Background & Objectives: Divorce is one of the worst events in people's lives that affects the mental health of couples. Couples' problems usually originate from the engagement period, where couples are unable to create solid foundations for their marriage, even though the roots of divorce lie in the years before marriage. Since pre–marriage relationships are considered the basis for the subsequent relationships of couples, it seems necessary to investigate the problems and conflicts created during this period. By identifying and eliminating the underlying factors of marital conflict, it is possible to help couples draw a more appropriate basis for their marital satisfaction and compatibility. Therefore, the current research was conducted to provide a vulnerable marriage model based on exploring the signs of divorce in the early transitional periods of life (dating, engagement, and marriage) in non–consanguineous marriages.
Methods: This research was qualitative research that used a contextual analysis. The current research population was all couples applying for divorce from non–consanguineous marriages with less than five years of marriage living in Kerman City, Iran. Subjects were selected by purposeful sampling method and semi–structured interviews. A total of 15 couples applying for divorce from non–consanguineous marriages with less than five years of marriage, who were introduced by the family court of Kerman were selected. The inclusion criteria were as follows: the couples should have applied for divorce and their marriage should be non–consanguineous marriages. The exclusion criterion included unwillingness to continue cooperation in the research. In this research, several steps were followed: literature review, interviews with 15 couples applying for divorce with a history of fewer than 5 years of marriage and non–consanguineous marriages, triangulation of information, and preparation of premarital counseling model. The method of data collection was based on semi–structured interviews and researcher–made tools. The interview guide was pre–tested using three mock interviews. Before the interview, the purpose of the study was explained and the people agreed to the interview. Data analysis was done based on the grounded theory of Strauss and Corbin (1998). In the open coding stage, codes, concepts, and categories were counted. based on which the conceptualization of data was formed.
Results: According to the findings of the research, 502 codes were found in the first–level coding and 157 codes were found in the second–level coding. These codes are finally merged into 27 concepts and 10 major categories: core categories, factors predisposing to divorce related to choice, factors predisposing to divorce related to the spouse, factors predisposing to divorce related to relationship context, factors accelerating divorce, contextual factors related to divorce, factors related to husband and wife's family, background factors, emotional factors, and thinking about divorce.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this research, the model of vulnerable marriage is formulated to reduce divorce in the early transitional periods of life (dating, engagement, marriage) in non–consanguineous marriages.