Gender issues in the treatment of welfare couples: A feminist approach to marital therapy of the poor

This article presents a treatment model for work at home with couples in poor families on welfare that incorporates a feminist view targeting sex-role attitudes and behaviors as a central goal. A case study is presented to illustrate these principles. The work is based on both in-depth interviews with 13 Israeli couples on welfare and clinical impressions gained from the treatment of 30 Israeli couples on welfare. Poor couples are analyzed in terms of gender issues and the relationship of these issues to mental health, couple functioning, and couple interaction within the helping profession.Irit Barnea, Hannan Rosenberg, and Moshe Sens contributed to research and treatment with the couples described in this paper.