Abstract:
Conflicts are considered inevitable in relationships and, therefore, more than their occurrence, what matters are the strategies used for resolving them. The aim of the study was to investigate the characteristics of, and the strategies used for resolving, marital and parental conflicts in families with children. It is an empirical study, with qualitative design, in which 12 couples participated in a semi-structured interview. Thematic categorical analysis has shown that marital conflicts involved personal, relational and contextual reasons and the use of constructive and destructive resolution strategies. Constructive strategies included an emphasis on open communication and problem solving; destructive, emphasis on avoidance and verbal hostility. Parent-child conflicts involved reasons related to the parental difficulty in imposing limits, with the use of constructive strategies, characterized by non-violent discipline, and destructive, by physical and psychological aggression. The findings of this study may contribute to interventions of professionals who work with families, in different contexts.
Keywords:
conflict; marital conflict; parent-child relations; family relations; conflict resolution