Challenges and balancing strategies of couples and children of interfaith marriage in urban India

• Main Author: Pereira, Anna Dominic
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2007
• Subjects: Married people; Children of interfaith marriage; Interfaith marriage; Intermarriage; Counseling Psychology; Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_doctoral/1223; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_doctoral/article/2224/viewcontent/CDTG004389_P.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study explored challenges and coping strategies of couples and children of interfaith marriage by two parallel studies and evolved a framework based on the findings. The participants of Study I were 10 interfaith couples ranging from 16 - 36 years in marriage (M=23.7 SD=5.88) and of Study II were 10 children of interfaith marriage, three males ranging in age from of 18 – 22 years (M=20 SD=2.08) and seven females in an age range of 15 -22 years (M=18.07 SD=2.56). Having employed qualitative research design, the data was collected using in-depth interviews and analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) method. Findings indicated that challenges and balancing strategies of couples and children were determined by their socio-cultural context, subsystems, developmental level and by salience placed on practice of religion. Interfaith couples faced challenges from families of origin, nuclear families, society, situational and intrapersonal issues and employed strategies to balance their religious differences, nuclear family needs, couple relationship, extended family relationships, and need for religious community. Similarly, children faced challenges from their nuclear family, society, extended family, and from intrapersonal issues and employed strategies to balance their nuclear family relationships, dual religions traditions, and extended family relationships. The study has implications for counseling and family therapy.