Married couples’ perceptions of relational strengths in the context of a high-risk community
Abstract
Couples who enjoy a loving and faithful marriage are more likely to experience a happy and healthy life. Although considerable research has been done on marriages in need of therapy, few studies have been carried out on couples who experience difficulties, but have the ability to manage it and enjoy a fulfilling relationship. Researchers agreed that people in positive and caring relationships show certain qualities and attitude in “good times” and in “bad times”. People living in high-risk communities are often exposed to various stressors and unsafe circumstances, because of high levels of crime and lack of resources. Despite these stressors that have an impact on their
families, many couples still stay together. The student aimed to explore and describe what the perceptions of relational strengths of
these married couples living in a high-risk community are that they believe to be important for a committed and lasting relationship. A qualitative descriptive approach was used. The World Café was used as data collection method and 17 participants took part. The findings revealed effective communication, to be friends with your spouse, enjoying a fulfilling sexual relationship, having a relationship with God, the importance of being part of a functional family and emotional fulfilment as the most important relational strengths in people living in a high-risk community. It is recommended that future research include divorced individuals to acquire their opinion
on the relational strengths their relationship lacked and the positive contributions they could have made. The participants mentioned that they often experience interference from outside, and it can be fundamental to identify and improve the resources inside the community with the idea of supporting married couples.
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- Health Sciences [2060]