NCJ Number
78541
Journal
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 5 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1981) Pages: 65-80
Date Published
1981
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the attitudes and rationale of the minority in Kuwait who are opposed to the reinstatement of Islamic penal law advocated by the popular movement for Muslim fundamentalism in many Middle East countries.
Abstract
Data were gathered during Spring 1979 by means of a questionnaire administered to 600 university students in Kuwait. The 77 questionnaire items measured attitudes and feelings about proper behavior, appropriate sanctions for wrongs, and psychological characteristics. A 7-item Islamic fundamentalism scale was included, consisting of statements traditional Muslim groups generally take for granted. Respondents selected from 17 possibilities appropriate penalties for 6 Alhuddoud offenses against God, which are identified in the Islamic scriptures along with their prescribed punishments. The Islamic penal law orientation factor was calculated by identifying those who never selected an Alhuddoud penalty for the offenses as opposing Islamic penal law and those who selected at least one Alhuddoud penalty (stoning to death, whipping, severing a limb, or execution) as favoring the Islamic code. Islamic law was found to be favored by 490 respondents while 110 indicated opposition. Travel experience, father's occupation, higher ranking of income, and type of residence were found to be good predictors of opposition, as were the psychological factors indicating low aggression and submission scores. Thus, it was found that the upper or upper middle class of society is most opposed to reinstating Islamic law. This population segment is also less orthodox, has had more contact with Western cultures, is more normless than the rest of society, and is likely to be experiencing anomie. Tabular data and 11 references are provided.