Infidelity Amongst Young Married Couples: Suggestions for Social Work Intervention

Abstract

Infidelity is a common phenomenon in modern society and a major factor in marital dissolution across the globe. A qualitative research approach was used in this study to develop an in-depth understanding of the experiences and impact of infidelity amongst young married couples. The participants were purposively selected from a population of young married couples who had experienced infidelity in their marriage and lived within the municipal borders of Lepelle-Nkumpi, in Limpopo province, using the snowball technique. Tesch’s eight steps were used to analyse the data. To ensure the trustworthiness of the findings, the researchers assessed the qualitative data for credibility, transferability, dependability, and conformability. The findings highlight that young married couples experiencing marital infidelity require direction from social workers to understand the process of recovery from any type of infidelity to bring about improvement and change in their marriage. Keywords: infidelity experiences, infidelity, social work, social work interventions, young married couples