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Janet Mattinson has given us a book that is short (little more than 200 pages) but not slight, that is obvious (for we all know that lost jobs can affect marriages) but in no way simplistic; it is a hard—headed book, carrying research information, but never
cold—hearted. For those familiar with the work of the Tavistock Institute of Marital Studies the book carries their imprint: no theory without clinical work, nor without careful documentation. And though Martinson is herself responsible for authorship, she makes it clear how much is owed to the team of colleagues working with her. She also pays tribute to those couples who were able to share with the therapists some of the pain, shame and stress of losing their jobs.
This is the story of a project embarked on in 1984 and carried out in three areas of England—the North, the South and London—in three workshops with local therapists and T.I.M.S. leadership. The aim was to offer ongoing interviews to couples whose marriages were felt to be at risk where one partner was ‘unwillingly unemployed’. In all but one of the couples this meant the husband's loss of employment. In one case both husband and wife were unemployed. In many cases wives were working part-time. The period of unemployment had lasted from under six months to over four years. Ages ranged from twenty-four to fifty-seven years. The clinical sample of fifty-nine couples was distributed over social classes II to V. Fees were flexible and were waived when necessary. So much for how the project was planned and for an outline of its action.
There was one major surprise experienced by the team at the outset; this was the noticeable reluctance of the helping agencies to recognise any link between unemployment and marital discord—indeed, sometimes an unwillingness to ‘know’ about unemployment itself. One G.P. working in an area of 22 per cent unemployment said he had no unemployed patients, and in many case-histories it seemed that referral agencies were so used