Moreno's views/perception on the development of power in martial relationships

Abstract

This paper offers an assessment of the evolution of marital relationships and a clarification of how these can be understood in the context of power games undertaken by the partners based on their social roles. The data for this qualitative phenomenological study has been gathered through semi-structured interviews carried out with four couples from Fortaleza. The analysis looked at phenomenological description, reduction and interpretation. We tried to observe the way in which negotiations within the marital relationship take on aspects of psychological power games between the partners, these being manifest in various aspects of the marital life, such as the affective-sexual relationships, parenthood, the administration of family resources, the profession of the partners, and their interactions with their families of origin. Spouses use various forms of power - such as force and domination - in order to achieve individual objectives, as well as complementarity and cooperation in order to achieve common objectives. The paper concludes that social roles are related to various aspects of marital life, and can become a source of both satisfaction and dissatisfaction, depending on how a couple progresses through the different stages of the family life cycle.