Polygamy and Its Impact on the Upbringing of Children: A Jordanian Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the impact of polygamy on the upbringing of children by examining whether polygamous marital structures are beneficial or harmful to children. To obtain data, the researchers conducted two focus group interviews using the multiple case study design, including, talking with twenty one family members from polygamous marriages in Jordan. The results indicated that the husbands felt that polygamy does not adversely affect the family. Husbands also felt that they are the ones responsible for the family’s welfare, in addition to providing their children with all the care and support possible. The wives felt that the care, upbringing, and education of their children was customary, and their spouses did not hold back on any of their responsibilities. They declared that their husbands provided education, proper housing for their children, helped them with their wedding expenses, and there were no effects of multiplicity. They showed their comfort with polygamy as they support such a practice with the condition of being financially supportive and the ability to be fair. Responses of children revealed that their fathers treated them normally, and as siblings, children love each other and did not have any differences. As for polygamy, children support such a practice as a solution to spinsterhood. The researchers believe that it would be valuable to conduct additional research to detect the perspectives of not only those who are involved in polygamous marriages but also other Jordanians from monogamous marriages in order to clearly detect their views of polygamy.

The Palgrave Handbook of the Psychology of Sexuality and Gender

“…Attitudes of young people towards polygamy have also been studied. Khasawneh et al (2011) found that Jordanian children from polygamous families generally supported it, said they felt their fathers treated them normally, and saw it as a solution to spinsterhood, a common issue in Jordanian society. With respect to young people outside polygamy, Negy et al (2013) found an overall neutral attitude towards it among US young adults, with higher negative attitudes coming from young women, those opposed to same-sex marriage and those with higher scores on an authoritarianism scale.…”

Experts Consensus on the Items of Sender in Communication of Malaysian Polygamous Muslim Couples Using the Delphi Fuzzy Method

“…In addition, polygamy has negative effects on wives such as stress (Farahmand & Rezvani, 2019), abuse (Thobejane & Flora 2014;Rafeah et al, 2017), problems in family functioning, marital relationships, low self-esteem, dissatisfaction with marriage, depression, anxiety, paranoid, psychotic (Al-Krenawi et al, 2011), impact on quality of life, ongoing conflict with wives and attitude of loving and neglectful husband (Gumani & Sodi, 2009). Although previous research shows that polygamous marriages have negative effects, there are some studies that have found that polygamy has positive effects on families such as happiness (Thobejane & Flora, 2014), increasing the birth rate due to competition between spouses for childbirth because they believe their husbands love many children (Rossi, 2019) and reduce divorce (Gumani & Sodi, 2009;Khasawneh et al, 2011). In addition, a study conducted by Ekerbiçer et al (2016) found that polygamy was recognized to have a positive effect on men.…”

“…They show great comfort because of the financial support and fairness shown by the husband. Children can also accept polygamy because their parents are fair (Khasawneh et al, 2011). The discussion on pros and cons of polygamy is too broad.…”

Open Non-monogamies

“…Dreher and Hudgins (2010), for example, found that maternal conjugal multiplicity among rural Jamaican women 'does not necessarily result in poorer developmental outcomes for preschool-aged children' (p. 495), and, in fact, can be a strategic adaptation to poverty. Khasawneh et al (2011) found that Jordanian children from polygamous families generally supported it, said they felt their fathers treated them normally, and saw it as a solution to spinsterhood, a common issue in Jordanian society. Similarly, Hamdan et al (2009) found that there were no differences on measures of competence, behavioural problems, anxiety, and depression between adolescents from monogamous and polygamous families in similar Bedouin populations.…”