ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the context of intervention which is determined by individuals, interacting as separate entities, within a marital framework. The methods adopted by third parties in marital conflicts may vary from the relatively passive intervention, such as client-counselling, to the more directive form of intervention such as behavior modification. Third party intervention is designed, through the provision of specific inputs, to enrich a relationship, make it more cooperative, and more adept at conflict management. Such interventions, which are directed toward improving interactions and devising better ways of coping with conflicts, can be described as facilitative interventions. Third parties in marital conflict adopt a facilitative, non-directive mode of intervention. Reflective strategies are essential to the success of third party intervention. Such strategies establish the logic of intervention. Pacific third party intervention in marital conflict consists of a sequence of acts which seek to offer support and acts which seek to offer information and orientation.
