Summary:
A common occurrence that families can go through is divorce and the ensuing separation, discussed in chapter 15. Back in the 1960s, divorce was predominately a rare occurrence that happened to the American family; today, divorce is viewed as a normal phenomenon. Nearly 70 percent of Americans (18 years and older) believe that divorce is morally acceptable. Regarding divorce, there are 4 main stages in the process of separation; pre-separation, early separation, mid-separation, and late-separation. Some typical outcomes of marital separation are reconciliation, separation without an actual divorce, and separation with divorce. However, in the twentieth century, divorce rates have decreased. The book defines the process of divorce, involving emotions, legality, economics, differences in co-parenting, aspects of the involved community, and the role of psychology. There are also many macro-level, demographic, and interpersonal reasons that result in divorce. Macro-level reasons include divorce laws, religious institutions, cultural values and social integration, and technology. Some demographic reasons for divorce include age, gender, race and ethnicity, social class, religion, and similarity between spouses. Interpersonal problems that arise in causing divorce consist of extramarital affairs, lack of communication, annoying habits, not being at “home” enough, and simply growing apart. Same-sex divorces are part of our society as well, but are very difficult to come by (due to legal issues). The book talks about the effects that divorce has on adults, listing psychological, emotional, and physical effects, economic and financial effects, and the effects of child custody and child support. The book lists an interesting fact that 57.5 percent of custodial parents with at least a college degree receive full child-support payments, bringing the role and the importance of education back into discussion. Divorce also can have a significant impact on the children of the family, affecting children before, during, and after the divorce (i.e. parental problems before a divorce, the timing of divorce, ongoing parental conflict and hostility). There are positive outcomes towards separation and divorce; in many cases, there are just miserable marriages, and divorce serves as the most appropriate action. Positive outcomes of divorce can also happen for the children of these families, eliminating harsh and hostile living environments for the kids.
New Material Learned:
I was unaware of the number one cause of divorce (by both genders), which is due to lack of commitment. Religious differences were among the last reason as to why divorce occurs.
Questions:
I want to know what the divorce rates are like outside of the U.S. How do other countries compare to the U.S. regarding divorce rates?
Well in the text it states that in countries such as Greece, Spain, and Italy divorce rates are as low as 20%. In my blog I mentioned that cultures such as the Muslim culture has very low rates of divorce and in some countries such as the Philippines Divorce is non-existent. Divorce policies and customs differ from country to country it's a matter of investigating which countries you're interested in, but like I said the book mentioned a few.
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