Socio-Cultural Constraints in Protecting Child Rights in a Society in Transition: A Review and Synthesis from Oman

Muna Al-Saadoon (), Manal Al-Adawi () and Samir Al-Adawi ()
Additional contact information
Muna Al-Saadoon: College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University
Manal Al-Adawi: College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University
Samir Al-Adawi: College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University

Child Indicators Research, 2021, vol. 14, issue 1, No 10, 239-267

Abstract: Abstract In line with international best practice, the Arabian Gulf countries have ratified the Convention on the Right of the Child (CRC), which has some clauses on child abuse and neglect. The present discourse, made from within an Arabian Gulf society, specifically Oman, reviews the socio-cultural differences of the region and explores the potential regional challenges for effectively implementing the CRC mandated child protection legislation. The international best practices evolved for individualistic, “guilt-based” societies, which may need to be modified to suit the “shame-based” collective societies in the Arabian Gulf where the individual autonomy is overridden by that of the family and society. This may mean that the entire spectrum of child abuse may need to be studied in-depth, starting from what constitutes child abuse and neglect, the methods adopted for identifying cases, setting preventive measures in place, applying penal and corrective action on the perpetrators, and helping the victims recover. It is posited that while modifying the laws may be straightforward, implementation of certain clauses may initially come into conflict with deeply engrained socio-cultural conventions on these societies which have different parenting styles and child-rearing practices. The country in focus is Oman. Pointing out the sparsity of research on the topic in the region, the study suggests additional research to understand how to reconcile these sociocultural constraints with the international best practices of protecting child rights.

Keywords: Convention on the right of the child; Children’s rights; Social policy; Children at risk; Child indicators across the border; Oman; Arabian gulf region (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12187-020-09759-z Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:chinre:v:14:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s12187-020-09759-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... f-life/journal/12187

DOI: 10.1007/s12187-020-09759-z

Access Statistics for this article

Child Indicators Research is currently edited by Asher Ben-Arieh

More articles in Child Indicators Research from Springer, The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().