happy marriage

A relationship with a romantic partner is one of the most desired of human experience, yet it is one the most difficult of relationships to maintain (Moore, Jekielek, Bronte-Tinkew, Guzman, Ryan, & Redd, 2004).There are certain strengths, characteristics and skills needed to maintain a healthy relationship or marriage. Moore et al. (2004) list ten constructs of a healthy marriage based on decades of research, they are: couples commitment to each other; marital satisfaction; conflict resolution; communication; absence of violence; fidelity; quality time; intimacy and emotional support; commitment to children; and being legally married and duration of marriage. The two couples interviewed for this assessment both demonstrate in varying degrees these ten constructs.

Grace and Henry Hirsch are an interracial couple that have been married for 39 years. They met when Henry was 19, and Grace was 22 a single mother with three young girls, recently separated from an abusive husband. Grace is a beautiful black woman that exemplifies her name, grace. She is the definition of her name, elegant, stylish, poise and strong. Henry is of German descent and is a man of stature; he is tall and broad and exudes charm and an easy-going manner. The couple met in Detroit but moved to Florida after five years of marriage and both agree that although their marriage was strong, the move to the south made it impenetrable.

It was in Florida that the Hirsch had to deal with discrimination as a couple and protecting their family, which was growing with the addition of another child. Marriages amongst black-white pairings tend to have higher rates of instability for various reasons. One hypothesis is because of persistent racism and distrust of black people...

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...heir union.

Works Cited

DeFrain, J. (1999). Strong families around the world. Australian Institute of Family Studies, 53, 6-13.

Dion, M. R. (2005). Healthy Marriage Programs: Learning What Works. The Future of Children, 15(2), 139-156. doi:10.1353/foc.2005.0016

Long, L. L., & Young, M. E. (2007). Counseling and therapy for couples (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.

Moore, K. A., Jekielak, S. M., Bronte-Tinkew, J., Guzman, L., Ryan, S., & Redd, Z. (2004). What is healthy marriage? Defining the concept (2004-16). Retrieved from Child Trends website: www.childtrends.org

Van Hook, M. P. (2014). Social work practice with families: A resilliancy-based approach (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: Lyceum.

Zhang, Y., & Hook, J. V. (2009). Marital Dissolution Among Interracial Couples. Journal of Marriage and The Family, 71, 95-107. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00582.x