The Problem of Violence in Arab Families - Literature review Example

Social Services Introduction (Domestic Disputes Cartoons, n. d) Man is a social animal. It is impossible for him to lead an isolated life. Social interactions are essential for him to get proper knowledge about the surroundings and to develop further. But these social interactions often result in conflicts and troubles which may cause physical or emotional problems. Conflicts can occur in family, society or in the workplace. If not addressed or tackled properly, these conflicts can cause severe damages to the physical and mental development of the human being. Domestic conflicts are so high nowadays because of the changes in life styles and the weakened relationships within the family. “Any abusive, violent, coercive, forceful, or threatening act or word inflicted by one member of a family or household on another can constitute domestic violence” (Domestic Violence, 2010). Current generation do not like any control over their freedom and when somebody tries to impose certain restrictions upon the freedom conflicts can started to creep in. UAE is a country in which various types of domestic disputes are involved. The presence of the huge volume of expatriate community has intensified the domestic disputes in UAE. Waffa Issa (2009) has written in Gulf News dated Mar 19, 2009 that that the domestic violence in UAE has dropped more than 57 percentage in 2008 Issa (2009). Domestic disputes even though less in UAE, need some kind of assistance from the social workers. Marriage disputes, and divorce related family problems are some of the major reasons for the domestic disputes in UAE which can be addressed effectively by the social support centres. The expatriate community, locals, and the remotely staying locals also can seek the advice of the social service centres for solving their domestic disputes.This paper mainly focuses on domestic disputes and social support extended to such victims from the social support centres in UAE Literature Review: Domestic disputes in UAE and social support The term domestic disputes or domestic violence usually related to conflicts between the couples in a family. UAE is a country which is following the Muslim laws and the influence of Islamic religion is evident in every aspect of the administration. As per Islamic beliefs, a person can divorce his wife. Lal Mohd (2007) has mentioned that after solemnization of marriage between parties, if some problems arise, the husband may divorce his wife (Mohd 2007). Unlike many other religions, divorce can be accomplished easily in Muslim religion. It is easy for a husband to divorce his wife even if the wife was not willing to do so. Such divorced, females may have immense emotional problems and the social support centers in UAE can help them in many ways. Proper, direct or indirect counseling and advices will bring such humiliated female community back to the mainstreams of the social life in UAE. Moreover, in Muslim community, many young people rush into marriage. Their parents also often push young people into getting married” (Divorce in UAE, n.d, p.8). Young people who engage in a marital relationship before maturity will most probably face lot of challenges in maintaining their relationships. They often attracted to a marriage relationship because of infatuation or love at first sight. Moreover the activities of the sex hormones will be more during this period which encourages them to engage in a marital relationship as soon as possible. The encouragement of the parents will act as a tonic for them and they will blindly go for marriage without analyzing much about the partner or the marriage life. After few months, problems may creep in such marital relationships once the thrill of the marriage life or honeymoon period is over. The realities and burdens of the marriage life will confuse such couples and they will often think in terms of a divorce. Such couples can seek the guidance of social support centre which can help them in sorting out their problems in the marital life. “A Muslim wife might be willing to keep her marriage but find herself obliged to claim for a divorce because of some compelling reasons such as: Cruelty of the husband, desertion without a reason, a husband not fulfilling his conjugal responsibilities” (Azim, Ph.D, n. d). Male domination is evident in Islamic cultures which create lot of family problems in UAE also. In many cases, the wives forced to suffer emotional and physical torture from their husbands. Such wives may suppress their feelings and may have confusion over how to keep their marital relationships. Guidance from the social support centers can help them in such situations. Most of the public have the misconception that the police will come and mediate the domestic disputes or marital dispute. But the fact is that the police are not marriage counselors (Pain, 2010). The responsibilities of police are with respect to the controlling of law and order rather than giving counseling to the distressed people. Only the social support centers can help the public in relieving their stress or tensions. Candis Reade (2010) has mentioned that in some cases, solutions to domestic disputes are simple, and can be handled in a mature manner if both parties are willing whereas in other cases, the solutions to domestic disputes are to simply get away from the situation and dont go back (Reade 2010). Most of the domestic disputes start from simple issues. But the lack of patience and temperament from the part of the persons involved in the issue will make such small issues into a big one. They may not even realize how small the root cause of their problems was. Social workers can help such people in evaluating their problem correctly and to take suitable remedies for it. Social support centres in UAE have well experienced and matured counsellors who can handle any social problems. The seeking of their advices can rectify many of the domestic problems in UAE. Some parents in UAE are not interested in education and do not support their children in studying. Social problems are also a contributing factor fro this (School Drop-Outs: Problems and Solutions, n. d). Children on the other hand might be more interested in their education. The difference in opinions between parents and children may create family problems in UAE which can be tackled with the help of social support centres. “Only around 800,000 of UAE’s 4.2 million population are nationals: the rest are migrant workers and their families drawn from all over the globe” (Interview with Sharla Musabih as she builds the City of Hope, 2006). UAE is a country in which more than 90 percentage of the total population is from the expatriate community. In fact, UAE is a one of the rarest places in the world where we can see communities from all over the world. Asians, Africans, Americans, Europeans like all the continental people are staying in UAE. The huge diversity UAE social life, often create domestic problems also. In many domestic disputes, apart from the husband and wife, the servants from the expatriate community also involved. It is difficult for the expatriate community to find a source for getting advice to settle their domestic disputes. Such people also can seek the help of the UAE social support centres in solving their problems. Some of the UAE nationals are living in remote areas and are struggling to lead a decent life because of the widening socio-economic gap between rich and poor UAE nationals (Al Mutawa, 2006). The locals staying in the remote areas in UAE are struggling to get proper assistance for their domestic disputes. Such people also can approach the social service centers directly or indirectly through telephone. References 1. Al Mutawa Mohammad Abdullah (2006), UAE nationals in villages also deserve a decent life, Gulf News, February 8, 2006, , Retrieved 19 March 2010 from http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/uae-nationals-in-villages-also-deserve-a-decent-life-1.224466 2. Azim Sherif Abdel, Ph.D (n. d), Women in Islam Versus Women in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition: The Myth and The Reality, Retrieved 19 March 2010 from http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/w_islam/divorce.htm 3. Divorce in UAE, (n.d), Retrieved 19 March 2010 from www.admc.hct.ac.ae/hd1/english/cause/divorce_uae.ppt 4. Domestic Disputes Cartoons (n. d), Retrieved 19 March 2010 from http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/d/domestic_disputes.asp 5. Domestic Violence, (2010), Retrieved 19 March 2010 from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Domestic+dispute 6. Interview with Sharla Musabih as she builds the City of Hope, (2006), Retrieved 19 March 2010 from http://www.newint.org/columns/makingwaves/2006/11/01/sharla-musabih/ 7. Issa Waffa (2009), Cases of domestic violence fall sharply, Dubai Courts say, Retrieved 19 March 2010 from http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/cases-of-domestic-violence-fall-sharply-dubai-courts-say-1.58487 8. Mohd Lal (2007), Marriage and divorce in Islam, Retrieved 19 March 2010 from http://www.religioustolerance.org/mohd.htm 9. Pain Tushar K. (2010), 8 Common misconceptions about involving the police in your domestic dispute, Retrieved 19 March 2010 from http://www.torontocriminaldefence.com/criminalert/EpZllEZkVkIRVkBhQT.php 10. Reade Candis (2010), Solutions to Domestic Disputes, Retrieved 19 March 2010 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Solutions-to-Domestic-Disputes&id=1578499 11. School Drop-Outs: Problems and Solutions (n. d), Retrieved 19 March 2010 from http://www.writefix.com/argument/earlyschoolleavers.htm Read More