Marital Adjustments

Summary

Students will be able to identify methods of conflict resolution as related to marriage and identify common sources of marital adjustments and conflict (dual income, personal needs and expectations, sexual adjustments and in-laws).

Materials

• Background Information
• Dual Income PowerPoint
• Dual Income Listening Guide
• In-Law Role Play and Discussion
• In-Law Teacher Information
• In-Laws PowerPoint
• Marital Adjustments Worksheet
• Meeting Needs Information
• Men Are From Mars PowerPoint
• Men Are From Mars Teacher Information
• Personal Needs PowerPoint
• Sexual Adjustments Teacher Information
• Sexual Adjustments PowerPoint
• Sexual Adjustments in Marriage Worksheet
• When Two Careers...Article

Supplementary Resources:

Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus by John Gray Ph. D. Harper Collins Publishers, 1992. Married and Single Life, Audrey Palm Riker and Holly E. Brisbane, Glencoe

What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women, Tyndatle House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 0-8423-7889-8

Ritual in Family Living, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1950 and Family Matters, Smith, Rebbecca M., and MaryLin Apicelli, Glencoe, 1982.

Instructional Procedures

Introduction/Pre-Assessment
Fill one pan with hot water, one pan with cold water, and one with lukewarm water. Ask two students to come forward. Have one put his/her hand in the hot water and the other student's hand in the cold water. They should tell the class whether the water is cold or hot. Explain that all of us come into marriage with our own personalities and experiences. Then have the two students, one at a time, put the same hand that is already wet into the lukewarm water and tell how it feels. One will say warm, the other will say cold. Ask students: Which one is right? They both are. Many of the conflicts of newlyweds are based on the same principle. They argue about who is right based on their own perspectives rather than trying to resolve their differences

Then ask students to make a list of what they think are the most common things couples disagree about and need to adjust to when getting married. Make a list on the board.

Content Outline, Activities and Teaching Strategies
(All options do not necessarily need to be taught. Select ones to cover standards and objectives and according to your district policies.)

Option 1: Personal Needs and Expectations
Use the lecture notes (pdf) and powerpoint to discuss personal needs and expectations.

Option 2: Video Clip
Watch Video Clip of "Gender Roles" from You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIwWS2atEmc.

Option 3: Video Clip
Watch Video Clip of "Tale of Two Brains" from You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxtUH_bHBxs.

Option 4: Men are From Mars Women are From Venus
Discuss John Gray's findings of Male and Female differences from Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus, book, video and teacher information notes (pdf), powerpoint (pdf), and Marital Adjustment Listening Guide (pdf).

Option 5: Meeting Each Others' Needs
Discuss Meeting Each Others' Needs Lecture Guide with lecture notes (pdf), powerpoint, and Marital Adjustment Listening Guide (pdf).

Option 6: Sexual Adjustment
Discuss sexual adjustment in marriage with lecture notes (pdf), powerpoint, and worksheet (pdf).

Option 7: Dual Income Discussion
Discuss When Two Careers Plus Children Equal Stress Teacher Information (pdf) and Dual Income Listening Guide (pdf) along with the Dual Income Powerpoint. The dual income discussion is found in Lesson Plan for ARR 4.3 and ARFL 6.3.

Option 8: Building In-Law Relations
Discuss In-Laws Powerpoint and lecture information (pdf) about building in-law relationships. Have students role play the in-law relationships (pdf).

Summary/Evaluation
There are many important adjustments you will be making during the first years of your marriage. Learning to understand the basic needs of the opposite sex, and meeting them first will help smooth this transition for you.