What Can Studying Designed Marital Argument Interventions Contribute To Argumentation Scholarship?

In this chapter, I take a design approach to the study of marital argumentation. Two marriage education programs, the prevention and relationship enhancement program (PREP) and the practical application of intimate relationship skills (PAIRS) program are examined. Each curriculum presents communication tools/guides/procedures for either directly improving argumentation behavior or by indirectly improving arguments by enhancing the partners\u27 commitment and intimacy. After discussing specific communication tools from each program, I identify design hypotheses underlying the programs that can then be applied to more general issues related to argumentation theory

Do Retributive and Restorative Justice Processes Address Different Symbolic Concerns?

In support of a unitary conceptualization of retributive justice (justice through the imposition of punishment) and restorative justice (justice through dialogue aimed at consensus), three studies using hypothetical and recalled experiences of victimization found that people's endorsement of, and satisfaction with, either justice notion depends on the symbolic meaning of the transgression. In Study 1, perceiving the transgression as a status/power violation was uniquely related to the endorsement of retributive justice, whereas perceiving it as a violation of shared values was uniquely related to restorative justice. In Study 2, motivation to restore status/power was related to retributive responses, whereas motivation to restore value consensus with the offender was uniquely related to restorative responses. In Study 3, a scenario experiment, respondents called for greater additional sanction when the applied justice process (retributive vs. restorative) did not fit the salient meaning of the transgressions compared to when it did (status/power vs. values)