PRAYER AND MARITAL INTERVENTION: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Discomfort with the integration of spiritual activities into marital interventions may be a response by practitioners to the weakness of available conceptual frameworks. We offer a framework that allows for integration of prayer into marital interventions (educational or therapeutic), and argue that when culturally appropriate, prayer can serve multiple functions in interventions that are consistent with traditional goals of skill-based approaches. Several specific ways in which prayer can be either an alternative or an addition to existing intervention strategies are outlined. The potential negative effects of prayer for couples and the dangers of integrating prayer into programs are also discussed. We conclude that effective skill-based family intervention and prevention with some traditionally underserved groups may require increased attention to integration of spiritual practices that are common in those groups.

FIGURE 1

Skills interact with intended impact to produce successful conflict resolution. Methods to neutralize emergent goals interact with emergent competitive goals to prevent breakdown of successful conflict resolution.

FIGURE 2

Prayer exerts a transformative influence through its impact on influence and control processes in marriage.