Social norms and child marriage in Cameroon: An application of the theory of normative spectrum

Abstract

This paper reports on a qualitative study on social norms and child marriage in rural Cameroon, a country with high prevalence of child marriage but largely ignored in the literature. Study participants (n = 80) were men and women from four different ethnic groups living in four rural villages (two in the Far-North, two in the East). With the assistance of four local interviewers, we conducted 16 semi-structured focus groups to understand how existing social norms contributed to child marriage in participants' communities. We found great variety in the influence of social norms on people's health-related practices: across these four communities, social norms made compliance with the child marriage practice (respectively) possible, tolerated, appropriate, and obligatory. Effective health promotion interventions should be grounded within sound theoretical understandings of the varying influence of social norms. Using data on child marriage, this paper offers a case study of how that understanding can be developed.

Social normative and social network factors associated with adolescent pregnancy: a cross-sectional study of 176 villages in rural Honduras

“…This contrasts with cultural contexts such as India or other regions of Sub-Saharan Africa where adolescent childbearing is the result of marriages that have been arranged by parents to protect family honor [31]. In the former, descriptive norms could be considered the primary driving force behind adolescent pregnancy outcomes, with adolescent girls making decisions based on what they see is acceptable in their communities, whereas in the latter, injunctive norms may matter more, with parents making marriage decisions for adolescent girls based on their own perceptions of societal expectations [31,32].…”

Mapping the patchwork: Exploring the subnational heterogeneity of child marriage in India

“…Research from around the world has revealed a complex nexus of factors that contribute to this practice ( Bicchieri, Jiang, & Lindemans, 2014 ; Fenn, Edmeades, Lantos, & Onovo, 2015 ; Islam, Haque, & Hossain, 2016 ; UNICEF-UNFPA, 2019 ). While poverty and educational status are strongly associated with child marriage, in many parts of South Asia and Africa, child marriage is encouraged through cultural traditions that dictate gender-discriminatory norms rooted in patriarchal values and ideologies ( Shakya et al, 2018 ; Cislaghi et al, 2019b ). Research from India and Niger suggests that girls who marry young are less likely to have a say in the choice of who they marry ( Shakya et al, 2020 ; Santhya et al., 2010 ), and that in areas with low levels of gender equality, the age of marriage tends to be lower ( Desai & Andrist, 2010 ).…”

Associations between village-level norms on marital age and marital choice outcomes among adolescent wives in rural Niger

“…Norms and marital choice measures were developed for this study, often adapted from prior work from our team, who include social and behavioral science experts on these topics and the study of measurement. These measures were built on deep conceptual understanding and prior testing in other national contexts both in the case of social norms and marital choice ( Cislaghi et al, 2019 ; Mackie et al, 2014 ; Raj et al, 2014 ), as well as expert and field input on the questions prior to field testing them via cognitive interviews. We then implemented them in the field.…”

“…(B. Cislaghi et al, 2019 ; Holly B Shakya et al, 2018 ). We know of no research that has focused on this issue in Niger, which has the highest rate of girl child marriage in the world ( Keeley & Little, 2017 ).…”