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In Lorestan province, one of the phenomena that endangers the health and development of children is child marriage. According to evidence, about twenty percent of girls in this province are married at a childhood age, which is a remarkable rate. Child marriage is common while many other countries have outlawed it because of its harms. The question is why this phenomenon still remains despite the changes that the society has experienced. In this research, the answer to the above question is sought by using grounded theory. The study population is all women who have experience of marriage in childhood in Lorestan province. Forty cases from five cities of the province were interviewed using the purposeful sampling method. The findings show that legal legitimacy, traditions, disruption in the family, the norm of chastity and dropping out of school are the main causes of these marriages. Community residents arrange these marriages by applying pressure and families by forcing their daughters. Child marriage is not only a violation of children's rights, but also endangers the health of mothers and their babies. As a result of the child marriage of these women, their rights in the field of education, choosing a husband and a safe life with relative welfare have been jeopardized. Their set of strategies in the face of this phenomenon and its events consists of confronting each other, surrendering, Request for support and leaving the relationship, all of which are ineffective except for Request for support.

This article sketches the broad outlines of Matthew’s ironic portrayal of children, examining first the ‘lower level’ of the narrative (i.e. the way things appear to be in the everyday world) and then the ‘upper level’ of the narrative (i.e. the way things truly are from the ‘God’s-eye’ perspective). When viewed from the ‘lower level’ of Matthew’s narrative, the everyday circumstances of children reflect the nurture of their parents as well as significant challenges: debilitating physical conditions, serious illnesses, military violence and premature childhood death. In addition, children occupy the lowest rung on the 1st-century Mediterranean social ladder, a status they share with slaves. But on the ‘upper level’ of his narrative, from the ‘God’s-eye’ perspective, Matthew turns everyday reality for children on its head in ironic fashion. Emmanuel, the ‘God who is with us’, appears as a ‘child’ who has just ‘been born’ and who exhibits all the powerlessness and vulnerability of such a ‘child’. In a violent showdown between ‘King Herod’ and the one ‘who has been born king of the Jews’, it is Herod, the powerful ruler, who dies, while the vulnerable ‘child’ ends up safely in Nazareth. Throughout his ministry, Jesus heals children along with adults. To the apparent chagrin of his disciples, Jesus lays hands on children in an act of blessing. He commends the messianic praises of children, in contrast to the outrage of the Jewish leadership. Moreover, Jesus proclaims that it is ‘to such as these [children] that the kingdom of heaven belongs’.

This study examines the meaning of dependency on care as experienced by intensive care patients. Literature on the subject is sparse, but research from nonintensive settings shows that dependency is often experienced negatively. The study is based on in-depth qualitative semistructured interviews with three former patients characterized as narratives. The analysis is inspired by a phenomenological hermeneutical method. The study has found that dependency is experienced as difficult and that the experience seems to be attached to the relationship to oneself. Patients feel powerless and experience shame, their understanding of self is threatened, and they fight for independence in the course after intensive care. The findings might be influenced by the study being conducted in a Western country setting, where independence is valued. They can be used as means of reflection on nursing practice and matters such as communication and patient participation.

Cities are complex systems, but they are incomplete systems. All cities are becoming the same, but all cities are competing with each other. Here actors from different worlds meet, but there are no clear rules of engagement. It is in this context that the complex global city becomes a frontier space with political consequences. Here we can find new hybrid bases from which to act, spaces where the powerless can make history even when they do not get empowered.

Cities are complex systems, but they are incomplete systems. All cities are becoming the same, but all cities are competing with each other. Here actors from different worlds meet, but there are no clear rules of engagement. It is in this context that the complex global city becomes a frontier space with political consequences. Here we can find new hybrid bases from which to act, spaces where the powerless can make history even when they do not get empowered.