National Symposium on Family Issues

Couples in Conflict

The chapters in this volume are based on the presentations and discussions from the seventh annual National Symposium on Family Issues, held at the Pennsylvania State University November 1-2, 1999.

Citation
Booth, Alan, Ann C. Crouter, and Mari Clements (2001). Couples in Conflict. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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From the Preface
Couple conflict is an important antecedent of domestic violence, ineffective parenting, and marital dissolution, phenomena that threaten the strong functioning of contemporary families and the adults and children living in families. As such, couple conflict is a topic of critical importance to family scholars and those charged with developing policies and programs in this area. Not all couple conflict is damaging, however. Indeed, a thread running through this volume is that constructive conflict and negotiation is beneficial for relationships. Together, the chapters in this volume provide a foundation for thinking about creative ways in which our society can work to prevent or minimize destructive couple conflict and to enhance couples' abilities to constructively handle their differences.

Key Topics

1. What Are the Societal and Bio-Evolutionary Underpinnings of Couple Conflict?

Lead Speakers: Martin Daly and Margo Wilson, McMaster University

Discussants:

• Jay Belsky, Pennsylvania State University
• Frances Goldscheider, Brown University
• Rena Repetti, University of California, Los Angeles

2. What Are the Interpersonal Roots of Couple Conflict? What Are Consequences for Individuals and Couples?

Lead Speaker: Thomas Bradbury, University of California, Los Angeles

Discussants:

• Steven Beach, University of Georgia, Athens
• Michael Johnson, Pennsylvania State University
• James Cordova, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

3. What Effects Does Couple Conflict Have on Children? How Do Individual Differences in Children Moderate These Effects?

Lead Speaker: Mark Cummings, University of Notre Dame

Discussants:

• Christy Miller Buchanan, Wake Forest University
• Rand Conger, Iowa State University
• John Grych, Marquette University

4. What Policies and Programs Influence Couple Conflict? What Works? What Doesn't Work? Where Do We Go from Here?

Lead Speaker: Matt Sanders, Queensland University, Australia

Discussants:

• Richard Gelles, University of Pennsylvania
• Theodora Ooms, Family Impact Seminar
• Robert Emery, University of Virginia

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