A qualitative study of the views of children on 'Early marriage' whose mothers married early

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the perspectives of children growing up in families where their mothers entered into early marriages about early marriages, in light of their mothers' lived experiences. In this qualitative study, the snowball sampling technique was employed to identify the participants, who were 15 children between the ages of 14 and 17, whose mothers married at an early age. During the research, online and face-to-face in-depth interviewing was used as data collection technique, and a semi-structured interview form were used as the data collection tool. Interviews were conducted with 13 participants online without turning on the camera, and with two participants face-to-face in a place of their choice. In-depth interviews, analytical and reflective notes, and non-participant observation notes were used in the thematic analysis of the data. The analysis revealed the following themes: the children's understanding of their mother's early marriage, their description of an early marriage, their views on the mother's early marriage, their views on the causes and consequences of this marriage, whether or not the mother gave advice to them on such a marriage, their own consideration of making such a marriage, the existence, continuation and prevention of such marriages, and their (dis)approval of early marriages. It can be concluded that the children in the family established by early marriage do not adopt this practice and are not dependent on their families. This study also shows that parents/mothers support their children in achieving their dreams and goals instead of getting married at an early age. Therefore, the meaning attributed to being a child by the child and his/her mother/family in the family established by the early marriage of the mother is important in viewing early marriage as a social problem and not being adopted. These children can be considered as an important agent of their own lives and society in terms of questioning the meaning attributed to being a child and therefore childhood in the construction of their mothers' early marriage, describing the ideal for marriage, not suggesting early marriages and thinking that they should be prevented.