CHILD MARRIAGE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE UNITED STATES, AFGHANISTAN, AND INDIA AS EXPLAINED IN UNITED STATES NEWSPRINT MEDIA WITH REGARD TO LAW, RELIGION, AND CULTURE

Child marriage is a bitter truth that affects the lives of many children around the world. This practice changes children’s lives socially, economically, and mentally. Experiences of child marriage differ across geographic regions and vary based on many social factors including, but not limited to: law, religion and culture. While many researchers examine the causes and consequences of child marriage, the present study aims to explore media portrayal of explanations for child marriage as related to law, religion, and culture in three specific geographic regions: The United States (U.S.), Afghanistan, and India. I used qualitative content analysis to examine three major newspapers published in the United States for how they explain child marriage in each country selected. Findings suggest the practice of child marriage is most heavily explained around policy and legislation for United States, religiosity in Afghanistan, and culture—specifically the culture of poverty in India. Ultimately, the general public garners much of its information from newsprint media and, thus, this research has important implications for why and how the phenomena of child marriage is able to continue based on perceptions of the issue.