Marital Issues in Communication

The need for change and how to change

The impact of traditional role of males in American culture

The myth that love can keep us together

Another perspective on the importance of communication

Marital Issues in Communication

Introduction: Marriage, as well as other personal relationships, represents a challenging and intriguing context in which to examine communication structures. The marital relationship is characterized by strong emotions, and is also linked to societal expectations, requirements and demands. Developing and testing theories of human communication within long-term relationships such as a marriage is a good way for social scientists to test and validate these theories. Jean Wilson Houck and Richard W. Daniel writing in Journal of Humanistic Education & Development (1994) offer their theories about communication in a marriage. They write that how husbands and wives communicate with one another affects the development of their relationship, as well as their satisfaction with their marriages, and that spouses' perceptions of their own marital communication were an essential element in the progress, or in the deterioration of their relationship. They suggest that wives may have higher expectations for openness and sharing in the re

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quire some unusual interventions such as recording conversations for later review. A short term fix involves allowing each partner the right to end a discussion at any point that he or she feels that the discussion has become or is threatening to become an out-of-control exchange. The key is not simply to drop the discussion, it is to continue it when both partners have had time to calm down and think more rationally. Ellen Kleiner writing in Mothering 1994 writes that the quest for a happy union hinges on its ability to handle conflict. Kleiner adds that it is not the differences between partners that cause problems, but how the differences are handled when they arise. Addressing the issue of communications, she notes that spouses need to practice relationship skills including intimate, caring, open and honest communications in order to become good at them (Kleiner, 1994, 26). Frequently, feeling hurt or unloved results in criticizing and nagging. What one spouse may want most in the relationship is more attention and tenderness, but if those needs are not met for whatever reason they respond by lashing out with critical, hurtful comments. Louise Ferrebee writing in Marriage Partnership (1997) suggests that men need to do to su
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1908
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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