Site Areas
Wedding Centre
Health Club
Marriage Clinic
Chapel
University
Citizen's Centre
Coffee Shop
Admin Centre

Contents
Articles
Books
CDs / Videos
Tips
Services

Resources
Forums
Membership
Contact Us
Site map
Link to Us

Search

Free Tell A Friend from Bravenet


In association with:

Marriage books and much more from Amazon.co.uk

Celebrate your marriage with flowers!

Set up your Wedding Registry!

Marriage and divorce advice from justask.org.uk

Take our Demographic survey

Family Friendly Site

   Home  > Articles

A Brief History of Marriage

By Samantha Callan - Care for the Family

Introduction

In the words of Professor Carol Smart, Director of the Centre for Research on Family, Kinship and Childhood at the University of Leeds, “It is time we injected a sense of history into popular and political debate on marriage and the family so that we are not always bounced into an inferential framework that assumes everything is getting worse and that if only we could recapture selected elements of the past everything would be fine again.” In this presentation (written in 2002) I will show that marriage has gone through peaks and troughs of popularity and map out the broad trends to which it has been subject. I will outline the bare essentials of marriage in this country, look at socially recognised but non-religious marriage rituals and bring in the cross-cultural dimension to broaden our understanding. Finally I will touch on historical alternatives to formal marriage and show that it has not always been an expression of social ties. Indeed other assumptions we have on the subject might also be challenged as we take a closer look at the historical record.

Trends in marriage


In this article
- Introduction
- Trends in marriage
- What were the historical "bare necessities" for marriage
- Marriage ‘done rite’
- The Implications of Civil Divorce
- Cross-cultural perspective
- Alternatives to formal marriage

Bookmark and Share
Printer Friendly
More From this author

More Articles
- So what if you aren’t the same religion?
- Oh, Give Me A Clone…Oh, Give Me A Break!
- Thinking of marrying someone from another culture?
- Key issues from LCD MARS Seminar – 26th June 2002

Hot Picks
- 6th National Relationship Education Conference
-
- Take the Couple Check-up!
- Marriage first aid
-
- Marriage help for friends
- Deepen your love & marriage

Discuss
- Marriage news from around the world
- Coffee Shop Chat - have some fun!!
- Marriage Problems - ask for help!
- Visit the Index

Copyright © 2002, Care for the Family.


 2-in-2-1 Today
Take our Couple Checkup - put your relationship on strong foundations by checking out the strengths and growth areas!
Difficulties communicating? - 55 cards to improve your couple communication
What people say about 2-in-2-1 - we thrive on your feedback!
Couples Wanted!! - for TV and press enquiries - tell your story!
Cyber sex and Internet addiction - is the internet threatening your marriage??

Top

Copyright ©1999-2024 2-in-2-1 Limited. All rights reserved. Disclaimer Privacy Statement