الملخص الإنجليزي
This study aims at using family therapy approach to suggest ways to
mitigate marital problems in Omani families where the couples are newly married.
In order to achieve this, we have looked onto the main problems that affect
married couples during the first two years of marriage. In particular, we have
examined problems afflicting the married couple in relation to several aspects,
which are: social, financial, heath, religious, cultural, personal, and emotional
aspects related to marriage.
This study uses the descriptive methodology. Data collection has proceeded
through electronic survey and focal group interviews. The electronic survey
covers a sample size of 217 Omani married participants, while the focal group
interviews includes 10 Omani females. In both cases, the participants are in their
first two years of marriage.
The data are analyzed using the SPSS package. The results of this study
show that the main problems affecting married Omani couples during their first
two years of marriage are, in order of prevalence, social, emotional, cultural,
financial, health, personal and religious problems. This study also shows that the
most common social problems are the importance given to to social commitments
(such as family visits, trips and friends) and the use of social media at the expense
of time needed to spend with their spouses. In addition, married couples suffered
from the interference of their parents in their marital lives. On the emotional side,
we find that couples assign higher expectations to their intimate life, which is in
conflict with their reality, are ignorant of their spouse's emotional and
ز
psychological needs, and there is a lack of excitement in their intimate lives. Other
factors that play a role in marital problems are the tendency to spend a substantial
amount of time watching television or talking to friends via mobile phones,
differences in cultural background and the adoption of previous singles lifestyle,
where they spend time travelling and hanging out with their friends.
The study also reveals a number of strategies that help couples in coping
with these problems, such as: communication, wives seeking support from
parents, self-help books and workshops specialized in marriage education.
The study presented a set of recommendations to the relevant authorities,
most notably: establishment of mandatory programs to rehabilitate the premarital
marriage and set such program as a precondition for the marriage contract,
education of spouses on the human rights aspect of: marital and family rights,
educational rights, employment rights, financial rights, raising the awareness of
parents of the importance of raising the awareness of their children about sexuality
at a time when electronic devices abound, establishing a website belonging to an
official institution, providing marriage couples and newlyweds with marital
family culture, establishing a specialized center for family and social studies and
research, and linking them with national social policies. In addition, it is
recommended to establish of special courts for family and marital disputes in the
wilayats of the sultanate.
