Statistical Investigation of Early Divorce in Al-Aflaj Governorate, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

In Al-Aflaj governorate, divorce and separation are perceived to be relatively rare events and available data on the subject has been described as ”quantitative gossip”. While quantitative data are lacking, there is rich multi-disciplinary literature on various aspects of marital stability in Saudi Arabia. This paper draws on this literature to first contextualize the key aspects of marriage and the socio-cultural and to diagnose the problem of early termination of marital status in Al-Aflaj governorate. Following this, the paper presents estimates of prevalence, trends and variations in divorce and separation using a sample of 53 cases of divorce randomly from beneficiaries of the Family Development Association in the province of Al-Aflaj because they include the representation element; they largely reflect the characteristics of cultural, social and economic reasons that led to divorce. Finally, the paper investigates the impact of cultural, economic and social changes on durability of marital stability in Al-Aflaj governorate. The findings reveal an upward trend and significant variations by cultural, economic and social reasons in divorce and separation in Al-Aflaj province. The results show that the absence of dialogue and understanding between the spouses, the addiction of one of the spouses to drugs and the ill treatment of one spouse to the other. The findings show that there are statistically significant differences between males and females views on social and economic reasons.