Proposing a premarital preparation program in the light of global experiences and local circumstances in Palestine

المقبلين على الزواج

Abstract

 Lately, Palestine has experienced noticeable increase in divorce rates. Therefore, proposing a premarital preparation program in Palestine becomes a powerful approach to sustain a healthy marriage. This was initially submitted as a master's thesis at An-Najah National University, and this topic was then extracted from that thesis for publication due to the importance of the subject and the vitality of the proposal.

 Globally, people have used a couple of premarital programs of which “Prepare-Enrich” has proved to be superior. Prepare-Enrich has been profoundly studied, analyzed and adapted to fit the Palestinian society. Based on an online couple assessment, Prepare-Enrich program classifies relationships between couples into strength areas to enhance and growth areas to develop. These areas include financial management, communications skills, relationship roles, etc.

 For establishing a Palestinian premarital program, key elements of dimensions to be considered have been identified and discussed with community specialists. Dimensions of major interest to community specialists, namely religion and culture, match with those of Prepare-Enrich program. Financial management has got significant attention to strengthen couples' relationships. While intimate relationship has been highlighted in Prepare-Enrich program, it has been ignored by community specialists. This is due to constraints imposed by local culture that has no room to mention or discuss this sensitive subject.

The program proposed for the Palestinian society does successfully address issues raised by Prepare-Enrich program and take into account perspectives of community specialists.