ABSTRACT
This chapter considers typical profiles of elderly people by confronting disability management with conjugal dynamics. The sociology of the family offers a useful theoretical framework for understanding the couple’s internal dynamic. Disability usually disturbs the way a couple functions by increasing constraints, but it does not occur in a totally neutral situation. The way the couple was organized before its onset inevitably influences the way it is coped with. The relationship that determines the way disability is dealt with has been built up throughout the whole period of the couple’s existence. The noncontractual couples are characterized by the absence or the weakness of an “unspoken contract” between the partners. The continuing existence of the couple depends on the compatibility between the personal strategies of each of the partners. The positive nature of the couple’s relationship must also play its part in their feelings of satisfaction.
