Development of Family Studies in the Eighties in Kuwait

The development of social scientific investigation in Kuwait falls into the pre-oil and post-oil periods. During the pre-oil period, research was largely historical and local. Following the dis- covery of oil, Kuwaiti society captured the interest of investigators from outside Kuwait. The study of family was seen as a minor area of social science, but was supported by various Kuwaiti institutions. Prominent in the literature on family in Kuwait are studies of aging, the phenomenon of expatriate housemaids, womens studies, and child development studies. This review concludes with the sugges- tion that family research in Kuwait is at the threshold of theoretical development. The next step is to improve the quality of research methods in order to build sound theory.