O casal na perspectiva relacional-simbólica e a qualidade conjugal

: uma análise conceptual e metodológica

Abstract

This work approaches the couple from the Relational-Symbolic Perspective and theMarital Quality studies angle, having as objectives to confront the concepts presented in bothkinds of research, to understand if the concepts used are similar in each research kind, to criticallyreflect uppon Marital Quality research and to present the instrument “Entrevista ClínicaGeneracional”, that has the potential to overcome the majority of problems pointed out to MaritalQuality Research.It is concluded that Marital Quality research methodology is not suitable to family studiesas they don’t consider the couple’s relational nature, nor the way spouses mutually influence,nor couples dynamics, which does not allow to understand the couple completely.It is concluded that the presented instrument has solutions to many of the identified problems, such as methodology issues, its capability to allow the research to be, indeed, familyresearch instead of family related studies and the relational issues. Besides, it allows toaccess levels of information that the Marital Quality research doesn’t, namelly the couple’sprogressive history and unconscious expectations, as well as it allows the spouses to confrontthemselves and make reciprocal discoveries.

Date of Award	30 Jul 2012
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Fabrizia Raguso (Supervisor)