Young People, Family and Managing Marriage

This qualitative study, by semi-structured interviews and based on young people's views, is to know how young people and their families, in interactions with each other, manage young people's marriages. Sample consists of 25 young peoples who are men and women, married and unmarried, and also from different ages and classes. Selection procedure is information-oriented and designed based on maximum variation and extreme cases. The research shows that the main burden of young people's marriages is on the shoulder of the family. It is enforced by traditional family roles in managing young people's marriages, as it is paralleled by, and accumulated with, new responsibilities, which are related to managing young people's educational aspirations and also their efforts for making an independent life. Since family does not have enough resources and simultaneously have to cope with different tasks, it inevitably 34 would be faced with an unbearable and exhaustive situation, in addition to, probable pressure and intensified and increased inequality. The study also shows that relationships between young people and their families in managing marriages are based on reciprocal actions and also flexible interactions. Parents accept young people's right to make decisions and conduct their marriages, whereas young people, instead of rewarding family supports, embrace traditional procedures and acknowledge family interferences. This means that, whereas young people reflexively manage their marriages, families have beneficially remained efficient in supporting modern marriage processes. On these bases new order in managing young people's marriages is under construction.