Dysfunctional marriages are characterized by an imbalance of power, where one partner dominates the other through manipulation, control, coercion, domination, abuse, or mistreatment. These relationships can take many forms, including emotional, physical, financial, verbal, or psychological abuse. In these situations, one partner may have all the control while the other has none, resulting in fear, anxiety, stress, and depression.
The dysfunctional marriage dynamic is often characterized by a "power over" approach to power dynamics, where one person holds all the cards and dictates how things will be done. This can lead to feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and resignation on the part of the victimized spouse. The victim becomes dependent on their partner's approval, attention, and acceptance, which makes it difficult for them to leave the relationship.
The victim might try to regain power by resorting to passive-aggressive behaviors such as sarcasm, hostility, anger, or withdrawal.
This behavior can backfire and lead to further abuse from their spouse.
Victims become trapped in a vicious cycle of abuse, feeling unable to break free even when they want to.
Despite these challenges, there are ways that people can begin to shift the balance of power within their marriage. Victims should seek support from friends, family, therapists, counselors, or legal professionals who can help them develop strategies for setting boundaries and advocating for themselves. They can also work on improving communication skills with their partners, learning to express their needs and desires without being aggressive or manipulative.
With enough effort and persistence, couples can repair damaged relationships and create healthy, mutually beneficial marriages built on trust, respect, and love. By recognizing the signs of abusive power dynamics early on and taking action to address them, we can prevent these destructive patterns from continuing into future generations.
How does dysfunction reshape power dynamics within marriage?
Marriage is defined as a social institution where two people from different genders share their lives with each other for betterment of their relationship. It's an intertwining of two souls that create a new entity called 'family'. In some cases, one partner becomes more dominant than another one, due to which the balance between both partners gets disturbed. Dysfunctional marriages are those that create imbalance among couples resulting in friction among them.