Duck's Phase Model of Relationship Breakdown

3 Key excerpts on "Duck's Phase Model of Relationship Breakdown"

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  On-Again, Off-Again Relationships

  Navigating (In)Stability in Romantic Relationships

  • René M. Dailey(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  If partners disclose with abandon, they are said to have reached stable exchange. Although the model focuses on development, it also includes a de-penetration stage to show the process of creating less intimacy as a backward progression through the stages. On the other end of relationships, Duck’s (1982, 1988; Rollie & Duck, 2006) model focuses on the dissolution process. The intrapsychic phase entails an individual’s internal debate about whether to terminate the relationship (e.g., determining one’s feelings, thinking through costs of leaving). If the person decides to move forward with the dissolution, they disclose their wishes to their partner in the dyadic phase. This might entail negotiation between the partners and attempts to reconcile, but if the relationship is terminated, partners move to the social phase in which they disclose and explain the breakup to others. In the grave-dressing phase, partners try to find closure to the relationship. Finally, in the resurrection phase, individuals prepare themselves for pursuing new relationships. Encompassing both development and dissolution, Knapp created a model of interaction stages – stages of coming together and coming apart (Knapp, 1983; Knapp, Vangelisti, & Caughlin, 2014). This model focuses on communica- tion more generally, not just self-disclosure. Although there are parallels to social penetration and Duck’s model, Knapp et al.’s model details out how communication changes and reflects the different stages. This model also shows how relationship deterioration might not be merely a backwards progression of the intimacy-building stages. Overall, these stage models show how relation- ships move up and down the ladder of intimacy and interdependence. Theories of Relational Development 53 A somewhat different perspective on relationship development is the gradual differentiation model (Huston, Surra, Fitzgerald, & Cate, 1981; Surra, 1990).

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  Marital Separation in Contemporary Ireland

  Womens Experiences

  • Lucy Hyland(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Peter Lang Group

    (Publisher)

  This is followed by a dyadic phase during which the person is faced with the ‘confrontation/avoidance dilemma’ (p. 89). They may try to talk about the difficulties with their partner and attempt repair and reconciliation. If efforts at reconciliation fail, Duck (1998) con- tends relationships are ended and couples engage in a social phase which involves ‘negotiating a post-dissolution state with a partner, creating face- saving/blame-placing stories and accounts and considering and facing up to implied social network effects’ (p. 89). The final phase, what Duck calls the ‘Grave Dressing Phase’, entails ‘getting over’ the break-up and engaging in retrospection, attribution and ‘public distribution of their own version of the break-up story’ (p. 89). Elements of the intra-physic phase were apparent in the previous chap- ter in which some of the women described their dissatisfaction with their husbands’ lack of involvement in household and childcare tasks, as well as their unease at their husbands’ poor employment records or financial man- agement skills. During this phase, Duck (1998) found that it is a common practice not to disclose the strains in a marital relationship to anyone. This was the case with the women in this study. They endured years of unhap- piness in isolation. Examples of the dyadic phase are found in this chapter which details increased awareness of deteriorating relationships, attempts to resolve the problems, consideration of separation and attendance at counselling. This dyadic phase was not experienced by all of the couples. As will be seen in later descriptions of cases of infidelity, partners who were having affairs would appear to have opted for avoidance rather than confrontation. These last two phases are relevant for the later chapters which outline the events and processes that occurred at the time of separation and the activities partners engaged in during the post-separation phase.

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  Time and Intimacy

  A New Science of Personal Relationships

  • Joel B. Bennett(Author)
  • 2000(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Two of the three dissolution models (Baxter, 1984; Lee, 1984) are empirically derived and all three dissolution models indicate that repair and maintenance can modulate breakups. At early, compared to later, stages of dissolution, communication and negotiation have a greater possibility of feeding back to the relationship and either delaying or aborting a breakup. Using couples retrospective accounts of their breakups, Baxter developed a flow chart that traces seven interrelated (recursive) steps of disengagement These are: the onset of relationship problems, the decision to exit the relationship, initiating unilateral decision actions, the initial reaction of the broken-up-with-party, ambivalence and repair scenarios, initiating bilateral dissolution action, and ambivalence and repair scenarios. Baxter described roughly seven basic trajectories of disengagement that couples take (e.g., ambivalent indirect, swift direct). Lee (1984), also using retrospective accounts, derived a common sequence in separation. This sequence is: (D) Discovery of dissatisfaction; (E) Exposure of discontent; (N) Negotiation, issues are discussed; (R) Resolution, a decision is reached; and (T) Transformation, actual changes occur. Lee delineated various "separation scenarios" that adequately account for a full range of dissolutional trajectories. There are omission formats in which certain stages are skipped (e.g., D-E-N-R-T, D-E-N-R-T), extended formats where certain stages are prolonged (e.g., D----E-N-R-T) and mixed formats made up of combinations of omission and extended formats (e.g., D-E-----N-R-T.) Although these two empirical models represent single research contributions, they are relevant to the contextual model because they describe discontinuities of stages in accounting for their data. This research also demonstrates that actual stages of breakup are highly variable across couples and do not necessarily follow a fixed order.

  Like the other models in this section, Rodger's (1987) phasic model of family reorganization is based on a review of the research literature. This model is included because of the changing nature of the family (e.g., serial marriages; see Brody et al., 1988) and the importance of the family to our conceptions of marital development. It describes the transition from the ending of one relationship to the beginning of another. Rodger's model is relevant to all temporal contexts and relationship phases because it provides a theory for understanding the various events that occur between relationships (i.e., the interactions and situations between the last phase of the old and the first phase of the new).

  Temporal Features and Outcome State

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