Journal of Social Work Research

Typology of child marriage in girls with early marriage experience, Case study, Mashhad city

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

tahereh rahimpoorazghady

Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Teachings, Faculty of Islamic Theology, Ferdowsi University of Ma shhad, Mashhad, Iran

10.22054/rjsw.2026.89748.855
Abstract
The present study aimed to explore the contexts and experiences of child-married girls from a psychological, social, and structural perspective, using a qualitative method and content analysis. The participants included 30 girls who had experienced marriage before the age of 18 and had gone to court to obtain a court order.These individuals were selected through purposive and snowball sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. The findings showed that early marriage is shaped by factors such as economic poverty, family traditionalism, structural pressures, weak emotional relationships, and immature emotional or cognitive motivations.Also, in this study, five types of child marriage were identified: family-avoiding, traditional and passive, emotional and sentimental, purposeful but immature, and structural-coercive. These types reflect the complexity and diversity of the social and cultural contexts affecting the phenomenon of child marriage.The findings emphasize the need for typology-based policymaking, strengthening girls' agency, and reforming cultural perspectives on marriage and girls' development.

Keywords

Child marriage
growth order
content analysis
marriage motivation
social typology
Subjects

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