Introduction: Men employment in the offshore oil industry is coupled with their intermittent absence from the family, a deficiency which has made it difficult for couples to fulfill their family duties. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to identify the pathologies of couples’ family duties when the men need to work offshore. Methodology: The present study was conducted through a qualitative content analysis approach; it included 28 subjects who were selected purposefully. The participants included 18 employees, 5 experts, 3 wives and 2 managers, with at least 5 years of experience in the field. Required data collected through interview and observation; it was written word for word, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis method. The sampling ended when data and categories saturation was realized. Findings: Data analysis led to the emergence of three main abstract categories, including “work-family conflict”, “female’s roles overload” and “disorder in the parenting role of the father”; each of these categories included three subcategories, providing a total number of 9 subcategories. Conclusion: Offshore employment for men in the oil industry has caused an imbalance in the allocation of, and response to, family roles among couples, resulting in duty conflict. Therefore, the empowerment of couples and implementation of educational programs are essential in order to optimize the responsiveness of couples to family roles.
