The Role of Guidance Programs in the Awareness of Planning for Marriage and Family Constructing "A Descriptive Analytical Study of Marital Preparation Programs and their Beneficiaries in Jeddah"

Abstract

Marriage is a "life-long project" and projects require planning. This study aimed at knowing the role of Marriage Preparation Programs (MPP) in the awareness of marriage planning through: their content, their used means, and the time allocated for lectures and activities. In addition, the study aimed at knowing the point of view of the beneficiaries of these programs about what has been presented and some of their socio-demographic characteristics. The current study is a descriptive study that used two tools to collect field data: a questionnaire to describe and analyze the programs' content and personal interviews with the beneficiaries of these programs. Four MPP- provided by three centers in Jeddah - and seventy-two cases: 32 females and 40 males were chosen through purposive sampling. The major findings of this study can be generalized as followed: I. Marriage goals, sex education, and dialogue between spouses are the most provided subjects by MPP. II. Lectures are the mostly used means to deliver MPPs' content. III. Differences exist between MPPs in terms of allocated time. IV. The most important subjects to be covered by MPP, from the beneficiaries' point of view, are: spouses' rights and duties, dialogue between spouses, the goal of marriage, dealing with anger, sex education, organizing the family budget, and the transference to the marital house. Generally speaking, MPP role in the awareness of marriage planning and family constructing was found to be limited. The study recommended the following: make the results of this research available for MPP providers; do more research in the field of MPP; provide MPP only for the beneficiaries who intend to marry; and design different types of marriage/family education programs for: non-married, married spouses, fathers and mothers, divorced, and widowed beneficiaries.