This study investigated the effects of a home-based, audio cassette marriage enrichment course on marital communication and marital adjustment. The marriage enrichment course evaluated in this study consisted of two audio cassette tapes, each containing two sessions of approximately 45 minutes in length, and one work booklet. The course contained exercises emphasizing the development of communication skills, encouragement of self-disclosure, learning of empathy skills, and the setting of personal and mutual goals. The unique aspects of the course were the home-based setting in which the couples completed the program, and the self-enclosed audio cassette nature of the course.

Research on the ordination of women has focused on the effect in the church and on aspects of the personality of the women choosing the priesthood but not on effects on the families of ordained women. Using personal interviews, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Bem Sex Role Inventory, spouses in 12 families which contain ordained women from Episcopalian, Methodist, Unity and The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints churches were analyzed to determine the effects of ordination on the families. Couples containing an ordained female were found to have slightly higher marital adjustment and significantly higher levels of androgyny than a standardized sample. Androgyny and marital adjustment were significantly correlated. The more androgenous, the greater the marital adjustment.

Esta pesquisa investigou os fatores que interferem na comunicação conjugal e suas repercussões na família. Sabe-se que problemas de comunicação se interpõem nas relações conjugais e provocam dificuldades não apenas para o casal como também para os filhos e o convívio desses em sociedade. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, que teve como participantes 07 (sete) famílias, constituídas por casais heterossexuais, que convivem juntos há mais de cinco anos, possuem filhos/as, da camada social de baixa renda e que já tiveram ou estão enfrentado crises em seu relacionamento. As famílias pesquisadas tinham, em média, dois filhos com idade entre 03 e 16 anos. A idade dos cônjuges variou entre 31 a 43 anos e o tempo médio de convivência foi de 11 anos. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: uma Entrevista Semi-Estruturada e a Entrevista Familiar Estruturada (EFE), de Terezinha Féres-Carneiro (2005). Para coletar o material obtido filmamos e gravamos as falas dos participantes. Após sua transcrição, elas foram analisadas através da Técnica da Análise de Conteúdo Temática. A análise da EFE foi feita com base nos indicadores próprios já validados no Brasil. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que todos os casais iniciaram a relação por causa de uma gravidez inesperada, antes do exercício da conjugalidade, o que serviu de preditor de dificuldades comunicacionais desde o primeiro momento de convivência. Os casais pesquisados e suas respectivas famílias vivenciam dificuldades atualmente por causa de: interferência da família de origem; dificuldades financeiras; baixa qualidade do ambiente de moradia; falta de lazer e individualização dos casais e dos filhos; falta de interação conjugal, tanto entre o casal quanto no meio social em que vivem; dificuldade de interpretação da comunicação do(a) cônjuge, o que tem afetado diretamente na criação dos filhos. De acordo com os dados obtidos, confirmamos a relevância de estudos sobre a comunicação no relacionamento conjugal e também a necessidade de se apoiar e patrocinar mais estudos sistemáticos nesta área, no sentido de auxiliar os profissionais de psicologia e das diversas áreas que trabalham com casais e família, tais como: Associações Comunitárias, Igrejas e Programas de Governo Municipal, Estadual e Federal, voltados para essa finalidade, a exemplo do Programa de Saúde da Família PSF

Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T18:08:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_francismar_dias.pdf: 2917370 bytes, checksum: 1956abdb75b22683ac8e5b2d974ed0a7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-06 / This research investigated the factors that interfere in marital communication and its family repercussions. It is known that communication problems stand in marital relationships and cause difficulties not only for the couple but also for the children and the living of them before society. This is marked as a qualitative research which had as participants, 07 (seven) families constituted of heterosexual couples who live together for more than five years, have children and are considered lower-income people and they already had or they are still facing crises in their relationship. The researched families had an average of two children aged between 03 and 16 years old. The average ages of the spouses ranged from 31 to 43 years old and the marital living reached 12 years and two months long. The instruments used were: a Semi-Structured Interview and the Structured Family Interview (EFE) of Terezinha Féres- Carneiro (2005). To collect the obtained material we filmed and we recorded the participants' speeches; it was also used the Technique of Thematic Content Analysis. The analysis of the EFE was made based on the indicators themselves already validated in Brazil. Results showed that all couples started a relationship because of an unexpected pregnancy before the exercise of conjugality which served as a predictor of communication difficulties from the start of marital living. Couples surveyed and their families currently face difficulties because of financial problems, interference from background family, lack of individualization, poor housing conditions, difficulties on interpretation of communication from the spouse which has directly affected their children and the social environment in which they live in. According to data obtained through this research, it is confirmed the relevance of studies on marital communication in marital relationship and the need to support and sponsor more systematic studies into this area in order to subsidize psychology professionals and the several areas which work with couples and family such as: churches, community associations and government programs directed toward this purpose, such as the Program of Family Health - PSF / Esta pesquisa investigou os fatores que interferem na comunicação conjugal e suas repercussões na família. Sabe-se que problemas de comunicação se interpõem nas relações conjugais e provocam dificuldades não apenas para o casal como também para os filhos e o convívio desses em sociedade. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, que teve como participantes 07 (sete) famílias, constituídas por casais heterossexuais, que convivem juntos há mais de cinco anos, possuem filhos/as, da camada social de baixa renda e que já tiveram ou estão enfrentado crises em seu relacionamento. As famílias pesquisadas tinham, em média, dois filhos com idade entre 03 e 16 anos. A idade dos cônjuges variou entre 31 a 43 anos e o tempo médio de convivência foi de 11 anos. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: uma Entrevista Semi-Estruturada e a Entrevista Familiar Estruturada (EFE), de Terezinha Féres-Carneiro (2005). Para coletar o material obtido filmamos e gravamos as falas dos participantes. Após sua transcrição, elas foram analisadas através da Técnica da Análise de Conteúdo Temática. A análise da EFE foi feita com base nos indicadores próprios já validados no Brasil. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que todos os casais iniciaram a relação por causa de uma gravidez inesperada, antes do exercício da conjugalidade, o que serviu de preditor de dificuldades comunicacionais desde o primeiro momento de convivência. Os casais pesquisados e suas respectivas famílias vivenciam dificuldades atualmente por causa de: interferência da família de origem; dificuldades financeiras; baixa qualidade do ambiente de moradia; falta de lazer e individualização dos casais e dos filhos; falta de interação conjugal, tanto entre o casal quanto no meio social em que vivem; dificuldade de interpretação da comunicação do(a) cônjuge, o que tem afetado diretamente na criação dos filhos. De acordo com os dados obtidos, confirmamos a relevância de estudos sobre a comunicação no relacionamento conjugal e também a necessidade de se apoiar e patrocinar mais estudos sistemáticos nesta área, no sentido de auxiliar os profissionais de psicologia e das diversas áreas que trabalham com casais e família, tais como: Associações Comunitárias, Igrejas e Programas de Governo Municipal, Estadual e Federal, voltados para essa finalidade, a exemplo do Programa de Saúde da Família PSF

Religious and cultural discourses shape relationships/marriages. The constructed nature of relationships/marriages opens the possibility for alternative relational realities. Positioning relationships/marriages in alternative discourses assisted the couples to construct a preferred relationship narrative. Three couples embarked on this feminist participatory action research journey - a couple from the Jehovah's Witnesses tradition,' a couple from the Dutch Reformed Church and a couple from a Gay Refonned Church. Conversations with the participating couples deconstructed their relationships. It also enabled the couples to co-author alternative, preferred realities of their relationships/marriages and to provide rich descriptions of these. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Pastoral Therapy)

In this study the experiences, perceptions and challenges of being in a mixed-race relationship (M-R) were explored against the backdrop of previous South African pieces of legislation meant to keep the various race groups apart. The study was located within a conceptual framework predominantly informed by a constructivist approach, as well as some tenets from the social constructionist approach. This study focused only on M-R relationships consisting of black and white partners. The couples were recruited through the use of a snowball sampling method. In-depth interviews were used as the primary tool for collecting data. All participants were interviewed by the researcher either at their own homes or in the researcher's office. The collected information was later transcribed and qualitatively analysed. The results of the study indicate that individuals found their involvement in M-R relationships to be a positive experience, and thus resulting in a positive attitude change and a sense of personal growth. M-R couples and their extended families experienced cognitive dissonance which required them to discard their previously internalised racial stereotypes, using strategies such as cognitive differentiation, re-categorization and de-categorization, allowing shifts toward non-racial socially constructed categories. Most of the challenges of being in M-R relationships were experienced on interpersonal and inter-group levels. The losses, disadvantages, challenges, concerns and pains experienced by M-R couples were mainly related to family and social disapproval of the relationship as well as efforts to discourage race mixing. The study concludes that the non-conformist nature of M-R relationships requires from the participants a high level of self-differentiation and individuation that challenges racial norms and cultural collectivism. Albeit being a personal or private matter, a M-R relationship carries the burden of easily being the subject of public discourse. It is in this sense that M-R relationships cannot be understood without taking the socio-political context within which they occur into consideration. / Psychology / D.Phil. (Psychology)

The purpose of this study is to explore how people construct their intimate relationships, and to describe the patterns of connection and disconnection and their meanings within the social and cultural contexts of these relationships. It attempts to describe how the participating couples' relationships may or may not have changed due to the research process consisting of reflections and joint story telling, and the interventions of the researcher. Social constructionism is the epistemological framework of this study and indepth unstructured interviews with a cohabiting and a married couple were conducted. Hermeneutics was the method used to analyse the data. The participants' stories were recounted through the researcher's lens in the form of themes characterising their relationships. A comparative analysis was undertaken between the common themes identified in the two participating couples and literature. The information gained could assist couples and professionals in respecting heterosexual intimate relationships in their specific contexts. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

This study investigated some of the causes of marital pathology of Zulu couples. Through a questionnaire, the study investigated factors which affect Zulu marriages. It was found, according to thi~ research, that communication and infidelity by Zulu husbands are serious causes of marital pathology. The research also revealed that the historical and cultural nature of the Zulu marriage contributes to marital pathology. The second aim of the research was to investigate the marital therapy of Zulu couples. The question was whether marital therapy works among the Zulus, given the unwillingness of Zulu husbands to be counselled. The researcher found that Zulu husbands are resistant to being counselled. A therapeutic model was designed and used with two case examples. In both cases divorces were averted. This seems to indicate that marriage counselling can restore most of the Zulu marriages if husbands could cooperate in being counselled with their wives. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed.

The purpose of this investigation was to critically examine differences in the perceived levels of marital satisfaction among Nigerians living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. A realistic appraisal of this group's perceived levels of marital satisfaction provided the basis for this pragmatic and academically useful study which is especially valuable to professionals involved in cross-cultural counseling.

In this study the experiences, perceptions and challenges of being in a mixed-race relationship (M-R) were explored against the backdrop of previous South African pieces of legislation meant to keep the various race groups apart. The study was located within a conceptual framework predominantly informed by a constructivist approach, as well as some tenets from the social constructionist approach. This study focused only on M-R relationships consisting of black and white partners. The couples were recruited through the use of a snowball sampling method. In-depth interviews were used as the primary tool for collecting data. All participants were interviewed by the researcher either at their own homes or in the researcher's office. The collected information was later transcribed and qualitatively analysed. The results of the study indicate that individuals found their involvement in M-R relationships to be a positive experience, and thus resulting in a positive attitude change and a sense of personal growth. M-R couples and their extended families experienced cognitive dissonance which required them to discard their previously internalised racial stereotypes, using strategies such as cognitive differentiation, re-categorization and de-categorization, allowing shifts toward non-racial socially constructed categories. Most of the challenges of being in M-R relationships were experienced on interpersonal and inter-group levels. The losses, disadvantages, challenges, concerns and pains experienced by M-R couples were mainly related to family and social disapproval of the relationship as well as efforts to discourage race mixing. The study concludes that the non-conformist nature of M-R relationships requires from the participants a high level of self-differentiation and individuation that challenges racial norms and cultural collectivism. Albeit being a personal or private matter, a M-R relationship carries the burden of easily being the subject of public discourse. It is in this sense that M-R relationships cannot be understood without taking the socio-political context within which they occur into consideration. / Psychology / D.Phil. (Psychology)