically. The data analysis was done in three phases. The first phase included descriptive analyses of the variables utilised in the study through a series of frequency tables and discussions. The second stage included Kaplan-Meier graphs which were used to estimate levels of age at first marriage. The third stage included an unadjusted (bivariate) and adjusted (multivariate) Cox Regression model which was employed to determine characteristics that had an influence on age of first marriage. Results: Hazard ratios shown in the multivariate Cox Proportional Hazard Regression model showed that the respondent’s age, level of education and region of residence are significant predictors of age at first marriage among females in Mozambique. These associations indicated that early marriage is highest in Mozambique’s northern regions with females residing in Manica exhibiting a 19% increased hazard ratio of exposure to early marriage, followed by females residing in Cabo Delgado who exhibit an 11% increased hazard ratio of exposure to early marriage. The lowest rates of early marriage were found in Mozambique’s southern regions with females residing in Maputo exhibiting a 20% lower risk of exposure to early marriage, followed by females residing in Gaza who exhibit a 14% lower risk of exposure to early marriage and this can be attributed to cultural and societal differences. Early age of marriage is highest among females in the 15-19 year age groups and early age of marriage starts to decrease with an in increase in the female’s age. This is evident from the presented hazard ratios which indicated that females aged 45-49 exhibited a 73% lower risk of exposure to early marriage, followed by females aged 40-44 who exhibited a 71% lower risk of exposure to early marriage and females aged 35-39 who exhibited a 70% lower risk, in relation to the younger-aged females. Furthermore, the more education a female attains, the more her age of marriage increases. This is evident from the results as they show that females with a primary education have a 5% higher hazard ratio of exposure to early marriage while females with a secondary education have a 21% reduced hazard ratio of exposure, followed by females with a tertiary education who have a 46% reduced hazard ratio of exposure to early marriage. Conclusion: The overall inference drawn from this study was that early marriage is a pervasive phenomenon that is still carried out in the northern regions of Mozambique and is particularly prevalent among young females aged 15-19 who have a primary or no education. Results demonstrated that a number of inequalities exist in the country and these inequalities are not only exclusive between males and females but also exist among young females themselves, particularly those who reside in the rural regions of Mozambique and this is due to the different lifestyles led in the rural and urban areas. Furthermore, the results showed that customary laws of marriage that have been imposed by traditional authorities specifically among citizens living in the rural areas of Mozambique are not aligned with the main civil laws that have been implemented by the Mozambican government and made rigid in order to foster gender equality and improve the situation of women. This thus suggests that there are inconsistencies in the laws and thus they do not sufficiently protect young females from entry into early marriages. Thus, the Mozambican government needs to scale up strategies that will be beneficial in eradicating the practice of early marriage. / MT2017

Historians have long connected the emergence of the early modern state with increased efforts to discipline populations. Allying with religious authorities to monitor private lives, states sought to limit sexual activity to marriage and to support patriarchal authority in order to create orderly societies and obedient subjects. Governments legitimated their increased intrusions into people's lives by arguing that it was their responsibility to bring about moral reformation in their subjects, but their new interest was also rooted in achieving more direct control over individuals for the purposes of preventing crime and disorder, rationalizing tax collection, eliminating legal pluralities, and inculcating military discipline. This dissertation argues that the same motives that informed the policies of emerging states in this period lay at the heart of the Dutch West India Company's marriage regulation during its brief existence from 1621 to 1674. Company representatives sought to institute and enforce strict marriage discipline upon their colonists, soldiers, sailors, conquered subjects, and indigenous allies in order to transform them into proper subjects and to extend Company governance over vast, new territories. Like the centralizing states of the early modern period that justified their increased power by arguing that they were reforming their subjects, the West India Company responded to potential critics of their state-like power and their sovereign authority with the same rationale. Company efforts to regulate marriage and sex were, however, challenged by the existence of overlapping jurisdictions emerging both from the Dutch Republic's own tradition of legal plurality and from the existing institutions of conquered European populations and indigenous allies. Whereas emerging absolutist states were able to either gain the cooperation of or eliminate institutions with competing claims to authority, examining the conflicts over marriage regulation in the Dutch colonies shows that the West India Company failed in its efforts to tame competing institutions and bring them under its authority. Looking at the Company's governance through the lens of its marriage and sex regulation, therefore, upends traditional understandings of the Company as a trading enterprise and suggests that its directors were engaged in the process of state formation. It also suggests a novel way to understand the Company's repeated setbacks and ultimate failure in 1674. Despite its claims to absolute authority and its efforts to negotiate and secure this authority, competing institutions never acquiesced to Company jurisdiction.

Aim: The practice of virginity testing was done from the early twentieth century in KwaZulu-Natal. Many regard virginity testing as the only way to revitalize what they view as lost cultural values. The aim of the study is to understand the reasons for undergoing virginity testing from the perspective of adolescent girls and boys. The study will explore the importance attached to virginity testing by adolescent girls and boys. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This study investigates the trends. modifications and motivations of ukuhlolwa kwezilllombi (virginity testing) among the Zulu in KwaMashu district of Kwa Zulu Natal. The study reveals that:- • Ukuhlolwa kwezillfombi has been historically regarded as a vital social tool to bring pride to the virgin girl, the parents and the community as a whole. • The big motive was to receive the full lobola especially uikomo kamama (the eleventh cow). Urbanization, industrialization, acculturation, education and religious beliefs led ukuhlolwa kwezintombi to its near demise in twenty years ago. • In recent years its resurgence has been noticed in most areas of Kwa Zulu Natal and townships to fight against women abuses, teenage pregnancies and HIV/Aids . • It is met with a variety of views and emotions with others considering it as valuable while others consider it outdated and irrelevant. • Virginity testing is regarded as a custom of cultural value and the country is in the process of African Renaissance. • Regarding the mY/Aids catastrophe, one can count on 'True Love Waits ' and virginity testing as means of prevention. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-63).

Vollst. zugl.: Jena, Univ., Diss., 2003

Thesis (Doctorat nouveau régime en histoire)--Université des sciences humaines de Strasbourg, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [669)-760).