Affective relationships, i.e, close-fitting interactions that emerge between two partners or between parents and children, can easily be beleaguered by tension and conflict. What happens, exactly, when a vicious circle of disagreements arises within a couple? What are the dynamics underlying quarrels between children and parents? This book, after introducing the relational perspective in psychology, addresses the topics of conflict management in couples and families and principles and models of family mediation. With an ample array of real-life examples, the authors describe the basic features of disputes, with special emphasis placed on their emotional dimensions, and examine the corresponding intervention strategies and the mediation process. This text was written for students of interpersonal relationships, family mediation professionals, couple psychotherapists, counsellors, social psychology operators, and anybody else involved in couple relationships or shared childcare responsibilities.

Ritagrazia Ardone teaches Dynamic Psychology at La Sapienza University in Rome, where she heads the Department of Psychology of Developmental Processes and Socialisation's Family Mediation Service.

Claudia Chiarolanza has a doctorate in Social Psychology and teaches Community Psychology at the Second University of Naples.