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CHANGES IN MARRIAGE PATTERNS AMONG THE ARAB COMMUNITY IN ISRAEL OVER A 60-YEAR PERIOD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2015

Rajech Sharkia ,
Muhammad Mahajnah ,
Esmael Athamny ,
Mohammad Khatib ,
Ahmad Sheikh-Muhammad  and
Abdelnaser Zalan
Rajech Sharkia*
Affiliation:
The Triangle Regional Research and Development Center, Kfar Qari’, Israel Beit-Berl Academic College, Beit-Berl, Israel
Muhammad Mahajnah
Affiliation:
Child Neurology and Development Center, Hillel-Yaffe Medical Center, Hadera, Israel Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel
Esmael Athamny
Affiliation:
The Triangle Regional Research and Development Center, Kfar Qari’, Israel
Mohammad Khatib
Affiliation:
The Galilee Society – The Arabs National Society for Research and Health Services, Shefa-Amr 20200, Israel
Ahmad Sheikh-Muhammad
Affiliation:
The Galilee Society – The Arabs National Society for Research and Health Services, Shefa-Amr 20200, Israel
Abdelnaser Zalan
Affiliation:
The Triangle Regional Research and Development Center, Kfar Qari’, Israel
*
1Corresponding author. Email: rajachsharkia@hotmail.com
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Summary

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and trends of various types of consanguineous marriage among the Arab community in Israel over a long time period (1948–2007) by religion and educational level. Data were collected by face-to-face interview of 3173 Arab couples living in Israel in 2007 and 2008. The trend in consanguineous marriages was found to decrease significantly over successive time periods, from 42.5% to 30.9% (p=0.001), and the prevalence of first-cousin and closer marriages decreased, from 23% to 12.7%. Consanguinity was found to be significantly related to religion (p=0.001) and wife’s level of education (p=0.028).

Type
Short Report
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , March 2016 , pp. 283 - 287
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2015 

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