The experience of arranging a marriage for a son / daughter with a LD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Parents experiences of arranging a marriage for a son or daughter with a learning disability (LD) within the south-Asian community (SAC) and staff experiences of working with such families when capacity to consent to marriage has been called into question.
IRAS ID
169174
Contact name
Najma Sultana
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham - Research governance
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 4 months, 25 days
Research summary
Arranging a marriage for a son or daughter within the SAC is traditionally, in part, seen as the role and duty of parents(Shaw & Carsley, 2006). Research suggests the experience of arranging a marriage for a son or daughter with a LD may be qualitatively different. For these parents, marriage seems to be a way to secure their child’s future in terms of continued care and in moving them towards living a ‘normal life’. These parents may also feel ostracised from their community as their son or daughter may not be seen as a viable suitor (Hussain, Atkin & Ahmad, 2002). It is not possible to deduce from the literature the impact these differing experiences may have on parents and how this knowledge could then inform clinical practice.
This research is also timely due to the emerging political discourse around forced marriages within the LD population, which will undoubtedly influence the pressures that clinicians face. Key public policy documents (i.e Clawson & Vallance, 2010) could be perceived as having a somewhat simplistic view of the clinical issues that professionals face. It is important to fully understand staff experiences, taking into account all of the complexities. For instance, little is understood about the experience of staff when there are concerns about the individual with a LD’s capacity to consent to marriage (O’ Hara & Martin, 2003; Summers & Jones, 2004).
Two groups of participants (Group 1 = parents, group 2 = staff) will be recruited through purposive and snowballing sampling methods from within NHS community teams for LD in the Birmingham area, alongside voluntary organisations within England.
This research will involve qualitative methodology, that is, semi-structured interviews analysed through the use of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to facilitate a rich understanding of their experiences, inorder to address the gaps in the literature.REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/WM/0196
Date of REC Opinion
10 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion