A Social Norms Analysis of Religious Drivers of Child Marriage

"...expect this analysis to be particularly helpful for those doing a context analysis of the intersecting factors leading to child marriage in a country context with a view to planning for implementation of a program or project that engages faith actors to reduce child marriage."

Faith actors are both a force in perpetuating child marriage and a key potential ally for discouraging the harmful practice. The diagram and descriptions presented in this article bring together learning from social norms theory and religions and development research to create a framework that can be used in context analysis for interventions with faith actors on child marriage. The analysis emerges from work undertaken for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)'s Global Initiative on Faith and Positive Change for Children, Families, and Communities (FPCC).

In the context of the larger FPCC project, this analysis is operationalised in a process called Mind-Heart Dialogue that uses participatory methods to help faith and development actors understand the root causes of religiously influenced harmful social norms in their communities. The framework outlined in this article can be used in conjunction with the FPCC Program Guidance, which outlines a programme cycle with a series of key intervention points for improved religious engagement in social and behaviour change (SBC) work.

The article is based on a review of 28 purposively selected programme reports, policy briefs, and academic articles on child marriage and religious and traditional influences and, as such, is a review and synthesis of major work in this area. It builds on social norms theory and research, research on child marriage and social norms, the ACT framework (see Related Summaries, below), UNICEF's working definitions of social norms, and UNICEF technical guidance on tackling social norms in SBC programming. The researchers identify 4 areas around which the behavioural drivers can be grouped for greater conceptual clarity and to inform appropriate SBC approaches:

1. Access to information: the drivers related to inadequate education and awareness about the consequences of child marriage on children.
2. Descriptive norms: "operationalized as perceptions about what other people do".
3. Injunctive norms: "operationalized as beliefs about what others approve of or think people should do".
4. Sanctions and benefits/outcome expectancies: "perceived social benefits and sanctions for enacting a particular behavior".

The figure below (where RL stands for religious leader and CM stands for child marriage) shows the main social and behavioural drivers of child marriage related to religions, according to the associated drivers and level(s) of influence (individual, family, faith community, wider community, and society). The rationale: A vital first stage in conducting a social and behavioural change intervention with faith actors is to properly understand the drivers behind the behaviours, understanding that the religious aspect of these drivers may be complexly interwoven with other social, cultural, political, and economic aspects. While each of the drivers and levels are presented separately, they are closely and complexly interrelated.

The article provides descriptions of the social and behavioural drivers of child marriage related to religion, as outlined in the diagram. In summary:

• Inadequate access to information across all levels of society: Parents, girls to become child brides, boys to become husbands, family and community members, and the wider society, in some cases, have not been exposed to information or helped to consider the harmful repercussions of child marriage. Access to information is often connected to faith actors. However, even if they are seen to be an important source of information, religious leaders may be unaware of the multiple repercussions for girls who enter child marriage and the related seriousness of the situation. Moreover, sex is often avoided as a subject of conversation, so topics related to early pregnancy and/or child marriage are taboo.
• Descriptive norms: On the family level, automatic decisions for child marriage may be based on the perception that it is a predominant practice in the reference network ("people that matter to us", which can include a faith community network). Publicising intent or commitment to change within a faith community network would be a key step in social norms programming to demystify wrong assumptions. However, efforts to end child marriage can be interpreted by some faith actors as intending to undermine a religion or a culture. Such characterisations can make communities, especially those who equate traditional practices with religious ones, more resistant to social change.
• Injunctive norms: Religious leaders and other faith actors may feel a sincere religious obligation, upheld by their interpretations of religious teachings, to support (any type of) marriage because they believe that it is an important part of the congregants' religious lives.
• Sanctions and benefits: Religious leaders can have personal interests in maintaining their influence, income, and respect. According to many religious traditions, religious leaders are specially ordained with an exclusive power concerning the religious rite of marriage. Religious institutions and religious leaders can decide to perform child marriages for their own or others' financial gain in times of scarcity. Also, legislation can be inadequate in terms of who is punishable, at what age girls and boys can legally marry, and what the sanctions are for those who are involved in the marriage.

The framework has been created particularly for design and planning stages of interventions, when processes including formative research and context analysis may be ongoing to understand the landscape and identify which entry points and which types of intervention will be most impactful. For example, information from formative research could demonstrate that religious leaders are performing child marriage ceremonies both because of their role as the leader of the religious community with the expectation they perform all marriage ceremonies and because they receive a financial benefit for performing ceremonies. Therefore, the intervention design needs to address both aspects in its engagement with religious communities. The framework seeks both to demonstrate the complexity of religious engagement (e.g., interventions with aspects of religious engagement need to be tailored to the context) while also providing guidance to practitioners as they navigate this complexity within the structure of social norms. (The framework can also help identify the times in which religion is not an influential aspect of child marriage.)

In conclusion: "Working with faith actors on social and behavior change work across child well-being areas means building long-term and non-instrumentalizing relationships. With reference to deeply rooted and complex social norms, such as child marriage, any strategy to engage faith actors requires long-term commitment and a deep understanding of the religious dynamics in that context. Research and analysis are key to understanding the complexity of religious dynamics in a community. This framework can aid practical analysis of the religious drivers of child marriage to further and deepen practitioners’ understanding."