Manama: Foreign cultures, juvenile delinquency, the spread of drug addiction and criminal tendencies are the main reasons behind the disintegration of the family, a Kuwaiti psychology expert has said.

“When a family is disintegrated, the children are most likely to suffer from moralistic degradation, aggressive tendencies, and repulsive behaviours,” Suad Al Bicher, a psychology professor, said. “They also tend to reject law and authority,” she said as Kuwait joins the international community in celebrating World Family Day.

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 1994 as the international year for the family, in recognition of its status in human society.

“The family significantly contributes to building a pious society, through allowing children to shoulder responsibilities, encouraging them to become positively involved in community activities and acting as effective members of the society,” Suad said. “The dynamism of the family as an institution is based on the parents. Any absence or carelessness in assuming their role affects the young and threatens the family stability,” she told Kuwait News Agency (Kuna).

The professor cautioned that in cases where fathers worked long hours, the children and wives suffered from their absence and lack of close interaction. There are similarly worrying cases where mothers become engrossed in excessive work or get overwhelmed by preoccupations leaving children deprived of a sound upbringing, she added.

“Nowadays, the media have major effects on family members, particularly the children, and the principles being promoted by the media have been affecting the basic values and traditions of families,” she said.

She said that exposure to violent movies and media often affected young, impressionable minds and lead them to believe that they can achieve things through violent means.

“Media companies must adopt independent, professional and impartial attitudes in the coverage of events and must guide against exposing children to violent and sensational pictures and scenes,” she said.

Saleh Al Ebrahim, an assistant in educational psychology, said that the current turbulence across the Arab world has affected the growth of children and produced a generation with unclear and disturbed views, thoughts and options.

The situation has been compounded their mothers being caught in difficult and stressful situations, thus adding to such social unrest, he said.