“Faith” as a Framework for Understanding Barriers and Enablers to Social and Behaviour Change Using Child Marriage in Mozambique, Nepal, and the Philippines as a Case Study

Kathryn Kraft; Kanykey Bayalieva Jailobaeva; Hazel Barrett; Pascal Niyonkuru; Desmond Lim; Alberto Marin; Eduardo Cossa

doi:10.1007/s10943-026-02741-z

“Faith” as a Framework for Understanding Barriers and Enablers to Social and Behaviour Change Using Child Marriage in Mozambique, Nepal, and the Philippines as a Case Study

Kathryn Kraft
, Kanykey Bayalieva Jailobaeva
, Hazel Barrett
, Pascal Niyonkuru
, Desmond Lim
, Alberto Marin
, Eduardo Cossa

Research Centre for Peace and Security

University of East London
Queen Margaret University
World Vision International Singapore
World Vision Development Foundation
World Vision Mozambique

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

This study examines the role of faith in social and behaviour change, using child marriage as a case study across Mozambique, Nepal, and the Philippines. While faith is widely acknowledged as a social force, its role in shaping behaviour remains underexplored in development programming. This research addresses that gap by proposing a multidimensional framework for understanding faith’s influence on social norms and behaviour. A mixed-methods approach was employed, including surveys (N = 986), focus group discussions, and key informant interviews conducted between 2020 and 2023. The study identifies five key dimensions through which faith shapes behaviour: spirituality, religious beliefs, religious practices, the authority of religious institutions, and faith communities. Findings reveal that all of these aspects of faith may be deeply embedded in decision-making processes, both reinforcing and challenging norms around child marriage. Faith leaders and religious communities are often influential authorities shaping norms, with religious beliefs and practices reinforcing choices, while personal spirituality acts as an internal motivator for change. This study challenges the common tendency to view faith solely as a tool for promoting externally defined development goals. Instead, it argues for a more nuanced, context-specific approach that acknowledges faith as a dynamic and integral aspect of social change. Faith-sensitive approaches can enhance the effectiveness of social and behaviour change interventions by aligning with deeply held values and beliefs within communities. Future research should explore how these five faith dimensions interact across diverse cultural and religious contexts. A better understanding of these intersections will contribute to more effective development strategies that respect and harness faith’s complex role in shaping behaviour.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	(In Press)
Number of pages	31
Journal	Journal of Religion and Health
Volume	(In-Press)
Early online date	25 Jul 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-026-02741-z
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 25 Jul 2026

Bibliographical note

© The Author(s) 2026
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: this work was supported by World Vision International

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 5 Gender Equality

Keywords

Faith
Religion
Spirituality
Social and behaviour change
Social norms
Child marriage

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Nursing
Religious studies

Access to Document

10.1007/s10943-026-02741-zLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Barrett2026VoRFinal published version, 1.1 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

Kraft, K., Bayalieva Jailobaeva, K., Barrett, H., Niyonkuru, P., Lim, D., Marin, A., & Cossa, E. (2026). “Faith” as a Framework for Understanding Barriers and Enablers to Social and Behaviour Change Using Child Marriage in Mozambique, Nepal, and the Philippines as a Case Study. Journal of Religion and Health, (In-Press), (In Press). Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-026-02741-z

“Faith” as a Framework for Understanding Barriers and Enablers to Social and Behaviour Change Using Child Marriage in Mozambique, Nepal, and the Philippines as a Case Study. / Kraft, Kathryn; Bayalieva Jailobaeva, Kanykey; Barrett, Hazel et al.
In: Journal of Religion and Health, Vol. (In-Press), 25.07.2026, p. (In Press).

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Kraft, K, Bayalieva Jailobaeva, K, Barrett, H, Niyonkuru, P, Lim, D, Marin, A & Cossa, E 2026, '“Faith” as a Framework for Understanding Barriers and Enablers to Social and Behaviour Change Using Child Marriage in Mozambique, Nepal, and the Philippines as a Case Study', Journal of Religion and Health, vol. (In-Press), pp. (In Press). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-026-02741-z

Kraft K, Bayalieva Jailobaeva K, Barrett H, Niyonkuru P, Lim D, Marin A et al. “Faith” as a Framework for Understanding Barriers and Enablers to Social and Behaviour Change Using Child Marriage in Mozambique, Nepal, and the Philippines as a Case Study. Journal of Religion and Health. 2026 Jul 25;(In-Press):(In Press). Epub 2026 Jul 25. doi: 10.1007/s10943-026-02741-z

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“Faith” as a Framework for Understanding Barriers and Enablers to Social and Behaviour Change Using Child Marriage in Mozambique, Nepal, and the Philippines as a Case Study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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Cite this