In the early 1980s it was fashionable to suggest that marriage as an institution was in trouble, but there were widely differing views as to whether or not this was really so. Originally published in 1982, this title started as a small-scale exploratory study of clients with marital problems and how they came to seek help. Using a sociological approach to marriage, the authors compare the medical and non-medical settings the clients attended and looks at their social networks as a way to see how people view and conduct their marital relationships. It also looks at the broader concept of marriage and how it came to be seen as problematic in our society and became part of wider public discourse at the time. Today, reissued with a new preface, it can be read in its historical context.

Julia Brannen and Jean Collard