6533b834fe1ef96bd129d6f3

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Marriage Guidance, Women and the Problem(s) of Returning Soldiers in Finland, 1944-1946

Antti Malinen

subject

Historymedia_common.quotation_subjectPersonal lifeDemobilizationavioliittoperhe-elämäneuvonta060104 historyperheneuvontaSuomiInstitutionPastoral caresotilassielunhoito0601 history and archaeologyta615Meaning (existential)marriage counsellingFinlandmedia_commondemobilizationdivorces05 social sciencesWorld War IIpastoral care06 humanities and the artstoinen maailmansotaavioerotFamily lifeSecond World War050903 gender studiessotilaspapitfamily lifeHappiness0509 other social sciencesPsychologySocial psychology

description

When former military chaplains began to give marital guidance to troubled couples after the end of hostilities with the Soviet Union (1941–1944) in Finland, new information about the causes and experiences of marital problems and divorces emerged during guidance sessions. Even lengthy marriages were seen to be burdened due to the stress of reunion and men’s wartime infidelity, increased inclination to drinking and aggressive behaviour. The article discusses the meaning and construction of marital expectations with respect to the development of post-war marital dissolution, and argues that wives in particular tried to adjust their marital expectations in accordance with the general developments in personal life and society. Especially in the case of older marriages, for the majority of women, divorce was seen more as means of personal survival than of seeking happiness, even in the urban areas. Although contemporaries feared that the marital institution was disintegrating, the majority of wives were willing to work to save, or endure, even troubled marriages. peerReviewed

http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201711104201