Enrichment Training Program and Successful Marriage in Kuwait: a Field Study on Kuwaiti Couples

The main purpose of the current study was to determine whether a marriage enrichment program could effectively increase and improve marital satisfaction and marital communication of Kuwaiti couples. In addition, most of the previous studies which focused on marriage enrichment programs have been conducted with predominantly white, North American married couples (Yelsma, 1988). The study of the impact of the marriage enrichment will provide insight into the ways couples from other cultural backgrounds interact with each other in achieving marital satisfaction, especially, couples from Muslim countries. Participants were 62 married couples (16 couples in the experimental group; 16 couples in the control group) — their marital duration ranging from one year to thirty‐one years. The study examined whether a marital enhancement program could make any change in the marital satisfaction of Kuwaiti couples. The study focused on the following research questions: 1) Do socio‐demo‐graphic factors (age, income, education, duration of marriage, children) play a role on the marital satisfaction level of Kuwaiti couples? 2) Is there a difference in the marital satisfaction scale between male and female in the pre‐test, post‐test marital satisfaction scale? 3) Does the marriage enhancement training program in the Social Development Office (SDO) influence the post‐test level of the marital satisfaction of the participants? The study concluded that the marriage enrichment program in the SDO of Kuwait has had a significant positive effect on marital communication and marital adjustment immediately following the enrichment experience.     

Gender and living arrangements of the elderly in Iran

In 2006, the aging population in Iran had increased to about four million, representing about 7 per cent of the total population. We examined marital status and the living arrangements of this growing population based on a public use sample of the 2006 census and published data from the 1976 census. We observed a gender-based transition in living arrangements of the elderly; men continued to live with a spouse, perhaps through remarriage, continuing to be the head of household. The living pattern for women was noticeably different: about 20 per cent were unmarried and living alone but otherwise living with married children, predominantly sons. This analysis revealed a decline from the traditional pattern of co-residence with married children between 1976 and 2006 and an increase in solitary living among women. However, it raised several questions that need extensive research concerning the social, economic, and health status of the elderly in relation to their living arrangement.     

Partisanship and political attitudes: Is there a marriage gap?

While research analysts have devoted considerable attention to the gender gap in party identification and political behaviour, the question of a marriage gap in relation to political attitudes has received little empirical investigation. In an effort to remedy this situation, this paper focuses on marital differences in political values among Australian adults. The findings suggest that married and unmarried persons do differ in their political orientations. The unmarried are relatively less likely to identify with the Liberal‐National coalition than their married colleagues, and hold a more liberal view in relation to economic issues, social spending and moral attitudes.     

Marital instability in a rural population in south-west Uganda: implications for the spread of HIV-1 infection

"The aim of this study was to examine people's beliefs about the causes of marital instability in a rural population cohort in south-west Uganda. Results from a baseline survey of HIV-1 infection in the cohort of over 4,000 adults (over 12 years old) showed a twofold increase in risk of infection in divorced or separated persons when compared with those who are married. A purposive sample of 134 respondents (seventy-two males, sixty-two females) selected to represent different ages, religions and marital status were asked in semi-structured interviews to comment on the reasons for continuing marital instability in their community. The most common reasons suggested for marital instability were sexual dissatisfaction, infertility, alcoholism and mobility....HIV infection was not mentioned as a direct cause of separation, but a small independent study revealed that seven out of ten couples separated on learning of a positive HIV test result of one or both partners. Marital instability is not uncommon in this population; there is evidence that HIV infection is making the situation worse." (SUMMARY IN FRE)     

The Impact of Social and Psychological Factors on Car accidents in Kuwait

The objective of study was to identify select demographic, driving habits, aggressive driving, road rage and risk factors associated with involvement in road traffic accidents (RTAs) among young Kuwaiti drivers. Logistic linear regression tests these factors according to the Modified Youth Risk Behavior scales. The total sample of this study was 1619 Kuwaiti drivers, aged 18–30 years. The source for the sample consisted of self‐reported young drivers who were selected from high schools and universities in the six governorates in Kuwait. For the purposes of this study, the author defined cases (N=984) as drivers who reported being involved in a car crash during their lifetime. Controls (N=635) were identified as those drivers who were never involved in a car crash during the same period. The sample was selected during an eight‐month period, from November 2004 to June 2005. Logistic linear regression results showed that driving habits, aggressive driving, and road rage situations would result in high rates in sensation, anxiety and anger, which leads to risky driving behavior (e.g. drivers forcing a car off the road, deliberate obstruction, running red lights, running stop signs, and tailgating), which leads to involvement in traffic accidents.     

MARRIAGE-RELATED DECISION-MAKING AND YOUNG WOMEN'S MARITAL RELATIONS AND AGENCY

There is little research that has explored how marriage arrangements, i.e., family-arranged, semi-arranged marriages with some say in spouse selection and self-arranged marriages, affect young women's married life in settings traditionally characterised by arranged marriage. Using data from 13,912 married young women aged 15–24 in India, we explore associations between marriage arrangements and young women's marital relations and agency. Logistic regression analysis shows that women experiencing semi- and self-arranged marriages were more likely than those in family-arranged marriages to communicate and interact with their husband (OR, 1.3–2.8), and exhibit agency in their life (OR, 1.2–2.3); those in semi-arranged marriages were less likely to experience marital violence. These associations were, however, stronger and more consistent among women from southern and western states than in northern and eastern states. Findings call for expanding the discourse on marriage to ensure young people's right to free and full consent in spouse selection.     

Discovering the invisible Puerto Rican slave family: demographic evidence from the eighteenth century

Traditional notions that family life among slaves during the pre-plantation period in the non-Hispanic Caribbean was necessarily unstable are fading in light of new research. Although marriage among this segment of the population in Caguas, Cayey, San Germán, and Yauco--rural parishes in Puerto Rico--involved only a fraction of the overall number of marriages in these communities, the marriage of slaves was much more frequent than previously assumed. Family life among the eighteenth-century Puerto Rican slave population appears to have been quite stable, as shown by the reconstruction of birth intervals for both married and unmarried mothers. Married and unmarried mothers exhibited similar reproductive behavior. These results strongly suggest that a majority of the unmarried slave mothers lived in unions that were not institutionally recognized, but that were nevertheless stable, as indicated by the high percentage of their children born at intervals comparable to those of married mothers. If unmarried mothers were living in stable consensual unions, then our understanding of these slave family units during the colonial period must be reassessed not only for Puerto Rico but possibly for the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America.     

Vietnamese Aging and Marital Sexual Behavior in Comparative Perspective

This study examines marital sexual activity in relation to age and its significance for marital relationships in Vietnam with particular attention to older persons. Results are compared with Thailand and the US. Two regional surveys provide the first quantitative assessment of marital sex in Vietnam. As elsewhere, marital sexual activity declines with age. At older ages, substantial proportions of married Vietnamese are sexually inactive. Levels of activity among older Vietnamese and Thais are remarkably similar and substantially lower than in the US. Contrary to US studies, the frequency of sexual activity shows little relationship to marital satisfaction and harmony in Vietnam. Possible explanations for these differences are discussed in terms of biases in the data, differences in health and living arrangements, and societal, cultural and normative contexts. We speculate that a main reason underlying the differences is a lesser societal emphasis on sex in general and on the importance of sexual and physical intimacy in marital relationships in Vietnam and Thailand than in the US.     

以歙县虹源王氏为中心看明清徽州宗族的婚姻圈

明清徽州宗族婚姻圈有以下特征:第一,婚姻缔结以县境地域范围内特别是周边邻近宗族为主要对象;第二,徽州境外的婚姻缔结与徽商的迁徙和经营地域圈的扩大有关,长期经商外地甚或侨寓外地的徽州商人在商业经营或土著化进程中与当地人士结成婚姻;第三,徽州宗族的婚姻缔结以几个大的宗族为主要对象,相互之间结成世婚之家,在一定程度上反映了世婚制在徽州的盛行;第四,较多以业儒仕宦为背景的宗族相互结成婚姻关系,在一定程度上体现了婚姻背后文化上门当户对的特征.     

INTRAURBAN MORTALITY VARIATION and INCOME DISPARITY: A CASE STUDY OF HAMILTON-WENTWORTH REGION

This paper characterizes and explains mortality variation among census tracts of Hamilton-Wentworth Region, Ontario, during 1980–82. Analysis is based on the age-specific death rate of the 55 to 64 age group, computed for each sex by categories of major cause. Mosk and lohansson's (1986) four stages of mortality/income relationship and Omran's (1977) theory of epide-miological transition provide context for understanding mortality variations. Logit models and the maximum quasi-likelihood estimation method allow for statistical inference. Research findings show that spatial patterns of mortality are more fragmented and less explainable for females than for males; that mortality is dependent (1) negatively on median family income and the percentage of individuals who are married and (2) positively on unemployment rate and the percentages of individuals who are single, widowed, and divorced or separated; among socioeconomic variables derived from the 1981 census, median family income is the most powerful explanator of intraurban mortality variation and, in this context, other explanatory variables are not statistically significant; and, in terms of the theoretical frameworks of Mosk and johansson (1986) and Omran (1977), mortality patterns for females are shown to have progressed further than for males. Cet essai caractérise et explique les variations de mortalité apparues en étudiant les tracts de recensement de la Région d'Hamilton-Wentworth, Ontario, en 1980–82. L'analyse est basée sur le taux de mortalité spécifique au groupe des 55 à 64 ans, en prenant en considération les deux sexes et les différentes catégories de cause majeure de mortalité. La relation mortalité/revenu en 4 étapes de Mosk et Johansson offre un contexte permettant de mieux comprendre les variations de mortalité. Les modeles Logit et la méthode d'estimation de quasi-probabilité permettent de considérer une inférence statistique. On a trouvé tout d'abord, que les modèles spatiaux de mortalité sontplus fragmentés et moins expliquables pour les femmes que pour les hommes; ensuite, sur la base d'une série d'analyses bi-variées, la mortalité prouve dépendre (1) négativement du revenu familial moyen et du pourcentage d'individus mariés et (2) positivement d'un taux de chomage et de pourcentages d'individus célibataires, veufs, divorcés et séparés; troisièmement, parmi toutes les variables socio-économiques dérivées du rencensementde 1981, le revenu familial moyen est la variable expliquant le mieux les variations de mortalité intra-urbaine et, dans ce même contexte, les autres variables explicatives ne sont pas suffisamment significatives sur le plan des statistiques; et (4) en termes des cadres théoriques de Mosk et lohansson et Omran, cette étude démontre que les modèles de mortalité ont progressé davantage pour les femmes que pour les hommes.     

Unattached and Unhinged: The Spinster and the Psychiatrist in Liberal Italy, 1860–1922

This article explores the role nineteenth‐century Italian psychiatric sciences played in shaping attitudes towards adult women who never married. Initially in post‐unification Italy unmarried women were largely invisible, while the bachelor appeared to threaten the newly formed nation's fragile political and social stability. In the last decades of the nineteenth century fears about the bachelor faded, replaced by growing concerns about the social dangers posed by the ‘spinster’. Drawing on writings from psychiatrists, anthropologists, sociologists, on patient records from psychiatric asylums as well as popular literature, this article traces the way psychiatric practice and theories transformed the image of the unmarried single woman.     

The family, love, and suicide in early modern Geneva

Analysis of criminal proceedings and death records for early modern Geneva reveals an explosion in suicides after 1750. New attitudes toward courtship, marriage, and the familly contributed to this dramatic increase, as unprecedented numbers of people took their lives because of family concerns, such as marital breakdown, unhapppy love stories, and deaths of family members. Greater interest in the companionate marriage was central to these changes. After 1750, marriage, even more than parenthood, offered immunity to suicide, as married people were underrepresented among those who took their lives. Although men constituted the large majority of suicides, women and men shared the growing emphasis on conjugal sentiment, which cut across class lines.     

Ohitorisama,Singlehood and Agency in Japan

Abstract:

Postwar Japanese society has experienced significant demographic shifts. Of particular note are trends in marriage delay, increased divorce, increased rates of lifelong singlehood and an increased proportion of life spent unmarried. In this context, singlehood is increasingly experienced by women, for at least some period in their adult lives. Nonetheless, while greater numbers of Japanese are living as singles for a greater portion of their lives, marriage and childbearing remain key markers of contemporary Japanese womanhood. Living outside marriage – as a single, divorced or widowed person – suggests divergence from the ideal, even if it is just an unavoidable temporary state. This paper explores singlehood as a contested space of ideals and practices, and presents the notion of ohitorisama as one model of contemporary female singlehood.     

Farms and families in ninth‐century Provence

Information about the people recorded in 813–14 on the estate of St Victor de Marseilles shows that although considered to belong to the monastery they were an independent peasant class. Family size and structure varied: some farms were run by the labour of the family which included unmarried sons and ‘married‐in’ sons‐in‐law; other farmers employed living‐in servants in husbandry. The mountain sheep farms had large groups of unmarried young people. Inheritance systems ensured that the peasant family property remained intact over the generations and provided support for unmarried sons who remained to work there.     

Demographic events and economic conditions of rural households in Bangladesh

Demographic events, such as death of adults and marriage of children, place a heavy burden on household economy, while economic and labour migration may lessen the burden. This study examined the effects of demographic events on economic condition of rural households in Bangladesh. Household possessions of durable assets in the Matlab demographic surveillance area in 1996 and 2005 were used to calculate asset scores, a proxy for long-term economic condition. Events of adult (aged 15–59 years) death and marriage of girls during 1996–2005 were associated with lower asset scores in 2005 compared to households with no such events. Out-migration of adult males, but not females, to urban areas or other countries and marriage of boys were associated with higher asset scores in 2005 compared to households with no out-migration or boy's marriage. Findings suggest that the government should attach high priority to adult health, abolition of dowry, and encourage out-migration.     

Concubinage and marriage in medieval canon law

The medieval canon law adopted an ambivaient attitude toward concubinage among the laity. While the canonists disapproved of concubinage on moral grounds, they sought to assimilate the status of the concubine to that of the married woman and thus to legitimize concubinous relationships. In this process of assimilation the canonists made use of the institution of clandestine marriage, which created problems of its own. The crucial difficulty lay in constructing a satisfactory system of proof, so that it would be clear whether or not a given couple should be treated as married, or whether they should be considered legally as unmarried. The Council of Trent abolished lay concubinage and clandestine marriage, but thereby created a system of marriage law flawed with defects almost as serious as those experienced under the medieval law.     

Concubinage and marriage in medieval canon law

The medieval canon law adopted an ambivaient attitude toward concubinage among the laity. While the canonists disapproved of concubinage on moral grounds, they sought to assimilate the status of the concubine to that of the married woman and thus to legitimize concubinous relationships. In this process of assimilation the canonists made use of the institution of clandestine marriage, which created problems of its own. The crucial difficulty lay in constructing a satisfactory system of proof, so that it would be clear whether or not a given couple should be treated as married, or whether they should be considered legally as unmarried. The Council of Trent abolished lay concubinage and clandestine marriage, but thereby created a system of marriage law flawed with defects almost as serious as those experienced under the medieval law.     

Effects of mothers’ deaths on children’s schooling in Matlab subdistrict,Bangladesh

This quantitative analysis examines evidence for the impacts of mothers’ death on the schooling of their left-behind children (ages 6–17 years) in the Matlab Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) area of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh. The analysis compared the completed levels of primary and junior secondary schooling in 2005 (respectively Class 1 among ages 6–17, Class 5 among ages 12–17 and Class 7 among ages 15–17) of children whose mothers had died during 1982–2005 (from maternal and/or nonmaternal causes, and any cause) with the completed schooling of children of surviving mothers in 2005. The results, after controlling for selected socioeconomic variables, indicate that children whose mothers had died had lower completion of schooling levels, and that those children from poorer households fared worst.     

Social status, race, and the timing of marriage in Cuba's first constitutional era, 1902-1940

This article examines the practice of marriage among whites, "mestizos," blacks, Cubans, and Spaniards during the first constitutional era, focusing upon the reported ages of brides and grooms. The study consists of a quantitative examination of trends found in the records of 900 Catholic marriages celebrated in Havana during the opening decades of independence. The first major finding of the research is that according to most major indicators of status, age was negatively correlated with rank. Thus, contrary to the conclusions of studies conducted in many other contexts, those in the highest strata of society married young. Furthermore, very significant differences were detected in the marital patterns of those identified as mixed-race and those labeled as black. This finding offers empirical weight to the notion that the early-mid twentieth-century Cuban racial structure would best be characterized as tripartite, rather than binary in nature.     

Religion,Community and The Infanticidal Mother: Evidence From 1840s Rural Wiltshire

Abstract

The existing literature on the history of infanticide has typically considered the crime as a reaction to a specifi c set of diffi cult individual circumstances, but has not attempted to place the infanticidal mother within a longer personal timeframe. Nor has the role of her religious belief been much examined. This article investigates three key elements in the case of Rebecca Smith (1807–1849), the last woman executed in England for the murder of her own infant: her bad marriage; her poverty; and her Baptist religion. These factors provide context for her socio-economic and psychological development, and thus for her status as England's best documented serial infant killer. The article suggests that, as a married woman, Smith's choices were infl uenced by conditions both wider and deeper than the more immediate issues which have tended to be associated with infanticide by unmarried women.