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Modernization and consanguineous marriage in Beirut

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Myriam Khlat  and
Suzan Halabi
Myriam Khlat
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Suzan Halabi
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
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Summary

Recent data do not demonstrate any trend away from consanguineous marriages in the urban Middle East. The continued observance of this preferential custom may correspond to the persistence of an archaic trait among urban dwellers; if this holds true, then one would expect consanguineous couples to conform more to the traditional family pattern than others. In order to test this hypothesis, 100 women married to a relative and 100 matched controls, selected from a hospital setting in Beirut, were interviewed with respect to their household type (nuclear/extended), residential pattern (proximity of parents and parents-in-law's residence to theirs), contacts with family and sex definitions. A substantial proportion of the respondents comply with the traditional norms prevalent in the Middle East (25–55%, according to the criterion), but no difference is detectable between cases and controls in this respect.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , October 1986 , pp. 489 - 495
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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