Cultural Beliefs on Practices of Mothering in the Malay Archipelago: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Motherhood is a universally recognized experience transcending time, geography, and cultural boundaries. Children’s experiences are influenced by a wide range of cultural ideas and customs, and women play a crucial role in the socialization and rearing of children across all cultures. These cultural beliefs have been shown to influence mothers’ practices of mothering or child-rearing and may have implications for maternal and child. Despite the importance of cultural beliefs and practices in shaping mothering experiences, there needs to be more clarity about the range of cultural beliefs and practices of mothering across different contexts and their implications for maternal and child health outcomes. This scoping review aims to map the existing literature on the cultural beliefs and practices of mothering in the Malay Archipelago. Four databases-Jstor Archive, ProQuest, Scopus, and Google Scholar were used in the research, which found three hundred forty-seven (347) articles for eligibility and a total of twenty-five (25) articles were analyzed after the inclusion and exclusion stage in collecting data for review. Findings indicate that mothering practices in the Malay Archipelago were rooted in the cultural beliefs of collectivism and familism, gender roles, modesty and filial piety, and religion. While there are similarities in the cultural beliefs and practices of mothering across different regions of the Malay Archipelago, there are also notable differences. The current scoping review contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of cultural beliefs in shaping mothering experiences and outcomes. In addition, the present study highlights the areas for future research on cultural beliefs and practices of mothering among mothers in the Malay Archipelago.