ABSTRACT
In responding to the issue raised, that of the factors underlining permanence in couple relationship, it is emphasized that a cultural frame of reference is of key importance. There is a comparison made between earlier and present cultural settings. These different settings are seen to determine the parameters within which such relationships can develop. Contrasting models for couple relationship are compared, those based on constraint and those based on choice. Attempting to take into account the complexities of human relationship, a paradigm is outlined, a description of the type of couple relationship which would be consistent with the nature and spirit of the modern self.
Contrasting models for couple relationship are compared, those based on constraint and choice. Taking into account the complexities of human relationship, a paradigm is outlined, a description of the type of couple relationship which would be consistent with the nature and spirit of the modern self. Dependence no longer becomes a dirty word. It describes a valid aspect of the human condition, one which transcends age, gender or sexual proclivity. The long-term intimate couple relationship is one of the few in our culture to which adults can turn with a feeling of security, and have their child nur-turant needs met. Modernism, in its best sense, has not changed the basics of human personality. It has given humans the necessary psychological space in which potentials immanent within people can develop, achieve realization and fuller overt expression. Many couples continue in the traditional modes of relating described earlier, modes in which they find an adequate degree of security and satisfaction.
