TITLE:
Children’s Age Ascription and Consequences across Family Life Cycle between Muslim and Santal in Bangladesh
AUTHORS:
Md. Emaj Uddin, Md. Awal Kabir
KEYWORDS:
Children’s Age Ascription, Family Life Situation, Consequences, Muslim, Santal, Social Work Implication, Bangladesh
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.7 No.7,
July
1,
2016
ABSTRACT: Children’s
age ascription across family life situations is culturally constructed in every
society. Relevant literature suggests that children’s age ascription and its
consequences across family life situation are enormous and pervasive across the
cultures. Despite this, there is a paucity of systematic cross-cultural
evidence on which social workers may play important roles in changing age
ascription and its negative consequences. Reviewing cross-cultural literature,
this study compares age ascription and its consequences in family life
situations between Muslim and Santal cultures in Bangladesh. Evidence suggests
that age ascription of the Santal for working/earning, marrying, mothering and
family authority is earlier, but later in schooling, separation between boy and
girl, separate sleeping between son and daughter and/or parent than that in the
Muslim community. Santal children with early or late age assignment in those
family life situations compared to Muslim ones are more likely to suffer from
negative social, psychological, and health consequences. Based on the evidence,
social work implications are discussed to change age status assignment and
consequences in the family life situation between the two ethnic communities in
Bangladesh.