Meanings and Values of Love among Adolescents with Quarrel Behaviors:

Abstract

Objective:To explore meanings and values of “love” amongadolescents with quarrel behavior, based on Watson’s Human Caretheory and Fromm’s Theory of Love.Methods: Ten participants, 5female and 5 male students studying in the vocational schools underthe Ministry of Education, Chon Buri, were purposively selected. Allparticipants had experiences involving fighting and had been formallydisciplined by their schools. Story-telling with drawing together within-depth interview was used in data collection. Semi-structuredquestions guided the interview. Thematic technique was utilized fordata analysis.Results: The findings indicated 5 meanings of “love”among these adolescents which consisted of 1) love is willingness tooffer, 2) love is being there, 3) love is being open-minded andaccepting the others’ self, 4) love is caring and being considerate,and 5) love is being involved. Through story-telling, willingness andacts representing 6 values of “love” emerged. When they knew love,they desired to be a good person, felt relaxed and relieved, feltnourished, knew how to appreciate life, knew how to make othershappy, and knew how to do for others.Conclusion: Concepts of“love” in adolescents with quarrel behaviors were revealed. Nursesand related professionals should deal with adolescents as who theyare, with care and acceptance. Adolescents should be allowed toexpress freely with accepting manners so that developmental skillsto live with others in a productive way could be promoted.Key words:love, adolescent, quarrel behavior, story-telling, drawing