Arranged Marriage Research Articles

The Significance and Dynamics of the Marriages of Imperial Princes in the Political Plans of the Hongwu Emperor

AbstractThe Hongwu emperor’s marriage arrangements between members of the noblity and his own children, particularly the imperial princes, are widely recognized as efforts to centralize imperial power. On the other hand, a rivalry for power has been assumed between the nobles and imperial princes. Some scholars even suggested that the ruler intended to first affiliate with the nobles and then to eliminate them. This essay first explains that the significance of these marriages lay in the reproduction and sustainability of the system of princedoms, which Hongwu held in high regard. Then through an extensive analysis of the development of the system of princedoms and the marriages involved, a comparison between the marriages of the princes and princesses, and a study of the fates of purged in-laws, this essay demonstrates that Hongwu’s marriage arrangements for the princes were crucial to his institutional and political designs for the empire.

The Dowry as a Crime in Disguise of Gifts: Evidences from Sadar and Faridganj Upazilla of Chandpur District

Dowry is a despicable affliction in society. The social evil has become a barrier for women in everysphere of life. The culture of dowry can be found not only in sub-continent but also in Europe, China,The United States, and also in African countries. A Dowry means the transfer of property by the brideor her family to the groom as an arrangement of marriage. When a bride or her family pays money orany other movable or immovable property, it is called dowry, which is also known as the bride pricein the sub-continent. Though the dowry is most common in the rural area, it cannot be said that it isabsent in cities. Instead, it is used as a disguise of gifts in women's marriage where the parents of themarriageable woman are bound to give dowry as a gift to the groom. This anathematization of dowryis increasing day by day in society. Social problems like child marriage, physical and mental abuse tothe women, divorce and even killing of women are the consequences of dowry. The government ofBangladesh has taken significant steps to eradicate this practice. The punishment for dowry-relatedcrimes is severe, which has been amalgamated in the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1980. The mostimportant step is to create consciousness among people, especially in the rural areas, to stop thepractice of dowry from the society. This study will help the practice and people of the society to goforward to abate the dowry practice.

'A most complex marriage arrangement': recent advances on heterostyly and unresolved questions.

Heterostylous genetic polymorphisms provide paradigmatic systems for investigating adaptation and natural selection. Populations are usually comprised of two (distyly) or three (tristyly) mating types, maintained by negative frequency-dependent selection resulting from disassortative mating. Theory predicts this mating system should result in equal style-morph ratios (isoplethy) at equilibrium. Here, I review recent advances on heterostyly, focusing on examples challenging stereotypical depictions of the polymorphism and unresolved questions. Comparative analyses indicate multiple origins of heterostyly, often within lineages. Ecological studies demonstrate that structural components of heterostyly are adaptations improving the proficiency of animal-mediated cross-pollination and reducing pollen wastage. Both neutral and selective processes cause deviations from isoplethy in heterostylous populations, and, under some ecological and demographic conditions, cause breakdown of the polymorphism, resulting in either the evolution of autogamy and mixed mating, or transitions to alternative outcrossing systems, including dioecy. Earlier ideas on the genetic architecture of the S-locus supergene governing distyly have recently been overturned by discovery that the dominant S-haplotype is a hemizygous region absent from the s-haplotype. Ecological, phylogenetic and molecular genetic data have validated some features of theoretical models on the selection of the polymorphism. Although heterostyly is the best-understood floral polymorphism in angiosperms, many unanswered questions remain.

Immigrant Feminine Sensibility In Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Arranged Marriage

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, a writer who immigrated to the USA from a Postcolonial Indian background. Her works are largely set in India and the United States and often focuses on the experiences of South Asian women immigrants. Divakaruni’s immigrant characters analyze the tension between postcolonial origins and an adjustment in new country. Arranged Marriage is Divakaruni’s debut collection of short stories. The collection has eleven short stories and majority of the stories deal with the immigrant experience along with the social cultural encounter that an Indian women experience when she moves towards west. Arranged Marriage includes stories about the abuse and courage of immigrant women. Divakaruni skillfully tells stories about immigrant women struggling to shape out an identity of their own in an unknown land.

Migration, Labor Mobility and Household Poverty in Nigeria: A Gender Analysis

The increase in the geographical mobility of labour as a result of poverty, unemployment and unstable economic conditions, among other factors, especially among professionals, has been associated with a brain drain in Nigeria. Despite the high level of migration and subsequent remittances from migrants, a large proportion of Nigerians still live in poverty. The increased participation of women in migration in the country also brings to the fore the existence of gender-specific migration experiences and how this has in turn affected their households. Based on gender, this study assesses the extent of labour mobility, its determinants and how it influences remittance inflows and household poverty using the logit regression model Propensity Score Matching and Linear Regression with Endogenous Treatment Effect Approach. Results reveal that while more males travelled for employment purposes, more females travelled due to marriage arrangements. More of the migrants that were working after migration had worked before migration and had the highest average amount of remittance sent to households. The study shows that labour mobility increases the amount of remittance sent to households. However, the increase was higher among male migrants than female migrants. More than half of the migrants had poor households; meanwhile, labour mobility was found to reduce the extent of poverty. The study recommended that policies that improve the welfare of labour and reduce the brain drain, unemployment and closures of enterprises in the country should be put in place. Also, effective policies and interventions that promote the use of remittances to achieve maximum reductions in poverty should be pursued.

Socio-Economic Status of Dalits Community in Sindhuli District

This study is based on Kamalamai Municipality, Sindhuli District. There are 56 households of Dalit (Damai 29 and Kami 27) in this area. The census method was used in the study where, total population is 365 from 56 households. Among them, 172 were male and 193 were female. The general objectives of this study are to identify demographic and socio-economic status of Dalits and to find out causes of deprivation of Dalits people in the community. They worked as agricultural labour and service work. Their income is less than their expenditure. Most of them are uneducated but nowadays, the level of education has increased so that their children go to school and college. Only 39 percent were literate and only 7 percent Dalits have passed SLC and +2. They give priority on arrange marriage. Youth generation doesn't like the traditional occupation and skills. They use a lot of alcohol (Jaad and Raski) in the festivals and rituals ceremony however the economic condition of Dalit is poor so many children of them are forced to dropout from schools because their parents cannot afford their education fees. The social status of the females in the Dalit community is very low than the males in the society. After the father's death all the properties is transferred to the son. The main causes for degrading status of Dalits are due to poverty, lack of education and lack of social awareness. So far, there have not been any kinds of policies and plans to uplift the Dalit community in this area.

Hemoglobinopathies in the North of Morocco: Consanguinity Pilot Study.

Consanguinity is a social behavior characterized by the arrangement of marriages between relatives. It coincides generally with the geographic distribution of recessive genetic diseases as it increases the likelihood of homozygosis and, consequently, the incidence of their pathologies in the population. In this pilot study, we assess the effect of inbreeding on the burden of hemoglobinopathies in Northern Morocco. From January 2016 to December 2018, 197 children born in the studied region to three ancestral generations and diagnosed with hemoglobinopathies were subject to investigation. The rate of consanguinity in the parents' generation of children with hemoglobinopathies was 50.25%, with first cousin marriages accounting for 68.69% of consanguineous unions (FI = 0.02). The corresponding rates in the general population, based on a sample of N = 900, were 29.67% and 82.02%, respectively. The marriages between first cousins are the most common among the other types of consanguineous unions. Our study propounds that consanguinity substantially contributes to the hemoglobinopathy burden in the studied region and has changed little over time. Refraining from consanguineous marriages and detecting couples at risk could contribute to the reduction of the incidence of genetic diseases in our country.

Intimate partner violence against women living with and without HIV, and the associated factors in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia: A comparative cross-sectional study.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to measure the prevalence and associated factors of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) among women living with and without HIV in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia.MethodsA comparative cross-sectional study design was used to interview the 816 women between 18–49 years of age (408 = HIV positive, 408 = HIV negative). Using a multistage sampling technique, participants were recruited from nine health facilities based on probability proportional to the number of clients. After data entry (EpiData version 4.4.2.0) the data were exported to STATA/SE 15 software. Binary and multivariable logistic regression analysis were undertaken and the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) are presented.ResultsThe lifetime prevalence of IPV among all women was 59.7%, [95% CI: 56.31%-63.05%]. IPV was slightly higher among women living with HIV, 250(61.3%), than those who were HIV negative, 238(58.1%). Lifetime prevalence of emotional violence 413(50.6%), physical violence 349(42.8%), sexual violence 219(26.8%), and controlling behaviours by husbands/partners 489(59.9%) were reported. Associations were found between IPV and controlling behaviour of husband/partner [AOR = 8.13; 95% CI: 4.93–13.42],income [AOR = 3.97; 95% CI:1.81–8.72], bride price payment [AOR = 3.46; 95% CI:1.74–6.87], women’s decision to refuse sex [AOR = 2.99; 95% CI: 1.39–6.41],age group of women [AOR = 2.86; 95% CI:1.67–4.90], partner’s family choosing wife [AOR = 2.83; 95% CI:1.70–4.69], alcohol consumption by partner [AOR = 2.36;95% CI:1.36–4.10], number of sexual partners [AOR = 2.35; 95% CI:1.36–4.09], and if partner ever physically fought with another man [AOR = 1.83; 95% CI:1.05–3.19].ConclusionsThere is a high prevalence of IPV against women both living with and without HIV. Policy priorities should therefore involve males in programs of gender-based violence prevention in order to change their violent behaviour, and interventions are required to improve the economic status of women. Both sexes should be advised to have a single partner and marriage arrangements should be by mutual consent rather than being made by parents.

Marriage patterns in a black Utopia: Evidence from early nineteenth-century colonial Sierra Leone

ABSTRACTThe colony of Sierra Leone was characterized by an unusually heterogeneous population made up of immigrants. The diverse population and the dynamics that led to its creation constitute a valuable case study for mating theories. This article examines the determinants of marriage patterns in early nineteenth-century urban Sierra Leone relying on census data. The degree to which marriage-market constraints and preferences influenced marriage patterns is studied. The results of this study suggest that marriage-market constraints contributed to explaining marriage patterns. However, even in a newly founded and multicultural context as that of urban Sierra Leone, social homogamy based on ascribed characteristics was the most prevalent marriage arrangement, in spite of the disruption of kin relations caused by slavery and migration.

Colorism and Love for Fair Skin : Exploring Digitization’s Effect on India’s Arranged Marriage Matrimonial Advertisements

Colorism and Love for Fair Skin : Exploring Digitization’s Effect on India’s Arranged Marriage Matrimonial Advertisements

Diasporas, Identity, and Agency in Transnational, Migratory, and Arranged Marriages

Diasporas, Identity, and Agency in Transnational, Migratory, and Arranged Marriages

Woman in Dilemma, A Critical Study of the Female Characters of Chitra Divakaruni’s Arranged Marriage

Woman in Dilemma, A Critical Study of the Female Characters of Chitra Divakaruni’s Arranged Marriage

Mother and Sons, Inc.: Martha de Cabanis in Medieval Montpellier by Kathryn L. Reyerson

Reviewed by: Mother and Sons, Inc.: Martha de Cabanis in Medieval Montpellier by Kathryn L. Reyerson Jennifer Lord Reyerson, Kathryn L., Mother and Sons, Inc.: Martha de Cabanis in Medieval Montpellier (The Middle Ages Series), Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018; cloth; pp. 264; 9 b/w illustrations; R.R.P. US $65.00, £54.00; ISBN 9780812249613. This book will be of great interest to scholars interested in practical evidence for women's exercise of agency in the late Middle Ages, and for how women negotiated the limitations placed on them. It is also an illuminating example of how relatively technical primary sources can be synthesized to create a case study of a particular social and economic setting, that of an 'urban merchant family of the 1330s and 1340s' (p. 7). Martha de Cabanis (c. 1295/1300–c. 1348) belonged by birth and marriage to Montpellier's mercantile elite. The early and unexpected death in 1326 of her husband, a mercer, left her with three young sons to provide for and a business to manage. It is precisely because of this that Martha left a much greater documentary trace than would otherwise be expected, with several hundred Cabanis contracts from 1336 to 1342 contained in a single notarial register. In Mother and Sons, Inc., Kathryn Reyerson draws on those records to reconstruct Martha's business and real estate transactions on her sons' behalf as their guardian and eventual business partner, as well as on her own account. As such, this book functions as a companion volume to Reyerson's Women's Networks in Medieval France: Gender [End Page 239] and Community in Montpellier 1300–1350 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), which looked at the life and business dealings of Agnes de Bossones, a contemporary of Martha de Cabanis. Reyerson has specialized in the social and economic history of Mediterranean France in the late Middle Ages, usually taking a localized and particular focus, such as trade, or banking. In Mother and Sons, Inc. she uses Martha's case to consider how far gender constrained women as economic and legal actors but also how women could be mobilized in families' interests. Chapter 1 sets the scene for Martha's life, with an overview of fourteenth-century Montpellier's political situation, layout, population, trade, and economic resources. Chapter 2 deals with Martha's family background and with the kind of childhood, education, and marriage arrangements she was likely to have had. Chapter 3 introduces Martha's husband's family and uses that context to explore how, in the absence of genealogical information, a family's history can be reconstructed through evidence of housing proximity and their business alliances and professional and legal ties. Chapter 4 draws on sources on urban domestic architecture and material culture to reconstruct the Cabanis's likely domestic setting. The notarial corpus that is Reyerson's main source cannot supply much detail about Martha's life beyond business, so chapters 2 to 4 are necessarily more speculative than they would be if Reyerson had also been able to draw, for instance, on letters or family chronicles. Chapters 5 to 8, focused on business, benefit from being able to make detailed use of the notarial records. Chapters 5 and 6 explore the responsibilities that fell to Martha after her husband's death and the legal capacity she had to meet them, in theory and in practice. Widows like Martha enjoyed a privileged status vis-à-vis other women, particularly in southern France, but Reyerson cautions us against taking for granted the 'privilege' of agency for such women (p. 89). She also shows how notarial documents, which capture the interaction of customary and Roman law in practice, offer an excellent guide to a region's 'living law' (p. 87). Chapter 7 gets to grips with the detail of the Cabanis's dealings in silk, linen, and mercery, examining their business strategies such as partnerships and use of credit, and Martha's role in these, especially before her sons could act independently. Chapter 8 covers similar territory but in relation to real estate, and here Martha is more visible as an investor in her own right. The chapter considers the reasons for women's...

Cul de Sac: Patrimony, Capitalism, and Slavery in French Saint-Domingue by Paul Cheney

Reviewed by: Cul de Sac: Patrimony, Capitalism, and Slavery in French Saint-Domingue by Paul Cheney Bendi Benson Schrambach Cheney, Paul. Cul de Sac: Patrimony, Capitalism, and Slavery in French Saint-Domingue. UP of Chicago, 2017. ISBN 978-0-226-07935-6. Pp. 264. It is only fitting that an historical account of French Saint-Domingue (current-day Haiti) during the eighteenth century would emerge in epistolary form. Cheney draws upon the papers of one family to render a tale of opportunism, scandal, and survival that sometimes reads more like fiction than fact. By means of the correspondence between absentee owner and on-site managers, Cheney chronicles the economic aspirations of the Ferron de la Ferronnays from their purchase of a sugar plantation on Cul de Sac plain through and following Haitian independence (1804). Étienne-Louis Ferron de la Ferronnays, sent to the island as a royal official, took the opportunity to improve his waning landholder fortune through the acquisition of the plantation and the arrangement of an advantageous marriage. Yet when Étienne-Louis returned to France in 1793, he left his Creole wife on the island. Letters between owner and manager reveal "the mésalliance between the marquis and marquise" (159) and bring to light both differences between the sexual mores of the cultures and similarities in the (pre-French Revolution) debate on cultural decadence. This vignette and others enliven an already unique and intimate portrayal of colonialism and the slave economy of Saint-Domingue. Lawyer and manager of the Ferronnays' plantations, Jean-Baptiste Corbier, whose letters are a principal source for the book, was able to grow his employer's land holdings and profitability by means of (pre-Wealth of Nations) specialization techniques and cautious investment. Corbier fils, sent to join his father at the age of 15, would eventually take over management of the plantation until his evacuation from the island in 1803. The book details production methods, challenges to production (war, water, and infrastructure), and the handling of up to 300 slaves. With regard to the economic structure, the author demonstrates that, despite the nearly 5000 miles separating the island from its French capital, by subsuming industrial capitalism under an overarching patriarchal ideology, "the peopling and development of Saint- Domingue were," in large part, "an extension of the social collaborations and political structures characteristic of Old Regime France" (8). Interestingly, Corbier père endeavored to integrate Enlightenment ideas, to "reconcil[e] humanity and interest" (73), in the treatment of the slaves—and this, the author notes, "far in advance of any widespread moral criticism of slavery in France and [...] its colonies" (74). Letters to his employer, nevertheless, including one expressing "fear that his son would grow into another of those 'human monsters'" (98), betray some of the heinousness of human bondage. The book excels in its ability to narrate this microhistory, a microcosm of the fading French aristocracy, in light of ideological currents and social history. The author integrates ideas and literary passages from Rousseau, Hume, Montesquieu, Hobbes, and others. His own writing, imitative of the literary quality of the letters he brings to life, is rich, scholarly, and allusive. The work, replete with [End Page 230] historical maps, charts and graphs, as well as an extensive bibliography, will be of interest to scholars of Haiti, colonialism, and eighteenth-century intellectual history. Bendi Benson Schrambach Whitworth University (WA) Copyright © 2019 American Association of Teachers of French

Marrying the “Bush Spirits-Parents”

Among the Sèmè, a little-known society in the Voltaic area, some men receive at home a couple of bush spirits through which they get access to divination. They form groups of followers of the spirits. The rite implemented borrows its fabric from marriage, a long process that extends over a woman’s entire life. The follower “marries” the bush spirits according to an original marriage arrangement without sexuality. He is bound to these bush spirits by a prenatal promise, his symbolic parents, who guided his soul and formed his character.

Sex, Sin and Marriage: Feminists in Patriarchal Culture, Religious Values and the Struggle for the Equality

Sex, Sin and Marriage: Feminists in Patriarchal Culture, Religious Values and the Struggle for the Equality, is a study conducted on the novel Eks Parasit Lajang by Justina Ayu Utami. The approach of this research is qualitative with Critical Analysis of Frankfrut School method through four levels of analysis: Totality, Awareness, Alienation and Criticism. The results of this study show that in the level of totality, Ayu Utami sees the problems experienced by character A as a problem that not only comes from herself, but also from her family who embrace Patriarchal culture, religious values, and also the values come from the society. In the level of Awareness, Ayu Utami sees that the world is constructed by men, and marriage as a mean of legitimizing power (patriarchal); in the level of Alienation, Ayu Utami is alienated from the concept of the church which is considered problematic; about herself and her sexual organs; about the values of women and marriage, until she decides to "take off the Cross's necklace" and ends up "deciding not to have any religion". In the Criticism level, Ayu Utami criticizes her religion’s "Holy Book", Patriarchal culture and also criticizes on the State regulations which she considers unfair especially in marriage arrangement as well as the society values which are considered confining and disadvantaging women, but not for men.

不爲良相，則爲儒商———“紳商”陳步墀的儒家情懷與慈善事業

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.
 1908年6月，廣東肇慶、南海、東莞、清遠、四會及廣西桂林等地，遭遇特大洪災，牆傾屋摧，崩決百丈，田園徧成澤國，平民葬身魚腹，宛如末日降臨。這場百年不遇的大洪災，將一個人推到了臺前。在這次大洪災中，他每天在報章上刊發自己所撰寫的題爲“救命詞”的詩篇，呼籲大衆關注。許多女子刺繡他的詩義賣，捐錢助賑，爲他贏得了“繡詩樓主人”的雅號。在他的呼籲和感召下，官員、醫院、善堂，甚至優伶娼妓都投身到這次大型賑濟之中，充分體現了香港作爲慈善之都的深切意涵。同時他開創的賣物義賑演變成爲當今香港賣旗的源頭，對當今香港慈善理念的形成都有促進意義。進而，他的後續行爲還揭開了香港保良局領婚領育神秘的面紗之一角，使我們得以窺見粵港融合的過程中少爲人知的另一面。而且他以商人的身分出任香港保良局總理，其一系列的行爲包括賑災、領婚、領育、興辦教育，實際上是承擔了地方官或者地方鄉紳的一部分職能。這實際上是光緒廢科舉之後，不能夠學而優則仕的一部分讀書人，從“士子”轉型爲“紳商”，將“民胞物與，修齊治平”的理念予以現代化轉型及實踐的典型。
 In June 1908, a disastrous flood inundated many counties of Guangdong province, such as Zhaoqing, Nanhai, Dongguan, Qingyuan, and Sihui, as well as Guilin in Guangxi province. Thousands of houses were destroyed, millions of people were made homeless, and their fields were all flooded— as though it was the end of the world.
 Chen Buchi (1870-1934) rose to the historic arena during this very rare catastrophe. In the flood period, Chen published his poems entitled “Save Lives” in the newspaper every day to attract the attention of the public. These poems were embroidered on pieces of cloth by many ladies who sold them to raise funds for victims of the flood. This won Chen the fine sobriquet of Master of Studio of Embroidered Poems. In response to Chen’s call to salvation, many people from different sectors, such as government offices, hospitals, charity bodies, and even actors, actresses, and prostitutes, joined these charity activities. This illustrates Hong Kong’s fine renown of a charity city. In addition, Chen’s invention of selling goods for charity marks the origin of selling flags, which has long been an important fundraising activity in Hong Kong. This enhanced the significance of the concept of charity in today’s Hong Kong.
 Chen’s later careers unravel part of the mystery about the practices of adoption of orphans and arranged marriages executed by the Po Leung Kuk of Hong Kong. This enables us to learn about this part of history in the integration process between Guangdong Province and Hong Kong, which otherwise could have been unknown to us.
 As a businessman, Chen became president of the Po Leung Kuk. He conducted a series of social welfare activities, such as salvation of natural disasters, arrangement of marriages, adoption of orphans, and establishment of schools. His work substantially shared certain responsibilities with local officials or gentries. To a certain extent, Chen’s deeds reveal a significant change in the career of intellectuals. Since the abolishment of the imperial examination announced in the reign of Emperor Guangxu (r. 1875-1908), some intellectuals found no way to serve the government after the completion of their study and therefore changed their role from “intellectual” to “gentry businessman.” They became stereotypes for those who modernized the notion of “caring for people by giving them goods” and put it into practice.

Unattended social wants and corporate social responsibility of leading firms: Relationship of intrinsic motivation of volunteering in proposed welfare programs and employee attributes

AbstractWith accelerated amelioration in service standards and expectations of stakeholders, enterprises need to undertake promising efforts for the real contribution to society. This paper is aimed to build a framework for examination of employee‐specific viability of five proposed philanthropic initiatives that can be launched by large corporations. Matchmaking, marriage arrangement, and poverty alleviation through skill development are discussed for new external corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, and anti‐sexual harassment awareness campaign at the workplace and assistance to low‐paid workers are projected as doable internal CSR initiatives. This article describes the importance of potential CSR activities with chief emphasis on exploring the impact of intrinsic motivation for volunteering of each proposed CSR program on employee's vital work attitudes. Drawing implications to advance the literature, we have developed the hypotheses that have formulated a testable model. On practical front, our work highlights the crucial need to consider implementation of new CSR programs with effective conceptualization of employee motivation and organizational outcomes.

Kinship in Action, Kinship in Flux: Uncertainties and Transformations in Okiek Marriage Arrangement

Abstract:For Okiek in Kenya, marriage arrangement is a nexus where transformations of personhood and social relations, changes in land tenure, and shifting state engagements come together in ways that shape individual and family lives as well as communities. This article sketches transformations in Okiek life and marriage arrangement and considers how Okiek have managed interlineage discussions central to marriage arrangement. It explores the social dynamics, evocative rhetorics, uncertainties, and moral imaginations through which people constitute lineages and affinal relations in changing circumstances, and situates these processes within a longer historical trajectory of socioeconomic and demographic change.

La diversidad cultural del derecho universal a contraer matrimonio y formar una familia. Elementos a tener en cuenta desde el Trabajo Social

Nuestra sociedad plural se enfrenta al reto intercultural que exige del Trabajo Social una respuesta ante las nuevas necesidades sociales a nivel individual-familiar, grupal y comunitario. Ante estas realidades, el trabajador social deberá ser conocedor de las diversas maneras de constituir una familia, del derecho a elegir o no pareja, y de la significación de estas prácticas en la vida de las personas y los grupos, porque todo ello deberá ser incorporado en su intervención con la constante defensa de los Derechos Humanos. Ya que el Trabajo Social y los Derechos Humanos están presentes tanto en su propia definición como a lo largo del proceso de intervención: información, asesoramiento, orientación, apoyo, supervisión, seguimiento y evaluación. El texto que sigue hace un recorrido sobre las diferentes formas de matrimonio, concretamente en los aspectos que se refieren al sistema de elección de cónyuge y los motivos que llevan a prestar el libre consentimiento a la unión matrimonial: matrimonio concertado, forzoso, sustentado en el amor y por conveniencia, presentes en nuestro país desde que ha pasado a ser receptor de personas inmigrantes. Para ello se expone la realidad de cada uno de ellos, el marco jurídico que los refrenda y ampara, así como el contexto en el que surgen y se desarrollan. Se ha realizado una revisión bibliográfica en un intento de reflexionar sobre estos sistemas matrimoniales y las consecuencias sociales y jurídicas que pueden tener para los contrayentes y para la práctica profesional del trabajador social.