Till death do us part : perceptions and experiences of premarital and marriage counselling in the Boland, Heidelberg and Tygerberg sub-district areas, Western Cape Province, South Africa

Abstract

Marriage is an important part of society that affects the way society is formed, organised and functions. With the growing trend in divorce rates, the institution of marriage is under threat. Divorce affects divorcees, children and society as a whole due to its severe negative effects, causing disruption on a micro, meso and macro-level of society. Several counselling programmes have been developed over the years to help couples deal with and overcome their adversities in order to find happiness in their relationships. However, even with such interventions, divorce rates continue to rise. The current study aimed at exploring and understanding the perceptions and experiences of the usefulness of premarital and marriage counselling from the perspectives of counselling providers and married individuals. The study further aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of how counselling providers can better cater to the needs of couples and for couples to voice their needs and expectations from counselling. In order to do this, a qualitative research approach with a phenomenological design was employed. Data were drawn from semi-structured in-depth individual interviews with counselling providers who resided in the Boland and Heidelberg area, and from married individuals from the Tygerberg sub-district, who took part in focus groups and a workshop. Overall, the study was mainly focused on the Western Cape areas. A theoretical framework, Social Role Theory, was utilised as a lens through which marriage can be viewed, specifically in terms of role socialization and expectation. The findings demonstrate that couples regard premarital and marriage counselling as beneficial and useful, and that effectiveness increases when couples commit to each other and the process. Additionally, training for counselling providers is critical, as this has an impact on the effectiveness of counselling. As a result, this study developed a strategy that could be useful to counsellors by identifying topics for premarital and marriage counselling that were recommended by married individuals. This strategy should potentially add value to the existing approaches used by counselling providers.