Agency and Wellbeing in the Context of Early Marriage: a Qualitative Inquiry Into the Northern Nigerian Context
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AGENCY AND WELLBEING IN THE CONTEXT OF EARLY MARRIAGE: A QUALITATIVE INQUIRY INTO THE NORTHERN NIGERIAN CONTEXT. DOOSUUR ZASHA A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy QUEEN MARGARET UNIVERSITY 2018 Abstract. According to the literature, early marriage remains a problem due to the limitations it places on the educational and economic opportunities of the young girls involved, as well as the variety of health complications they suffer as a result of this. Although early marriage is prevalent in Nigeria, regional differences indicate the northern part of the country as having a higher percentage of girls who marry before the age of 18 compared to the south. Most research and advocacy efforts, as well as related programmes and policies, rightfully focus on the prevention of early marriage but neglect the adolescent girls who are already married. This study focuses on the lives of young married girls, highlighting the process through which they get married as told from their own perspective, and explores their accounts of life after marriage particularly illuminating their health needs and overall wellbeing. Using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions participatory techniques, and participant observations, 24 young married girls between the ages of 15-25 from Nasarawa state in Nigeria, were recruited for this study, adopting a mixture of principles borrowed from ethnography and grounded theory. The analysis highlights the personal agency exercised by some of the girls in their decisions to get married but also demonstrates how said agency is constrained by the context in which it is exercised. Analysis further reveals the underlying influences behind the constructions of health and illness held by young girls and explores ways in which they primarily seek to address their health and wellbeing. The accounts of these girls also point to strong associations between their wellbeing, economic factors, relationships and experiencing self-worth. This dissertation will contribute to knowledge around early marriage in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa and highlight nuances around the decision- making process at the time of marriage. It also offers insights as to how young girls construct wellbeing in the context of marriage hereby contributing to knowledge around wellbeing in poorer populations in Nigeria and arguably, similar African contexts. Key words: Early marriage, agency, health, wellbeing. i Declaration I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree of the university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text. ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I give all thanks to God for the immense grace, strength and wisdom given me to write and complete this PhD. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor’s Dr Bregje de Kok and Dr Carola Eyber for their unwavering support, apt guidance and incredible patience during the course of this writing this thesis. Their critical feedback on developing chapters was crucial to the completion of this thesis as it helped to hone my overall focus and improve my skills as a researcher. I will always be grateful for this. My thanks also go to Ms Dolly McCann, a former member of my supervisory team, who began this process with me but was not able to be a part of the finished work. My thanks for her support and encouragement. I sincerely appreciate Ms Fiona O’May of the School of Health Sciences at Queen Margaret University for the all the help in going through the PhD draft. I am truly grateful for the time invested in helping me get to this stage. To all the staff (former and present) of the Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD) at QMU, thanks for the support and encouragement particularly Janice Burr, Oonagh O’Brien and Dr Ijeoma Edoka. I also acknowledge my colleagues for providing support during this process. These include Ninah, Justine, Suspawan, Dr Blessings Kachale, Eddy, Mr Simon Onwe, Dr Isa, Dr Nicole, Dr Osaye Agbonaye, Dr Fatima, Dr Usar and Dr Aisha Giwa. Special thanks to my parents, Dr and Mrs. James Zasha for their immense love, support and prayers. I am beyond grateful to have parents like you. Thanks to my amazing siblings Terkuma, Terfa, Mimi, Bem, Ngutor and friends in Nigeria for the support and phone calls that made all the difference in the world. Thanks, Temi, Chidinma, Joy Igbe, Wamdzu, Bernice, Ene, Ruth Abayomi, Kelechi, Enuwa Idoko, John Ako, Anaja, Pastor O.J and Talatu Dickson and the Vessels. Thanks to my nephew, Akuma and nieces, Shiena and Surrshater for continuing to make me smile. iii Thanks to Pastor Glenn & Pastor Terri-Ann Rogers, as well as my Hope Church family for all the support. I must also acknowledge Santander for the Research Grant Fund as well as the Existing Student Scholarship which contributed to costs of completing this thesis. iv Table of Contents Abstract. ................................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... viii Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................................. ix CHAPTER 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 1.0 Focus of the chapter ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Aim and Research Questions. ............................................................................................ 5 1.1.1 Aim ......................................................................................................................... 5 1.1.2 Research Questions. ................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Outline of thesis. ............................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER 2: Literature review. ........................................................................................... 10 2.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 10 2.1 Literature Review in GT studies: Contentions, consensus and justification............................ 10 2.2 Early marriage, child marriage or forced marriage? Defining and adopting a terminology. ...... 14 2.3 Global View of Early marriage. ....................................................................................... 18 2.3.1 Legal Context of Early marriage: International and National frameworks. ...................... 21 2.3.2 Economic reasons for early marriage ......................................................................... 30 2.3.3 Socio-Cultural context of early marriage .................................................................... 32 2.3.4 Consequences of early marriage. ............................................................................... 38 2.4 Early marriage in Northern Nigeria. ................................................................................. 39 2.4.1 Legal context in Northern Nigeria. ............................................................................. 40 2.4.2 Islamic Law in Northern Nigeria. .............................................................................. 41 2.5 Understanding early marriage though gender and intersectionality theory. ............................ 42 2.6 Theoretical Perspectives of Health and illness ................................................................... 45 2.6.1 Health and Illness .................................................................................................... 47 2.7 Theoretical perspectives on wellbeing. ............................................................................. 52 2.8 Conceptualising Agency. ................................................................................................ 59 2.8.1 Beyond agency and Resistance .................................................................................. 63 2.8.2 Agency and wellbeing .............................................................................................. 64 2. 9 Structuration theory: A marriage of agency and structure. .................................................. 65 2.10 Current Landscape of Early marriage and its place of this thesis. ....................................... 68 CHAPTER 3: Background .................................................................................................... 74 3.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 74 3.1 Background and History of Nigeria. ................................................................................