Why do many British families of South Asian background prefer arranged marriages?

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

6 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

03/18/2009

Category :

Social studies

Sub category :

Sociology

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Summary :

Introduction
Observing Sikh families in Punjab
The relationship between affinal links and household economics
The arrangement of marriage
Arranged marriages amongst Gujarati Prajapratis: Clan exogamous and caste endogamous
The preference for arranged endogamous marriages and its' economical connotations
Honor and the religious attitudes of the female when it comes to spouse selection
The reservation of honor for women
Conclusion
Bibliography

Abstract

The tradition of arranged marriages was practiced by kinship groups in the south asian sub-continent centuries before migration to Britain took place during the 1950's. Initially, migrants came to Britain to earn wages (Shaw; 2000;13), However, the tradition of arranged marriages has remained popular amongst south asian settlers. Anthropologists have argued arranged marriages in Britain are an economic arrangement between two families whilst others have stressed it is a custom that preserves family honor. Ballard (1972) has gone as far as advocating that the ritual demonstrates a families resistance to assimilating Anglican values and thus reinforces cultural identity. Alison Shaw's (2000;3) ethnography on Pakistani Kinship in Oxford tries to illustrate that at present, south asian families adjust to the structural and cultural resources of the host country at their disposal towards building and re-shaping their lives in Britain on their own terms.