Most research on stroke’s impact on couples has focused on the transition to caregiving/receiving. Despite considerable evidence that marriage is the primary source of support in the face of chronic conditions, little is known about what happens to marriage in the context of care after stroke. To address this gap, we undertook a qualitative grounded-theory study of 18 couples in which one partner had experienced a stroke. Findings revealed two interrelated themes of the couple processes: working out care, which involved discovering and addressing disruptions in day-to-day activities; and rethinking marriage, which involved determining the meaning of their relationship within the new context of care and disability. Three distinct types of marriages evolved from these processes: reconfirmed around their pre-stroke marriage; recalibrated around care; and a parallel relationship, “his” and “her” marriage. Our findings highlight the need to consider relationship dynamics in addition to knowledge about stroke and care.

Bigamy has been a crime against morality since the earliest days of New France. Of the 385 cases identified in our study of bigamy in Quebec (1763–1960), although priests were often called on to attest to the validity of a marriage or the morality of their parishioners, very few of them played the role of informer. Rather, they turned to the criminal courts only when they were unable to quell a scandal by their own methods. It is apparent that not only did the Catholic Church prefer to handle this offence against monogamous marriage by itself, but most importantly, given the small number of cases taken before the criminal courts, it continued to exercise its monopoly over the institution of matrimony during the first half of the twentieth century, even though the civil authorities sometimes flouted canon law. At the individual level, we would note that the institution of marriage remained fundamental throughout the period studied.

This article examines how the 2010-2011 Reference re s 293, which considered the constitutionality of the polygamy prohibition, contributed to nation building discourses in Canada. A critical discourse analysis demonstrates that traditional views of monogamous marriage remain an important tenet of nation building in Canada. Discourses in the reference portrayed monogamous marriage as a central national institution and as a means of safeguarding women’s equality rights. These discourses, in turn, had racialized consequences for defining Canadian national identity.

Les ouvrages actuels portant sur la gérontologie soutiennent qu'une renégociation des rôles maritaux et des pouvoirs relatifs se produit chez les couples d'aînés. Ils ne tiennent toutefois pas compte des facteurs structuraux entravant l'apport de changements dans la structure de ces couples. En examinant les politiques publiques des années 1930 et 1940 concernant le programme canadien de pensions de vieillesse, on constate un préjugé systémique et souvent conscient favorisant l'application de ce programme de façon à maintenir la hiérarchie traditionnelle des pouvoirs, fondée sur le sexe, chez les couples d'aînés. Certains aînés ont réagi en modifiant leur statut marital afin de bénéficier au maximum des avantages des politiques publiques.

The purpose of this study was to describe the elderly marital partners' perceptions of conjugal support and coping strategies and the relationship between these perceptions and their well-being. A multistage sample of 135 community-dwelling elderly couples, 65 years of age and over, was drawn from users and non-users of the health and social systems in a large metropolitan area. A series of questionnaires, presented within an interview format, were used to measure the variables. Each spouse was separately interviewed at home. Paired t-tests revealed that husbands tended to perceive more support from their spouse and to use less external social support than wives when coping with daily problems. Intraclass coefficients of correlation between husbands' and wives' coping strategies were only low to moderate. However, for both marital partners, results revealed significant positive correlations between availability and reciprocity of conjugal support and well-being and a negative association between conflict within the conjugal relationship and well-being. Only two cognitive coping strategies, namely reframing and active appraisal were positively related to the well-being of both spouses. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that congruency of perception between husbands and wives had an effect only on wives' well-being. These findings suggest psychosocial interventions and are discussed in relation to previous studies and future research.

The growth in the numbers and influence of ultra-Orthodoxy – the haredim – since the Second World War has changed Judaism worldwide, even though it remains a minority culture. Growth has occurred through the maximization of family size and through the movement of t'shuva (“return”), and it has benefited from state and private subsidies to the institutions of Torah learning (yeshivot and schooling generally), which have become one of the twin pillars of ultra-Orthodoxy. The other pillar is the shidduch, the system of concerted marriage which ensures that more or less everyone gets married, and strengthens the educational institutions which inculcate among prospective brides a preference for a learned husband engaged in full-time study, and for a life devoted to sustaining him.