Journal 15.2 - Divergent Spouse Functioning (PDF)

DIVERGENT SPOUSE FUNCTIONING

Phillip Klever, MSW

Bowen theory explains how tension and undifferentiation influence individual and family functioning through emotional, relationship processes within the family unit. This article examines one of those nuclear family emotional processes, the dysfunctional spouse process or divergent functioning in the marriage. Over fifteen years the study found variation within the sample in divergent spouse functioning ranging from absence to persistence in frequency of the pattern, from mild to severe symptoms, and from fluctuation to rigidity in who was the more and less symptomatic spouse.