This study aims to explore the experiences and coping mechanisms of black middle class women who remain in abusive marital relationships. The study also aimed to explore the reasons black women attach towards remaining in marital abusive relationships. Even though our current democratic Government has put efforts towards fighting against domestic abuse, South Africa is still characterised by high rates of domestic abuse. In South Africa a woman has about one in three chances of being violated in her life time, which puts it amongst the highest statistics of violence in the world, with one in six women standing a chance of being abused by her intimate partner in her lifetime (People Opposing Women Abuse, 2005). Domestic abuse does not just involve minor forms of physical assault, but, frequently, serious injury and even death. According to statistics from the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation at Wits University, one woman is murdered by her partner every six days in the Gauteng province in South Africa. Qualitative approach, as well as literature review and in-depth interviews have been used in order to study the experiences of abused women in the Mpumalanga province at KwaMhlanga. The theoretical approach used was (i) Social Learning Theories which focused on the mechanisms whereby family members influences each other through modelling, reinforcement and coercion to behave violently, (ii) The feminist theory in which the origins of abuse included stereotyping and patriarchal values, (iii) the General Systems Theory which demonstrates that abuse cannot be explained by focusing on an individual level, but rather that systems interact and as they interact, they influence the reaction of others. General System’s theory was used as the backdrop of the study because it provided a broader understanding of how abuse occurs within a family system and hence allowed the researcher to explore the experiences and coping mechanisms of women who remain in abusive marital relationships. Snowball sampling was used to recruit participants. The criteria included that the participants were currently in abusive marital relationships and had at least a tertiary qualification and were employed in middle management job position. Nine participants were interviewed using individual in depth interviews. The interviews were audio recorded and field notes were taken. Data was analysed qualitatively. Five broad categories formed a framework for the analysis. (i) The Experiences of abused women, (ii) the Impact of remaining in an abusive relationship, (iii) the Meaning attached to staying, (iv) the Coping mechanisms used by abused women, (v) and Social support. The themes were coded in form of numbers, counting the number of times the theme occurs in an interview, data was collected until a level of saturation was reached. The themes were then compared and integrated with the literature. The study concludes that abuse occurs in all social groups and that a complexity of factors contribute towards black middle class women resorting to remaining in marital abusive relationships, for example, culture and societal beliefs and structures, personality factors, and lack of support. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Psychology / unrestricted

The purpose of this study was to gain a greater understanding of the construct of friendship, specifically how intimate partners experience friendship in intimate relationships. 45 participants were interviewed one-time (for a total of 60-90 minutes) and asked about their experience of healthy and unhealthy behaviors, including friendship, in committed relationships. Research questions included: how participants define the concept of friendship, behaviors that perpetuate friendship in intimate relationships, perceived benefits of friendship, and what a lack of friendship in their relationship looks like. Participants were asked about friendship generally with the hope that information on the research questions would be offered. Participant responses were recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed using grounded theory tools of open, axial, and selective coding. Emergent themes lay on a continuum of unhealthy (apathy) to healthy (friendship) characteristics. Gaining a greater understanding of friendship in marriage as a lived experience has the potential to positively impact how individuals and couples view their intimate relationship and provide potential behaviors to adopt during distressing times. Clinicians may find the results useful to inform relationship-enhancing interventions, specifically for couple and family therapy.

The relationship between two types of religiousness (progressive and orthodox) and marital relationships was investigated using qualitative data from a sample of 26 Christian couples (13 progressive and 39 orthodox individuals) from California and New England. The focus of the study was individuals' frameworks of values and goals (moral order) and the ontological views behind them. Text analysis, t-tests for between-group differences of coded results, and phenomenological analysis were used. Results indicated that couples in the progressive group had Non-transcendent Selfhood as a basic moral order and engaged in mutual loving-kindness to respect and care for each other primarily in the form of a horizontal marital relationship. The couples in the orthodox group had Transcendent God Primacy as a basic moral order and, in addition to loving-kindness (horizontal relationship) toward the spouse, engaged in Transcendent Religious Striving (a vertical movement) as their main religious activity. Spouses in the orthodox group supported, strengthened, and shared the striving of each other. The substantive difference found in the types of being religious and their effects on marital relationships extends the understanding of the link between religion and marriage.

OBJETIVO: Esta dissertação tem por objetivo apresentar o estudo da associação entre transtornos psiquiátricos pós-parto e fatores demográficos, psicossociais e relacionados à gestação e parto em uma amostra de base populacional de um bairro de Porto Alegre. MÉTODO: O estudo envolveu todas as mães de crianças nascidas em hospital público no bairro Vila Jardim, em Porto Alegre, de novembro de 1998 a dezembro de 1999. As famílias foram estudadas quando os bebês completaram quatro meses de idade. A saúde mental das mães e pais foi avaliada pelo Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ) e por entrevistas semi-estruturadas individuais e do casal. A Escala Avaliação Global do Funcionamento Relacional (GARF) do Manual Diagnóstico e Estatístico de Transtornos Mentais (DSM-IV) foi usada para aferir a qualidade do relacionamento do casal, do relacionamento materno com sua família de origem, com a família paterna e com a rede social. Para os outros fatores foram feitas perguntas diretas à mãe e ao pai da criança. RESULTADOS: Segundo a escala SRQ 34,45% das 148 mulheres entrevistadas apresentaram suspeita de transtorno psiquiátrico, sendo que a avaliação clínica feita por dois profissionais de saude mental que avaliavam independentemente utilizando os critérios diagnósticos do DSM-IV indicou um percentual de 54%. Sessenta e dois por cento das mulheres coabitavam com companheiro, sendo que estes também foram entrevistados. Dos 118 pais, 25,4% apresentaram suspeita de transtorno psiquiátrico, segundo a escala SRQ. Nesta população, o fato de coabitar ou não com companheiro não esteve associado com transtorno mental. Nesta pesquisa, na análise de regressão logística estudando a totalidade do grupo de mulheres os fatores que se mostraram relacionados com o desfecho (SRQ igual ou superior a sete ) foram a baixa renda familiar (p=0,017) e a presença de transtorno psiquiátrico materno no passado (p=0,043). Na regressão logística feita exclusivamente com as mulheres que viviam com companheiro, apenas a má qualidade da relação do casal (notas de 1 a 3 pela escala GARF) esteve associada à presença de transtornos psiquiátricos quatro meses após o parto (OR=7,34, p=0,001). CONCLUSÃO: Este estudo reforça a necessidade de verificar a presença de transtornos psiquiátricos da mãe nas consultas de puericultura, introduz dados sobre o pai e, especialmente, sobre a importância de avaliar rotineiramente a relação conjugal. / OBJECTIVE: To study the association between suspicion of psychiatric disorder and demographic, psychosocial factors, as well as those related to pregnancy and delivery, in a population-based sample of women from a circumscribed neighborhood in Porto Alegre. METHOD: This study included the mothers of all the children born in public hospitals in Vila Jardim, a district of Porto Alegre, Brazil, from November 1998 through December 1999. Families were assessed when infants were 4 months of age. Parents’ mental health was assessed using the Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ) and individual and couple semi-structured interviews. The DSM-IV Global Assessment of Relational Functioning Scale was used to measure quality of couple relationship, of maternal relationship with the mother's family of origin, with paternal family and with social network. As to other factors, direct questions were asked to the child’s parents. RESULTS: According to the SRQ scale, 34.45% of all 148 interviewed women had suspicion of psychiatric disorder. The clinical assessment by two mental health professionals independently using DSM-IV criteria revealed a percentage of 54%. Sixty-two percent of women lived with partners, who were also interviewed. Of the 118 fathers, 25.4% had suspicion of psychiatric disorder, according to the SRQ scale. In this population, the fact of living or not with a partner was not associated with mental disorder. Analysis by logistic regression of the total group of women showed that factors associated with the main outcome (SRQ equal or higher than 7) were low family income (p = 0.017) and presence of previous maternal psychiatric disorder (p = 0.043). Logistic regression including only women living with a partner showed that poor marital relationship was associated with presence of psychiatric disorder, 4 months after delivery (OR = 7.34 p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study reinforces the need of investigating presence of maternal psychiatric disorder during childcare, introduces data on the father and especially on the importance of a routine assessment of the marital relationship.

OBJETIVO: Esta dissertação tem por objetivo apresentar o estudo da associação entre transtornos psiquiátricos pós-parto e fatores demográficos, psicossociais e relacionados à gestação e parto em uma amostra de base populacional de um bairro de Porto Alegre. MÉTODO: O estudo envolveu todas as mães de crianças nascidas em hospital público no bairro Vila Jardim, em Porto Alegre, de novembro de 1998 a dezembro de 1999. As famílias foram estudadas quando os bebês completaram quatro meses de idade. A saúde mental das mães e pais foi avaliada pelo Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ) e por entrevistas semi-estruturadas individuais e do casal. A Escala Avaliação Global do Funcionamento Relacional (GARF) do Manual Diagnóstico e Estatístico de Transtornos Mentais (DSM-IV) foi usada para aferir a qualidade do relacionamento do casal, do relacionamento materno com sua família de origem, com a família paterna e com a rede social. Para os outros fatores foram feitas perguntas diretas à mãe e ao pai da criança. RESULTADOS: Segundo a escala SRQ 34,45% das 148 mulheres entrevistadas apresentaram suspeita de transtorno psiquiátrico, sendo que a avaliação clínica feita por dois profissionais de saude mental que avaliavam independentemente utilizando os critérios diagnósticos do DSM-IV indicou um percentual de 54%. Sessenta e dois por cento das mulheres coabitavam com companheiro, sendo que estes também foram entrevistados. Dos 118 pais, 25,4% apresentaram suspeita de transtorno psiquiátrico, segundo a escala SRQ. Nesta população, o fato de coabitar ou não com companheiro não esteve associado com transtorno mental. Nesta pesquisa, na análise de regressão logística estudando a totalidade do grupo de mulheres os fatores que se mostraram relacionados com o desfecho (SRQ igual ou superior a sete ) foram a baixa renda familiar (p=0,017) e a presença de transtorno psiquiátrico materno no passado (p=0,043). Na regressão logística feita exclusivamente com as mulheres que viviam com companheiro, apenas a má qualidade da relação do casal (notas de 1 a 3 pela escala GARF) esteve associada à presença de transtornos psiquiátricos quatro meses após o parto (OR=7,34, p=0,001). CONCLUSÃO: Este estudo reforça a necessidade de verificar a presença de transtornos psiquiátricos da mãe nas consultas de puericultura, introduz dados sobre o pai e, especialmente, sobre a importância de avaliar rotineiramente a relação conjugal. / OBJECTIVE: To study the association between suspicion of psychiatric disorder and demographic, psychosocial factors, as well as those related to pregnancy and delivery, in a population-based sample of women from a circumscribed neighborhood in Porto Alegre. METHOD: This study included the mothers of all the children born in public hospitals in Vila Jardim, a district of Porto Alegre, Brazil, from November 1998 through December 1999. Families were assessed when infants were 4 months of age. Parents’ mental health was assessed using the Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ) and individual and couple semi-structured interviews. The DSM-IV Global Assessment of Relational Functioning Scale was used to measure quality of couple relationship, of maternal relationship with the mother's family of origin, with paternal family and with social network. As to other factors, direct questions were asked to the child’s parents. RESULTS: According to the SRQ scale, 34.45% of all 148 interviewed women had suspicion of psychiatric disorder. The clinical assessment by two mental health professionals independently using DSM-IV criteria revealed a percentage of 54%. Sixty-two percent of women lived with partners, who were also interviewed. Of the 118 fathers, 25.4% had suspicion of psychiatric disorder, according to the SRQ scale. In this population, the fact of living or not with a partner was not associated with mental disorder. Analysis by logistic regression of the total group of women showed that factors associated with the main outcome (SRQ equal or higher than 7) were low family income (p = 0.017) and presence of previous maternal psychiatric disorder (p = 0.043). Logistic regression including only women living with a partner showed that poor marital relationship was associated with presence of psychiatric disorder, 4 months after delivery (OR = 7.34 p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study reinforces the need of investigating presence of maternal psychiatric disorder during childcare, introduces data on the father and especially on the importance of a routine assessment of the marital relationship.

OBJETIVO: Esta dissertação tem por objetivo apresentar o estudo da associação entre transtornos psiquiátricos pós-parto e fatores demográficos, psicossociais e relacionados à gestação e parto em uma amostra de base populacional de um bairro de Porto Alegre. MÉTODO: O estudo envolveu todas as mães de crianças nascidas em hospital público no bairro Vila Jardim, em Porto Alegre, de novembro de 1998 a dezembro de 1999. As famílias foram estudadas quando os bebês completaram quatro meses de idade. A saúde mental das mães e pais foi avaliada pelo Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ) e por entrevistas semi-estruturadas individuais e do casal. A Escala Avaliação Global do Funcionamento Relacional (GARF) do Manual Diagnóstico e Estatístico de Transtornos Mentais (DSM-IV) foi usada para aferir a qualidade do relacionamento do casal, do relacionamento materno com sua família de origem, com a família paterna e com a rede social. Para os outros fatores foram feitas perguntas diretas à mãe e ao pai da criança. RESULTADOS: Segundo a escala SRQ 34,45% das 148 mulheres entrevistadas apresentaram suspeita de transtorno psiquiátrico, sendo que a avaliação clínica feita por dois profissionais de saude mental que avaliavam independentemente utilizando os critérios diagnósticos do DSM-IV indicou um percentual de 54%. Sessenta e dois por cento das mulheres coabitavam com companheiro, sendo que estes também foram entrevistados. Dos 118 pais, 25,4% apresentaram suspeita de transtorno psiquiátrico, segundo a escala SRQ. Nesta população, o fato de coabitar ou não com companheiro não esteve associado com transtorno mental. Nesta pesquisa, na análise de regressão logística estudando a totalidade do grupo de mulheres os fatores que se mostraram relacionados com o desfecho (SRQ igual ou superior a sete ) foram a baixa renda familiar (p=0,017) e a presença de transtorno psiquiátrico materno no passado (p=0,043). Na regressão logística feita exclusivamente com as mulheres que viviam com companheiro, apenas a má qualidade da relação do casal (notas de 1 a 3 pela escala GARF) esteve associada à presença de transtornos psiquiátricos quatro meses após o parto (OR=7,34, p=0,001). CONCLUSÃO: Este estudo reforça a necessidade de verificar a presença de transtornos psiquiátricos da mãe nas consultas de puericultura, introduz dados sobre o pai e, especialmente, sobre a importância de avaliar rotineiramente a relação conjugal. / OBJECTIVE: To study the association between suspicion of psychiatric disorder and demographic, psychosocial factors, as well as those related to pregnancy and delivery, in a population-based sample of women from a circumscribed neighborhood in Porto Alegre. METHOD: This study included the mothers of all the children born in public hospitals in Vila Jardim, a district of Porto Alegre, Brazil, from November 1998 through December 1999. Families were assessed when infants were 4 months of age. Parents’ mental health was assessed using the Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ) and individual and couple semi-structured interviews. The DSM-IV Global Assessment of Relational Functioning Scale was used to measure quality of couple relationship, of maternal relationship with the mother's family of origin, with paternal family and with social network. As to other factors, direct questions were asked to the child’s parents. RESULTS: According to the SRQ scale, 34.45% of all 148 interviewed women had suspicion of psychiatric disorder. The clinical assessment by two mental health professionals independently using DSM-IV criteria revealed a percentage of 54%. Sixty-two percent of women lived with partners, who were also interviewed. Of the 118 fathers, 25.4% had suspicion of psychiatric disorder, according to the SRQ scale. In this population, the fact of living or not with a partner was not associated with mental disorder. Analysis by logistic regression of the total group of women showed that factors associated with the main outcome (SRQ equal or higher than 7) were low family income (p = 0.017) and presence of previous maternal psychiatric disorder (p = 0.043). Logistic regression including only women living with a partner showed that poor marital relationship was associated with presence of psychiatric disorder, 4 months after delivery (OR = 7.34 p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study reinforces the need of investigating presence of maternal psychiatric disorder during childcare, introduces data on the father and especially on the importance of a routine assessment of the marital relationship.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2018-04-26T15:47:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 brunarochadealmeida.pdf: 5510384 bytes, checksum: 2929c7b331fb1ecf3ea9a266eec58801 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2018-09-03T12:12:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 brunarochadealmeida.pdf: 5510384 bytes, checksum: 2929c7b331fb1ecf3ea9a266eec58801 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-03T12:12:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 brunarochadealmeida.pdf: 5510384 bytes, checksum: 2929c7b331fb1ecf3ea9a266eec58801 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-06 / FAPEMIG - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais / O nascimento de uma criança com síndrome de Down (SD) pode trazer implicações ao funcionamento familiar e às relações estabelecidas entre os membros familiares. A literatura indica que os genitores de filhos com SD apresentam bons níveis de satisfação conjugal e índices de ajustamento conjugal semelhantes àqueles com filhos com desenvolvimento típico (DT). Além disso, a relação fraternal nessas famílias tem sido descrita como sendo positiva, com características de amizade, afeto, companheirismo e sincronia. Há a tendência de o irmão com DT assumir a liderança durante os episódios interativos, apresentando comportamentos diretivos em relação ao irmão com SD. Este estudo teve como objetivo descrever a qualidade das relações conjugais e fraternais em famílias com filhos com SD e as possíveis associações entre a qualidade dessas relações, a partir da perspectiva sistêmica. Foram participantes 17 famílias, sendo quatro compostas por pai, mãe e um filho biológico com o diagnóstico de SD e 13 famílias compostas por pai, mãe, um filho biológico com SD e pelo menos um filho com DT. Os dados foram coletados na residência das famílias e incluíram os seguintes instrumentos e técnicas: Questionário de Caracterização do Sistema Familiar, Entrevistas semiestruturadas, Escala de Ajustamento Díadico, Observação das interações entre as díades conjugais com utilização do vídeo, Questionário de Irmãos e Questionário de Relações Fraternais. Os resultados demonstram que as relações conjugais são caracterizadas como amistosas e ajustadas, com bons níveis de consenso, coesão, satisfação e expressão de afeto. As interações são marcadas pela proximidade e pelo clima amigável entre o casal. Ambos os cônjuges tendem a participar de forma ativa e igualitária na discussão, valorizando e reconhecendo a posição e as ideias um do outro. Já as relações fraternais são caracterizadas pela afetuosidade, proximidade e companheirismo, com baixos níveis de conflitos e rivalidade. Os irmãos com DT assumem a postura de irmão mais velho e têm comportamentos de cuidado e proteção com o irmão com SD. Observou-se associação positiva entre a coesão diádica conjugal e a amorosidade/proximidade entre os irmãos. Ademais, as esposas de casais desajustados percebem um maior nível de rivalidade na relação fraternal de seus filhos. Já os irmãos nas famílias de casais desajustados avaliam sua relação com seu irmão com SD como tendo um maior nível de conflito do que aqueles nas famílias de casais ajustados. Destaca-se a importância da realização de estudos longitudinais que utilizem abordagem multimetodológica e que investiguem a inter-relação entre os diferentes subsistemas familiares para a melhor compreensão das relações desenvolvidas nas famílias de pessoas com SD. / The birth of a child with Down’s syndrome (DS) may have implications at family functioning and relationships established among family members. The literature indicates that parents of children with DS have good levels of marital satisfaction and similar levels of marital adjustment of parents of children with typical development (TD). In addition, the sibling relationship in these families has been described as positive, with characteristics of friendship, affection, companionship and synchrony. There is a tendency that the sibling with TD take the lead during the interactive episodes, presenting directive behaviors over the sibling with DS. This study aims to describe the quality of marital and sibling relationships in families with children with DS and the possible associations of the quality of these relationships, from the systemic perspective. The participants of this study were 17 families, four of them composed of father, mother and biological child with diagnosis of DS and 13 families composed of father, mother, biological child with SD and at least one child with TD. Data were collected in the families' homes and included these instruments and techniques: Questionnaire for Characterizing the Family System, semi-structured interviews, Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Observation of interactions between marital dyads using video technology, Sibling’s Questionnaire and Sibling Relationship Questionnaire. The results demonstrate that the marital relationships are characterized as friendly and adjusted, with good levels of consensus, cohesion, satisfaction and affectional expression. The interactions are marked by proximity and friendly atmosphere between the couple. Both spouses tend to participate actively and equitably in the discussion, valuing and recognizing one's position and ideas of each other. The sibling relationships are characterized by affection, closeness and companionship, with low levels of conflict and rivalry. The siblings with TD assume an older sibling's posture and have caring and protective behaviors with the sibling with DS. There is a positive association between dyadic conjugal cohesion and warmth/closeness between siblings. The wives of couples with inadequate adjustment perceive more rivalry in the sibling relationship of their children. Whereas the siblings in the families of couples with inadequate adjustment evaluate their relationship with their sibling with DS as having more conflicts than in families with adjusted couples. It is important to conduct longitudinal studies that use the multi-method approach and investigate the interrelationship between the different family subsystems to better understand the relationships developed in the families of people with DS.

Suicide risk is rapidly increasing in children and adolescents. It is vital that research explores the causes in child and adolescent suicide risk. Research has failed to identify if the marital relationship may be correlated with this increase in suicide ideation in children. This study set out to determine if a child's perception of their parents' marital conflict impacts the child's suicidal risk. Using the Family Foundations of Youth Development project this study analyzed 1,692 parent and child participants to test if the child's perceptions of the marital conflict impacted their suicide risk and if the parent's own report of their relationship instability would impact child suicide risk. Results indicated that the child's perceptions were statistically significant in predicting suicide risk in adolescents. However, the parent's report was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that the child's perceptions of the parent's marital conflict impacts their suicide risk and should be considered when working with suicidal adolescents. Implications for working with suicidal youth is that clinicians focus on working with and treating the whole family system.

The purpose of this study was to determine the most important premarital couple protective and risk factors associated with marital relationship quality and stability by utilizing meta-analytic procedures to calculate standardized effect sizes for each factor. Extant research was identified and evaluated using the following inclusionary criteria: the dependent variables had to measure some form of marital quality or stability, the independent variables had to be premarital in nature, the participants had to have married after 1969, and the statistics necessary for the computation of a zero-order correlation effect size had to be available. Meta-analytic procedures were then utilized to code studies meeting inclusionary criteria, aggregate conceptually-comparable variables across included studies, and calculate standardized zero-order correlational effect sizes for each aggregated premarital factor. The predictive magnitude of premarital couple factors associated with subsequent marital outcomes was generally moderate. The results indicated both medium and small effect sizes for the various identified premarital couple predictors of marital relationship quality and instability. Positive premarital factors were generally associated with positive marital outcomes and negative premarital factors were generally associated with negative outcomes. The strongest significant protective and risk factors for marital distress and dissolution were as follows. The protective factors against marital distress included premarital relationship quality (e.g., love, satisfaction, support), premarital relationship stability (e.g., commitment, stability), attitude and value similarity (e.g., autonomy, lifestyle, expectations), positive premarital interactions (e.g., assertiveness, empathy, self-disclosure), religiosity similarity (e.g., religion importance, beliefs, denominational affiliation), and family-of-origin experience similarity factors (e.g., attachment, parent-child relationship, parents' marriage, physical violence). The protective factors against marital dissolution included premarital relationship stability, religiosity similarity, premarital relationship quality, and positive interactions. The risk factors for marital distress included negative premarital interactions (e.g., conflict, criticism, demand-withdraw) and premarital violence (e.g., physical aggression, sexual coercion, violence). The risk factors for marital dissolution included negative interactions and premarital cohabitation with one's spouse. No significant gender differences were identified for any of the premarital predictive factors. Study limitations, implications for future research, and recommendations for educators and clinicians are discussed.

Text in Afrikaans / In hierdie ondersoek is navorsing gedoen oor die Romeinse huweliksverhouding ten einde vas te stel of die klassieke Romeinse reg die Romeinse vrou se huweliksverhouding beskerm het indien dit deur haar man se wangedrag geskend is. Die navorsing het getoon dat, soos in die Suid-Afrikaanse reg, die Romeinse huweliksverhouding teen die klassieke tydperk 'n consortium omnis vitae met veral morele huwelikspligte was en dat die nie-nakoming van hierdie pligte op wangedrag en skending van die huweliksverhouding neergekom het. Daar is tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat, soos in die moderne reg, ook die Romeinse man die huweliksverhouding kon skend deur wangedrag, beperkte vorme van seksuele wangedrag, iniuria en bigamie. Die klassieke Romeinse reg het egter nie aan die Romeinse vrou direkte regsbeskerming verleen by die man se skending van die huweliksverhouding deur wangedrag nie. Sy het egter wel indirekte regsbeskerming in die vorm van toevlugof afskrikmiddels (soos egskeiding en die dos) geniet. / In this study research has been done on the Roman marital relationship in order to determine whether classical Roman law protected the Roman wife's marital relationship if it had been breached by her husband's misconduct. Research has shown that by the classical period, as in South African law, the Roman marital relationship was a consortium omnis vitae with primarily moral marital duties. Non-compliance with these duties amounted to misconduct and breach of the marital relationship. It was concluded that, as in modern law, the Roman husband too could be in breach of his marital relationship through misconduct, limited forms of sexual misconduct, iniuria and bigamy. However, classical Roman law did not grant the Roman wife any direct legal protection where her husband was in breach of the marital relationship because of misconduct. She nevertheless enjoyed indirect legal protection in the form of deterrents (such as divorce and the dos). / Law / LL.M.