A man shoots his 28-year-old sister to death and runs away; man shoots his sister five times; a son kills his father; a drug addict locks his mother in a room until she dies. These are some of the stories that made headlines in Saudi newspapers this year, shocking events which many believe are indicators that family crimes are on the rise. Speaking to Al-Riyadh newspaper, Dr. Jibreen Al-Jibreen, an associate professor of sociology at King Saud University, was reassuring. He said family crimes are limited in number and the majority of family members still care for one another. A quick look at the number of organ donors among the same family will prove this fact, Dr. Al-Jibreen said. "No doubt that the rapid changes and transformation society is going through have affected family values for some members of society but not for the majority of them," he said. Sociologist Haifa Al-Sofooq disagreed. She said family values in the past were stronger than they are today. "In the past, differences or disputes among family members were simple and rarely serious. Moreover, grandparents used to help raise children by teaching them good values and how to conduct themselves around other family members. Today, our traditions have changed and people only seem to be concerned with themselves to the extent that most family members nowadays do not care about one another and always put individual interests first," Al-Sofooq said. She said it is common for siblings to distance themselves from their brothers and sisters. The only thing they care about is money and their economic conditions. "Unfortunately, love for one's parents has decreased and a large number of children do not treat their parents kindly and lovingly. As an expert in sociology, I have to deal with a lot of cases where sons treated their fathers cruelly or where brothers mistreat their sisters," she added. Dr. Nadia Al-Tamimi, a clinical psychologist, said families no longer have time to get together and talk about common issues and discuss problems. "Everyone seems to be busy with their own affairs and they do not visit one another or sit down and talk," she explained. Psychologist Dr. Zainab Al-Ayesh said the family members today have failed to forge strong relationships with one another and violence has ruled their lives. "I think patience and wisdom do not exist anymore in households. Add to this the poor level of religiosity and excessive use of modern technology, especially social media," she said. "In the past, parents used to raise their own flesh and blood with strong values; they used to instill the values of love and kindness in their children's minds at an early age. Families do not do this today and this is why we read horrible stories about family crimes in the newspapers," she added.
