ABSTRACT
Marriages, intermarriages, second marriages, and reconstituted families can be considered, metaphorically speaking, a form of physical and psychological migration that affects everyone involved, including those who are not the main protagonists, such as grandparents, uncles, other relatives, friends. The growing number of intermarriages and reconstituted families and the number of problems directly and indirectly associated with them require effective ways of understanding and dealing with them. The institution of marriage and the structure of the family in the West have changed considerably from the traditional, pre-industrial revolution family organisation to the current nuclear family and its various developments. Work and economic changes, divorce, greater mobility, mass-media communication, and a general liberal attitude are some of the important factors associated with changes in the family as an institution. The chapter addresses the issue of couples’ vicissitudes primarily from a clinical viewpoint and link them to the various interactional contexts within the family and the community at large.
