Date of Award
2020
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Social Work
Abstract
The objectives of this study were to examine the impact of the Marriage Renewal Workshop (MRW) program for relationship satisfaction, communication skills, conflict resolution skills and levels of forgiveness among Vietnamese American married couple participants and their perceptions of the program's impact regarding these outcome variables. This evaluation mixed-method study employed a group of 64 participants who participated in before, after (using 4 closed-ended and open-ended questions) and six-week follow-up surveys and a group of 11 program participants who volunteered for in-depth interviews. Quantitative data were examined by using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test and Mann-Whitney U Test, whereas qualitative data were analyzed by utilizing thematic analysis. Results from quantitative analysis showed no significant differences between before the workshop and at the six-week follow up for the four outcome variables. in contrast, qualitative results indicated that participants experienced improvements in these four outcome variables, normalizing problems, changes in perspectives as well as spiritual growth in relationship with God and their spouses. the program equally influenced both male and female samples in these outcome variables. Integration of spirituality, cultivation of communication and conflict resolution skills and discussion of forgiveness are suggested for pastoral social work practice with Catholic Vietnamese immigrant couples and families in the United States. Further research is needed to explore the effectiveness and long-term effect of the MRW enrichment intervention in supporting marital relationship given the lack of significant differences in quantitative analysis results and the positive qualitative results.
Recommended Citation
Nguyen, Hien T. Kim, "Evaluating the Impact of Marriage Renewal Workshop on Marital Satisfaction, Communication, Conflict Management, and Forgiveness: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis" (2020). Dissertations. 3809.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/3809
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2020 Hien T. Kim Nguyen
