Abstract:
This research sought to explore parallel marriage ceremonies, the agents involved,
challenges and their effects on the marriage institution in Winneba in the Efutu
Municipality. A qualitative approach was used to provide a successful conduct of the
research given the complexity of the phenomenon under study. The research design
used for the study was case study. The targeted population for the study were married
people who performed parallel marriage ceremonies, adults who have reached their
marital age but are not married, parents, opinion leaders (pastors) and marriage
counsellors. In all, fifteen individuals were involved in the study. The purposive
sampling technique was used to select all the respondents that were involved in the
research work. A semi-structured interview guide was used for data collection. One of
the major findings was that although the Marriage Act 1884-1985, Cap. 127 is nicely
carved, it is still far from the people it was made for. That is, most of the respondents
did not know much about the Marriage Act 1884-1984, Cap. 127 and it demands. In
addition, the customary ceremony is seen as that which start the marriage process of
which the ordinance ceremony (wedding) is the climax. Findings also showed that
parallel marriage ceremonies are very expensive thereby discouraging young males
from getting married. The study recommends that the concept of marriage contraction
and the demands of the Marriage Act 1884-1985, Cap. 127 should be added to the
Senior High School curriculum to help educate the youth about the dynamics in the
marriage contraction and registration process.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Social Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences,
submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Social Studies)
in the University of Education, Winneba
