Date of Award

2010

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Awarded

Master of Arts (MA)

Program

Communication

Department

Communication

College

Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Faculty Advisor

Burnett, Ann

Description

This qualitative study explored the lived military relationships of eighteen Navy wives whose husbands were stationed on the Naval Air Station Whidbey Base in Oak Harbor, Washington. The researcher performed interviews to better understand how internal dialectical tensions- autonomy-connection, novelty-predictability, and opennessclosedness - were manifested throughout deployment, and what strategies were used to cope with those tensions. Results suggested that a variety of tensions characterized these marital relationships throughout the course of a deployment. The tensions that coincide with military lifestyles were often addressed by using the reframing coping strategy. A military/non-military external tension emerged from the data that influenced the internal tensions and coping strategies of Navy wives. The knowledge gained from this study may help military couples balance tensions throughout the deployment process and create more satisfactory relationships.

Rights

NDSU policy 190.6.2

Rights Link

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Handle Identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/33741

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