...Conflict Resolution and Mediation: A Look at Same Sex Couples Psychology 399 Kari Holter May 3rd, 2013 Conflict can be both good and bad and with mediation and conflict resolution we can handle conflict situations properly and strengthen relationships. In this paper I will focus on same sex couples and how mediation and conflict resolution is the same and different compared to heterosexual couples. I will talk about some background info on conflict, mediation, and same sex couples and families. I will then discuss the 4 articles I read and what was found on same sex couples and mediation. CONFLICT Conflict is the interaction of interdependent people who perceive incompatibility and the possibility of interference from others as a result of this incompatibility (Folger, Poole, Stutman, 2009). The most important feature of conflict is human interactions and they are sustained by behaviors of the parties involved and their reactions to one another. These reactions are usually verbal and nonverbal communication. MEDIATION Mediation is a range of processes in which a mediator facilitates communication between parties to assist the parties in reaching voluntary decisions related to their dispute (SBHE Policy 605.5, Antes, 2003). There are three types of mediation. 1. Transformative – empowerment and recognition opportunities are supported. 2. Facilitative – parties reach a mutually satisfactory agreement. 3. Evaluative – parties decide based upon...
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...Abstract Marital conflicts arise when two people wish to passionately express their individuality within their bonded union. Conflict of any kind is a healthy exercise in patience and understanding. There are positional boundaries’ that should be respected and valued in marital relationships. Marital satisfaction and longevity can be achieved if the two partners adhere to the rules of engagement in their attempt to express their needs and desires while valuing each other’s difference and individuality. However, when there is a sense of love loss within the dyadic relationship, conflicts can become detrimental to marital bliss. Achieving marital satisfaction and longevity can be challenging when passions are high and couples are in a constant state of flux due to verbal confrontation, or gender-role conflict. Keywords: marital conflict, marital longevity, conflict resolution and marital Satisfaction. Effects of Unresolved Conflict on Marital Satisfaction and Longevity Within the binding bonds of marital bliss, there is a dynamic that occasionally rears its ugly head; conflict. There have been married couples throughout time in memoriam who have declared that conflict does not reside within the confines of their marriages. (These are “the avoiders,” they will be discussed later in this composition.) If this is true, then how does a marital relationship survive if each partner impedes the value of differentiation while still remaining true too, and loving...
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...marriages. All couples have a difference of opinions in situations in their lives together. Marital conflict is not a matter of a difference in opinions. Marital conflict stems from a development of unfortunate series of circumstances that have caused a rift in the unity of the partnership of the marriage. The source of marital conflict consists of issues that have boiled up to the point of a severe lack of communication. When married couples stop communicating with each other, they grow farther apart in their marriage. If married couples have the opportunity to identify the causes of marital discord, they will develop healthier ways to resolve the complex issues within their marriage. In general, all couples have dealt with issues with finance, parenting, and domestic duties. This case study analysis will discuss the facilitator’s report of the relationship dynamics of a conflicted couple, Steve and Cindy. This analysis will focus on the identification of key strengths and weaknesses between the couple, how the couple’s personalities might be influencing their situation, and developing a strategy to counsel and support the couple. This analysis will highlight conflict resolution skills that the couple may be able to employ as a way to build upon their foundation within their marriage. Case Study 2: Steve and Cindy Introduction When a couple enters marital counseling, they are seeking to identify potential relationship issues and resolve complicated conflicts. In counseling...
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...single most important contributor to a happy stable and satisfying marriage. According to the current divorce statistics, 50% of marriages end in divorce due to the lack of communication skills and or poor problem solving skills. When communication dissolves between husband and wife, the marital relationship also dissolves. It is vital for couples to ascertain the necessary skills that promote healthy and effective communication. The following paper will outline the interviewed couple’s problems with communication, provide current statistic of married couples who struggle with effective communication, reasons that contribute towards poor communication in marital relationships, and helpful techniques, actions and treatments that are helpful in fostering strong heathy communication between husband and wife. Keywords: marriage, communication, active listening, techniques Introduction After conducting a thorough interview with the Meredith’s, a middle aged married couple, the major problem that was noticed was there inability to effectively communicate in a healthy and respectful manner. The particular area of communication that the couple struggles with involves active listening and nonverbal gestures. Both husband and wife lack the ability to attentively listen to what one another is really saying to each other. While engaging in a serious discussion, each spouse has the need to get their point across at the same time, when this occurs neither one is actively listening to the...
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...A study by Rueda and Williams (2016) examined a group of Mexican American adolescent couples and their conflict issues. In this study, the investigators evaluated some Mexican American adolescent couples concerning their communication conflict issues. Several indicators developed the contexts and extended the investigation. The study consisted how young adolescents’ communication problems affected their relationship. Mexican American adolescents presented in this study proved how communication conflict affects relationships. A group of youth was evaluated to determine their conflict issues in their relationship. Researchers had determined the wide variety of conflicts between men and women. Commitment in a relationship grows as the relationship progresses and deteriorates as couple lack of communication. Therefore, in this study the investigators evaluated how couples’ communication can result in conflict issues in their relationship....
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...Resolving Conflicts in Relationships Through Negotiation. Conflict is inevitable in relationships because people have different needs and viewpoints (Wood, 2002; Purkey, Schmidt & Novak, 2010) and thus conflict involves the expression of these tensions (Wood, 2002). This essay will focus on the role of negotiation in resolving conflicts in interpersonal relationships; the chosen setting being that of a couple who are in conflict about their life directions with one wishing to travel and the other wishing to save for a home. It will start with defining conflict in general and then focus on the context of conflict in interpersonal relationships. Following this there will be an examination of the negotiation method of resolving interpersonal conflict as well a description of a range of communication skills that are required for negotiation. Finally, it will discuss the role of third- party intervention in conflict resolution and conclude with a summary of the key points. Folger, Poole and Stutman (2009, p. 4) define conflict as “the interaction of interdependent people who perceive incompatibility and the possibility of inference from others as a result of this incompatibility.” Johnson and Johnson (1987) refer to “conflicts of interest” and state that these may be based on differing needs and opinions or inequalities in relation to resources such as power, money, time and position. Conflict is the struggle between opposing needs and viewpoints and arises when we perceive...
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...Abstract Regardless of situations in one’s life there comes a time when they are going to be faced with conflict. Conflict is inevitable, even in a marriage. However, it is how the conflict in a marriage that will determine how it affects the longevity of the marriage and the effects it has on any children involved and if the affects become detrimental to the parties involved. When there is unresolved conflict in a marriage it not only has an effect on the emotional well-being of those involved but also has an effect on the mental, spiritual and physical well-being of all individuals involved. This paper will discuss how conflict in marriage affects those involved as well as the longevity of the marriage itself. Studies have shown that conflict and disagreements within a marriage have and affect or couples and the relationships versus couples who are willing to confront their issues and talk their problems out. Individuals were studied over a ten day period using two separate groups to see how they dealt with conflict. The first group consisted of 128 individuals and their conflicts for a ten day period were recorded. The second group consisted of 75 couples in a laboratory setting. The couples were monitored to see how they related to their mate and how they responded to conflict in which they faced. This was to measure the commitment level of each of the mates before the discussions they had and after their discussions...
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...Dr. Gotmann with colleagues arrive to predictions of what leads to successful/unsuccessful marriages. * Dr. Gotmann with his colleagues invited couples to their Love Lab where the couples were tested while being observed and analyzed. * First, they separately complete some questionnaires about their marriage. (questions about their financial problems, kids.) * After that, couples together with a researcher completed an oral history Interview. ( they were sharing the story of how they met) * The next step was the conflict discussion. (the heart rates, facial expressions, emotions were monitored) * The back stage was analyzing the results. * Dr. Gotmann met the couples and talked about the findings. 2. What Dr. Gotmann and his colleagues claim to be able to predict? By analyzing the video tapes recorded of the couples, the researchers are able to predict the relationship stability. 3. Describe the “master” and “disaster” of relationships (in details). Listen for the patterns of distructive communication (4 hourses of apocalypse) the “disaster” use that you’ve also read about. Master- the couples who are together, didn’t divorce and are pretty happy. They are very gentile with one another even during an argument, take responsibility for even a small part of a problem. Disaster- couples who broke apart or stay together but are unhappy. Are pointing their finger at their partner, are critical, are diagnosing their partner’s personality...
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...work family conflict which is in simple term refer to the situation which occurs due to the imbalance in the working area and family where an individual cannot fulfill the role in the both areas. The main purpose of this paper is to unfold what the work family conflict and dual professionalism is. Furthermore, this paper reviews the article that pinpoint the factors that is responsible for work family conflict. The main aim of this paper is to figure out how the factors like gender, culture, job satisfaction and stress end up in work family conflict. Likewise, this paper also reviews the ways to control the work family conflict to some extent. Keywords: Work family conflict, Gender, Culture, Job Satisfaction, Stress Introduction Work-family conflict has been the important issue in the present scenario. Today both the couples are working in a particular field in order to pursue their goals. In the past decades, mainly women were responsible to balance the work and family. As the time changes, men have been also responsible to balance family and work. Female were only supposed to stay in home in the past era. These days the idea is completely changing. Both the couples work and pursue their dream. These days it is clear to us that both the couples work and share the responsibility of the family and care giving. (Greenhaus et. al, 2000). Both the couples are finding difficult to balance the work and family life. The term work family conflict and family work conflict seems same...
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...divorce of one’s parents impacts the intimate relationships of young adults. This was assessed researching the difference in intimacy levels as well as positive and negative communication patterns. The researchers looked at four different types of couples to study; neither person experienced parental divorce, both partners experienced divorce, and only the man or the woman experienced divorce. Based on previous studies, Mullet and Stolberg wanted to know whether or not the level of intimacy and communication contributes to unsuccessful relationships in young adults who experienced their parents’ divorce. They believed a woman who has experienced parental divorce will have a higher level of negative communication. They also believed that relationships in which the man only experienced parental divorce would decrease likely hood of his divorce because the woman would be more likely to have better conflict resolution skills and the man can adapt to that. Regarding relationships where the man and woman did not experience their parents’ divorce, higher levels of communication and intimacy would be present and will decrease risk of their own divorce. Finally regarding the couples where both partner’s experienced parental divorce may fear conflict and cause decrease in intimacy over time and lead to divorce. Mullet and Stolberg found that communication is negatively affected when only the female has experienced parental divorce, but not the man. Intimacy...
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...Abstract The differences in correspondence styles among men and women have been a subject of interest for research for quite a while. These differences may provoke miscommunication, battle, and even frustration between couples. This study looks at the communication styles among men and women, more especially between married couples. It questions how the different genders express their thoughts and feelings that may lead to conflicts. The study will be driven utilizing an in-depth analysis of what causes miscommunication that leads to conflicts. Qualitative research is the method that will be used to gain an in-depth look at why the genders have some of their communication problems. The goal is to increase the amount of awareness regarding communication styles and how it relates better marital communication to aid in the prevention of miscommunication and the decrease a lot of conflicts because of it. Today, divorce has become a very common part of life, and it is likely that ineffective communication plays a crucial role in the failure of many marriages. Communication may lead to the success of a marriage or to its detriment, depending on its level of effectiveness. This effectiveness of communication is likely connected to the overall satisfaction of married couples and is worthy to be studied in order to increase marital satisfaction. Learning more about the differences in communication styles between men and women will aid in the more successful sending and receiving of messages...
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...When entering into marital counseling, a couple is often seeking help to resolve differences or problems either one or both are struggling to overcome. Steve and Cindy have recently begun this journey by seeking help with their marriage from a pastoral counselor at their church who uses Olson’s PREPARE/ENRICH program (2009). They have both taken the program’s online tests, which cover a multitude of key areas such as the couple’s background, relationship dynamics, and personalities. This paper addresses three main areas including the identification of the couple’s key strengths and weaknesses, a discussion of potential issues with the couple’s personality, and the development of a plan to counsel and support them through church ministry. * Key Areas Identified * Hawkins (1991.p.23) describes the concept of intimacy as “oneness with healthy separateness”. When reviewing the results of Olson’s PREPARE/ENRICH report (2009), it becomes evident that many areas of strength and weakness exist in the couple’s relationship. The answers provided under idealistic distortion indicate that both Steve and Cindy realize that there are problems in the marriage needing to be addressed but Steve is minimizing the severity of the problem. Cindy’s results state that she is generally realistic and admits there are existing problems but later on, under other categories, begins minimizing also. There are several instances where this type of conflict occurs between the answers. According to...
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...I am in is an interpersonal communication class. I learned a lot from my researches and discussions during this class. So I thought that I will put this new knowledge to good use. Couples always have a tendency to have fights and arguments, and I believe that is part of a healthy relationship. Most arguments between couples occurs just because of miscommunication between them. Miscommunication can take place pretty much between anybody, between any relationship and any time. We all want to be clearly understood about our feelings at all times. Miscommunication happens usually when someone is giving friendly advice. This advice can be taken as criticism by the other person. Most of the times you might not trying to criticize the other person, but the way we confirm the information can be perceived in a different way depending on the situation. You should always learn to weigh the words that come out of you. Words can create attitude, behavior and perception issues between the two of you. At the same time, silence is also not a good thing to a level. ‘Couple’s interactions and dialogues make up the most important pillars of a functional relationship.’ (Määttä, K., 2013). There will be a lot of times when Luke will say something and Serah will misinterpret it. This is also very common between couples. ‘People can express and interpret messages in various ways and the intended meaning may differ from the interpretation. For example, the phrase ‘we have to talk about this’ can be...
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...High Context Culture (Collectivistic Culture) – Asian and Spanish The root of conflict avoidance within romantic relationships manifests from cultural influences that shape each partner’s conflict management style. Depending on cultural influences of the individual, his or her disposition of conflict management will differ. Cultural influence can be classified into two groups, low-context individualistic culture and high-context collectivistic culture. In individualistic cultures, the goals, needs, and rights of the individual take precedence over the goals, responsibilities and obligations of the group (137). While members of the collectivistic culture value the goals, responsibilities and obligations of the group over the goals, needs, and rights of the individual (137). Within each culture, lies a certain pattern of responses which aim to manage conflict. Through careful analysis of individualistic and collectivistic cultures, inferences can be made to support the notion that there are systemic correlations between conflict avoidance within romantic relationships and cultural influences. Individualistic cultures consist of primarily Western countries such as the United States. Studies have shown that members of individualistic cultures tend to favour a more integrating conflict style. “The Integrating conflict style is characterized by a willingness to openly exchange information in a direct way, constructively address differences, and to make a true effort to find a mutually...
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...live happily ever after, and skip gleefully away to live the American dream. However, millions of married couples quickly find themselves turning to divorce as an answer, to ending the fairy tale they had once dreamed. Many people would ask “why?” the perfect couple would choose such a negative ending to their once happy marriage. In some cases, many couples have to question their own motives for divorce. Although there are many alternate roots to fixing the simplest problems that may occur in a marriage, for some, simple does not always mean easy. It is certain that the cause of divorce varies from couple to couple, yet lack of communication, money and children, is among the most common causes of divorce. Lack of communication in a marital relationship, is one of the most common causes of divorce, because when two people lack communication, they are unable to solve problems that may occur in the marriage. Many married couples think that the minor problems that occur in their marriage, are insignificant, and are not worth talking about; however, they fail to realize that even the smallest things can cause conflict between the two when they are not able to solve them through communication. Many couples lack communication when it comes to making decisions about shared finances. This can cause financial issues to arise, and arguments to escalade in the marriage. Many couples also lack communication when it comes to making decisions for their children. When one spouse does not...
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