This study examines the role that marital attributions may play in the relationship between the occurrence of stressful life events and marital quality. Specifically, it is suggested that within a crisis theory framework, the meaning couples attribute to stressful events may either mediate or moderate the impact of stressors on the marital relationship. First, several models of stress adaptation in families and marriages are discussed. Next, current research on marital attributions is reviewed, and problems with this field of research are explored. Finally, the possible role of marital attributions in stress adaptation is examined. A total of 60 married couples completed measures on current life stressors, marital quality, and marital attributions. The mediational model failed to find support due to the lack of a strong relationship between life stressors and marital attributions. Partial support for the moderational model was found. These results can be interpreted as indicating that the marital quality of couples who make relationship-enhancing attributions about their spouses' negative behaviors is less negatively affected by stress than those who make distress-maintaining attributions. Findings concurrent with the literature on resilience suggest that the experience of life stressors may afford an opportunity for a couple's marriage to strengthen if adaptive marital attributions are used. Differences in the moderational role of marital attributions between men and women and stress adaptation literature suggest future avenues of research.

Inaug.-diss.--Halle. / Vita.

Inaug.-diss.--Halle. / Vita.

In the context of a perceived globalisation of human rights, this thesis considers whether constitutional rights to equality and non-discrimination apply to polygynous customary marriages in Commonwealth Africa from a legislative perspective. In other words, I examine whether there is a correlation between constitutional protection of rights and legislation, sensitive to the human rights of women in polygynous customary marriages. It is shown that at a constitutional level, there is often a strong indication that human rights to equality and non-discrimination apply to customary laws, including customary institutions of marriage. This, however, often does not translate to a statutory level, resulting in marriage laws that largely side-line and ignore the possibility of polygyny in a customary marriage and the potential for human rights violations therein. I analyze the discursive mechanisms that facilitate the contradiction that arises when constitutional commitments to protect the rights of women in polygynous marriages are not met at a legislative level. I argue that practices of 'silence' and 'omission' are used to perpetuate the myth that monogamy is the default position of all marriages governed by statute. This effectively constructs polygynous marriages as an aberration to the norm, and further renders invisible the parties in polygynous customary marriages. In failing to provide statutory guidance for the complexities that may arise in polygynous marriages, I argue that women in polygynous marriages are discriminated against in comparison to women in monogamous relationships.

This qualitative study investigated how religion contributes to or strengthens strong African American marriages. This study was conducted within the family strengths framework. In order to develop an in-depth understanding of how religion contributed to their marriages, five couples who talked extensively about religion in their marriage were selected out of the total sample of 39 couples and were presented as case studies. Six themes emerged across all five case studies: couples consistently practiced their religion, religion was the foundation of the marriage, religion strengthened personal growth, couples had exemplars for a strong marriage, couples turned to religion during difficult times, and religion transcends race. These findings indicate that these couples practiced their religion in all aspects of their lives. The study provides an explanation of why a paradox may exist within the African American community in terms of religion and divorce. Implications of the findings are discussed.

This study explores some major themes in relation to marriage among contemporary Western Muslims. These themes include gendered ideals and expectations of the potential spouse, generational differences, inter-religious marriages for Muslim women, and individual choice and parental authority in mate selection. It re-evaluates the Islamic notion of marital compatibility (kafa’a) and shows how this notion is understood and can be applied to contemporary Western Muslims. Due to little academic research on the problem particularly of unavailable spouses, the study relies primarily on blogs, online discussions of marriage among Muslims, and internet articles on Western Muslim marriages. The dilemma faced by Western Muslims, particularly females, is that there is a lack of compatible available husbands for them. The study finds that, according to marriage-minded women, this unavailability is largely due to traditional expectations of gender roles from potential husbands contrasted against the women’s unconventionally older ages, focus on education and career, and overall understanding of power dynamics in marriage. The study also explores changing methods of mate selection among Western Muslims, which include services offered by Islamic centers, Internet matchmaking, and marriage events—where the average male participant is younger than the average female participant. As the age of marriage-minded females increases, their individual choice is more recognized in their marriage while their options of suitable men decreases significantly. Many of them therefore turn to interfaith marriages, which are not recognized by Islamic law, although some religious authorities across the West them on the basis of necessity. Western Muslim women are in a unique but complicated space where they are struggling to maintain their personal ideals of education and careers and are seeking partners who share these ideals; yet, with the tension between men’s expectations of women and women’s of men during courtship, and the role of family in mate selection, the problem of marriage becomes more complex with the various axes contributing to it. / text

The ability of marital partners to directly change a currently unhappy marriage to a happy one may be a function of each individual's conscious awareness of the topography, frequency, and other parameters of his own behaviors, as well as the effects or consequences these behaviors bring to bear on his spouse. This study was an attempt to combine the use of relevant behavioral awareness and a token economy to rehabilitate a marriage in crisis.

This thesis presents an ethnographic analysis of the practice of swara marriage among the Pashtun people of Jalalabad, Afghanistan, based on nine weeks of fieldwork in 2015. Swara is a form of compensation marriage practiced by Pashtun people in Pakistan and Afghanistan through which disputes between men are resolved through the giving away in marriage of girls, often minors, by guilty parties to victim parties. By employing practice theory and the theory of sacrifice, swara marriages are analyzed through the conceptualizations of honor, revenge, and ghairat (“bravery”). Focusing on six swara cases, the first half of the thesis explores the concepts of honor, revenge, and ghairat during the time of feuds. The second half of the thesis directly focuses on swara marriages and analyzes them through the concepts of symbolic capital and sacrifice. / May 2016

The aim of the research was to evaluate the premarital enrichment programme designed by Pretorius (1997) for couples who wish to remarry. The study was motivated by literature, which shows a high likelihood of divorce among divorcees who remarry. Three interested couples responded to advertisements placed in a local Potchefstroom newspaper and announcements made in churches. A qualitative (case study method) research design was used. The programme consisted of six two-hour sessions. The programme was conducted over two weekends. The first three sessions were held with all three couples and the last three sessions with each couple separately due to conflicting schedules. The effect of the programme was assessed by five measuring instruments, participants' metaphoric drawings of their relationships, semi-structured interviews, and the researcher's observations of the interaction between the participants. The assessment took place a week before and four weeks after the programme presentation. The results obtained indicated that two of the couples experienced changes whilst the other couple experienced minimal change. The change that occurred in the two couples were with regards to their communication and conflict management, their implementation of boundaries, intimacy, security in their relationship, growth, and dyadic adjustment. It was concluded that the premarital enrichment programme prepared two couples for remarriage, specifically with regards to their adjustment in the relationship. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

The central theoretical argument of this study is that biblical mediation may be a useful short-term method for use in pastoral care, specifically within the bounds of reconciliation in troubled marriages. The goal of formulating a basis theory was to explore what the Biblical teaching is on marriage, marital conflict, mediation and reconciliation. In general, a revelation-historical approach was followed. Specific cases of marital conflict in the Bible were examined. In researching reconciliation the role of Jesus Christ and pastors as mediator was explored. A grammatical-historical exegesis was done on Mat. 59, Mat. 18:15-17 and Rom. 14:19. It was concluded that marriage is a union of companionship based on a covenant and ordained by God and foreshadowing the eternal joyous relationship between Christ and the Church. God hates divorce, which is permitted only in certain circumstances. It was found that biblical teaching on conflict in general may be applied to marital conflict. It was concluded that although not all conflict is caused by sin, sinful attitudes and behaviours, including sinful desires or legitimate desires elevated to demands and distortion of the husband - wife roles designed by God before the Fall, do play a part in causing conflict. With regard to reconciliation it was concluded that Jesus acted as Mediator on the cross, making possible reconciliation between God and man, which also reflects God's will for the horizontal relationship between his people, particularly in marriage. Several examples of informal mediations and of calls to peacemaking were found in the Bible. It was found that Mat. 185-17 allows for mediation or counselling by one or two others in the church in certain circumstances. For establishing a meta theory the goal was to examine biblical mediation as a third party intervention in pastoral care for reconciliation in troubled marriages. A literature study was conducted on mediation, biblical mediation as taught by Peacemaker Ministries and on marital conflict and intervention methods resembling mediation by a survey of the literature in the social sciences. A qualitative empirical study was conducted, by doing biblical mediation with three Christian couples. It was concluded that mediation, and particularly the biblical mediation model used by Peacemaker Ministries, may be used to advantage by pastors for reconciliation in troubled marriages. The aim of establishing 'a practice theory was to propose a biblical mediation model to guide pastors in working toward reconciliation in troubled marriages. This was done by an analysis and synthesis of the basis - and meta theory in hermeneutical interaction. / Thesis (M.A. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.