Dalal -Article

Posted by Dalal Al-Thani at Saturday, March 19, 2011 6:14:58 PM EDT
Dear class,

Below is the introduction of an article discusses the "Major Trends Affecting Families In The Gulf Countries" by Professor Yahya Al-Haddad from Bahrain University. If the introduction grabs your attention, then open the attached file and continue reading.

Introduction
The Gulf societies have been undergoing radical changes since the end of the 1970s. The
Arab Gulf family is passing through a fast transition that affects its functions, roles,
authority and structure. One must start with a prelimary hypothesis that reviews the Arab
Gulf family as a basic unit that extends its cultural components from Arab Islamic
sources; and as an economic unit that performs a number of economic roles to the benefit
of its own members and of society; and as a social unit where social interactions between
family members occur within the context of social relations set by values and norms of
their culture. When speaking of the nuclear family one might think that it is the same as
the Western nuclear family. In fact we must clearly distinguish between the Arab Gulf
nuclear family and the Western one. The Arab Gulf nuclear family is in a transitional
stage that carries many features of both the Western model and the traditional extended
family model. Hence, we are dealing with a nuclear family characterized by extended
relations, a condition not present in the Western family.

A few points he mentions:

* changes in the family structure.
* changes in values.
* women and work.
* discusses marriage and divorce extensively (he includes percentages).
* globalization and the family.
* HIV/AIDS (with statistics).

His main theory is to prove that Gulf societies have transformed with the Oil industry booming, it has played a huge role in both the economical and political dimensions of every day societies, stating both positive and negative aspects.

https://campus.georgetown.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_155970_1%26url%3D
Dalal Al Thani.