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Research in the Sudan on child and family concerns.


 This paper examines research by Sudanese university students on: 1) indigenous childrearing practices and their implications for parent education; 2) female circumcision and changes in that practice; and 3) problems in providing adequate services for handicapped children. Various aspects of childrearing practices such as maternal warmth, feeding and weaning, toilet training, discipline, sex and sex roles, and maternal reactions to children's curiosity were observed. 150 mothers of 5-year-old children were studied using an interview schedule modeled after Robert Sears of Harvard University. The mothers were from 2 urban groups and 1 rural group. The research has led to development of parent education curricula. 150 third year urban high school girls were interviewed regarding female circumcision. The study found that although about 96% of the students had had some form of female circumcision performed on them, they opposed its being performed on sisters and other young girls (71.3% and 70%, respectively). The study (1983) shows that the most severe form, pharaonic circumcision, takes place 30% of the time, the intermediate form is done 60% of the time, while the Sunna, least radical form, accounts for 11% of circumcisions. There is a trend toward extinction of circumcision in urban areas while the direction of change in rural areas is not as clear. Interest in handicapped children is recent and much more work is needed to honor their rights adequately. Special education programs do exist for blind, physically handicapped, deaf, speech and hearing impaired children. A Directorate of Special Education was established in 1980 in the Ministry of Education. A survey of selected facilities reveals a need for more trained teachers and social workers, more services, better family-institution relationships, more financial resources and transportation, and more educational materials. Minimal government interest, inappropriate curriculum and insufficient number of special activities also plague the programs. Recommendations include refocusing efforts at the school level; community awareness; diagnostic centers; team development in rural areas, and mainstreaming of the children.
