Home > Archive > Volume 59, No. 3 > This paper
Conceptualizing the Nexus between Migration and Marital Conflict
Beatrice Samson Umubyeyi
Published: 2019/03/01
Abstract
The central aim of this study is to explore and examine the relationship between migration and marital conflict. In order to achieve the above objectives this paper reviews existing studies on migration and family conflict. Examining the existing literatures on the subject, it is evident that migration has the ability to shape and reshape family structures and relations hence leading to family and marital conflict if such transition is not sufficiently managed by the couple. Some scholars support the view that migration leads to marital conflict. They argue that the need to adapt to social and economic conditions in the host country, compounded by stress and isolation, has the potential of exerting pressure on the couple leading to conflict. Other scholars view migration as positive. They argue that migration can cause each member of the couple to see the other as one to rely on, fostering unity and solidarity between the partners. Where migrant couples are isolated from the extended family and other support networks, they compensate for this lack by increasing solidarity and interdependence within the nuclear family, according to a theory of substitutability of familial values and norms.
Download PDF