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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy pp 1–3Cite as

Marital Schism in Couples

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Name of Concept

Marital Schism in Couples

Introduction

Marital schism is a concept of marital discord that can be seen across couples, regardless of cultural identities (Lidz et al. 1957; Reicher and Sani 1998). Marital schism is a state of imbalance and discord present within a couple (Lidz et al. 1957). In marital schism, there is a failure to accomplish mutual agreement, which often leads to desired separation from the relationship (Lidz et al. 1957). It occurs when mutual disagreement leads to rigid differences, thereby deterring compromise between each partner (Reicher and Sani 1998). Furthermore, marital schism can be seen as a lack of emotional support, coercion to conform to other spouse, and competition for children’s attention (Lidz et al. 1957).

Theoretical Context of Concept

Marital schism was termed by Theodore Lidz and his colleagues during their work regarding schizophrenia and the family (McHale and Sullivan 2008). Lidz and colleagues were among the first to look at...

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References

  • Collins, P. M., Kayser, K., & Platt, S. (1994). Conjoint marital therapy: A practitioner’s approach to single-system evaluation. Families in Society, 75(3), 131.

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  • Lavalekar, A., Kulkarni, P., & Jagtap, P. (2010). Emotional intelligence and marital satisfaction. Journal of Psychosocial Research, 5(2), 185–194.

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  • Lidz, T., Cornelison, A., Fleck, S., & Terry, D. (1957). The intrafamilial environment of schizophrenic patients. II. Marital schism and marital skew. American Journal of Psychiatry, 114, 241–248.

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  • McHale, J. P. & Sullivan, M. J. (2008). Family systems. In M. Hersen & A. Gross (Eds.), Handbook of clinical psychology (Children and adolescents, Vol. 2, pp. 192–226). Hoboken: Wiley.

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  • Reicher, S., & Sani, F. (1998). Introducing SAGA: Structural analysis of group arguments. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2(4), 267–284. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2699/98.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Sara Villegas-Boykins & Sarah A. B. Knapp

Authors
  1. Sara Villegas-Boykins
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  2. Sarah A. B. Knapp
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Villegas-Boykins .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Jay Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Anthony Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Kelley Quirk

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Adam R. Fisher

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Villegas-Boykins, S., Knapp, S.A.B. (2018). Marital Schism in Couples. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_14-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_14-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

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