the degree of family conflict over the female role, the greater the likelihood that family females would suffer from depressive illness. What is needed in order to understand these findings is a model that explains how conflict over role can lead to depressive illness.
Depressive Illness and Female Role in Kuwaiti Society: An Explanative Model
Al-Thakeb (1985) has reported that the traditional role of the Kuwait female is one in which she is under the authority of both her parents and her husband. Identifying with her strong family and kinship ties, the traditionally oriented female allows her parents to select her husband who, after marriage, has dominion over the decisions that shape both his life, her life, and their children's lives.
This notion of the traditional role is echoed by El-Islam (1983) who reports that:
. . .in Arabian culture a hierarchial order is maintained in the family in which the dominance of the male over female and older over younger is observed. The family offers security to its members in return for behavior that is harmonious with the cultural code. (El-Islam, 1983, p.321)
The authors list a number of other elements that are associated with the traditional view of family in the Arab culture. These are:
(1) Absolute respect for and obedience to elders based on the belief that honor to parents brings prosperity, success, and happiness.
(2) The belief that filial relationships are more important than marital relationships.
(3) Giving sons more freedom than daughters.
(4) The belief that parents have a right to arrange marriages for children of both sexes.
According to El-Islam (1983), when a female lives in a household that identifies with traditional values, yet she herself believes in Western values, there are arguments over how Kuwaiti women in general and she in particular ought to behave. As these arguments escalate, more and more family support is withdrawn from these wom...