Outlines a developmental perspective for understanding the dynamics of remarried families. Uses case examples to illustrate the importance of adding to the current family situation both a view of critical points in a family's history, and expectation for its future paths. (RC)

Describes a contracting workshop for couples which is designed to strengthen their relationship. The counselor helps the couple make explicit and implicit agreements and rules by which the relationship operates. Through experiential exercises, minilectures, and group work, the couple's style of communication and decision making skills are…

Presents an integrative interpersonal-intrapsychic model of dysfunctional marital conflict. Reviews research support for the model. Discusses the therapeutic applications of the model and illustrates with a clinical example. (Author)

Assessed the immediate and long-term impact of the Couple Communication Program. Married couples (N=17) were assigned to training groups. Change was assessed using self-report measures of marital adjustment and communication quality along with behavioral ratings of couple verbal interaction. Couples increased significantly on all measures at…

Interviewed married couples (N=30) concerning strategies each spouse used to resolve conflicts. Findings show that husbands win most conflicts regardless of the strategies they or their wives employ. Suggests general background factors of the marriage shape outcomes but the process by which they are translated into outcomes is unclear. (Author)

Examined the relationship between spouses' (N=58) attributional styles for marital problems and their negative social reinforcement in a laboratory interaction procedure. Results indicated wives who attributed other couples' marital problems to undesirable personality traits or negative attitudes were more likely to verbally criticize their…

Focuses on alcoholism in the husband/father. Disturbed personality and decompensation hypotheses were not supported by the data. Suggests systems theory alone is inadequate to conceptualize the inconsistency of the alcoholic, and his impact on the family. Proposes a combination of systems theory and Hill's (1949) crisis theory. (Author)

Discusses ways people cope with extramarital relationships of their spouses. Results found avoidance was significantly more common among women, especially among women with a low self-esteem. Both avoidance and reappraisal correlated positively with neuroticism. Communication occurred more often among people with high marital satisfaction. (Author)

Describes the Systems Marriage Enrichment Program which was developed from the systems concepts of circular causality, the identification of predictable interaction patterns, and the adaptive and homeostatic mechanisms. Presents a protocol process consisting of five phases with goals and techniques. (Author)

Reviews research both supportive and skeptical of theories (based upon status competition processes, status incompatibility, complementary needs, and threat to gender identity) which posit that stress is created in marriages where the wife's occupational achievements exceed the husband's. Posits a theory explaining which couples will succeed in…

Notes a pattern in marital therapy wherein losses are not mourned or shared; instead one spouse uses the other for externalization of internal conflict. Explains how loss tends to be experienced as disenchantment with the spouse. Describes the conjoint format that can facilitate mourning and the sharing of losses. (Author)

Examines the family and work relationships of dual career couples and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of these relationships. Various ingredients including personality traits that contribute to the success of the two-career partnership are listed. (RC)

The medical practice setting preferences, in terms of demography, of 1978 U.S. medical school graduates are reported along with their career plans and other individual characteristics. Characteristics of graduates preferring inner city, small city and town/rural settings are highlighted. (JMD)

This historical study of divorce practice has only recently begun. Using Worcester County, Massachusetts as a test case, a preliminary hypothesis that explains the increasing frequency of divorce in terms of basic changes of American life, particularly the increased economic independence of women brought about by industrialization, is presented.…

More current marriages are now remarriages. The father is more likely to have custody of the children after divorce if the mother has remarried. Remarriage after divorce varies positively with income level for men, and varies negatively with both education and income for women. (Author)