copyright © 2010 pearson education, inc. all rights reserved. chapter 14: divorce and remarriage

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter 14: Divorce and Remarriage


Desertion and MaritalSeparation

Desertion is the willful abandonment, without legal justification, of one’s spouse, children, or both.

Marital separation may be:– A precursor to divorce; – A temporary solution while couples work out problems;

or– A separation in which couples never reconcile, but

never divorce. Most separations are informal, not legal.


Annulment

An annulment is granted when the court finds that causes existed prior to the marriage that render the marital contract void.

An annulment may be granted if one partner is:– Underage

– Already married

– Insane


Divorce Around the World

Variations in divorce rates cross-nationally are correlated with four societal-level variables:

1. High male-to-female sex ratio

2. Later age at marriage for women

3. Level of socioeconomic development

4. Female labor force participation rate


Divorce in the U.S.

Divorce rates can be calculated by:– Crude divorce rate-the number of divorces that

take place per 1,000 people in the population– Refined divorce rate-the number of divorces

per 1,000 married females– The ratio of divorces to marriages in a given

year


Trends in Divorce

Divorce rates have risen around the world in the last fifty years.

Structural explanations include:– Increased industrialization;– Urbanization; and– Religious and legal diversity.

Divorce rates are also correlated with economic conditions.


Variations in Divorce

Divorce rates vary according to:– Geographic area– Age of husbands and wives– Length of marriage– Demographics (race, religion, socioeconomic

status)


Legal and Social Groundsfor Divorce

In the U.S., adversary divorce, where one party is innocent and the other “at fault,” has been replaced with no-fault divorce based on “irreconcilable differences.”

No-fault divorce was intended to:– Reduce legal and economic obstacles; and– Improve the social-psychological climate.

Divorce mediation is offered to couples experiencing high levels of conflict over property distribution and/or child custody.


Impact of Childrenon Parental Divorce

The presence of children tends to delay, rather than prevent, divorce.

Older children and those born before marriage significantly increase the chances of marital dissolution.


Consequences of Divorce The probability of divorce increases when

alternatives are perceived as providing greater rewards or lower costs than marriage.

Individual adjustment to divorce is linked to:– Income– Steady dating– Cohabitation– Remarriage– Being the partner who initiated the divorce


Consequences of Divorce Following divorce, men’s economic situations

tend to improve, while women’s decline.

For women, post-divorce economic recovery is linked to:– Entering the paid labor force (or increasing hours

worked);– Obtaining or increasing child support from the father;

or– Re-marrying or cohabiting with a person who provides

resources.


Consequences of Divorcefor Children

Diminished social and economic resources, which affect:– Educational attainment– Marital timing– Probability of marriage and divorce

Detrimental social, psychological, and health consequences (higher for adolescents than younger children)


Child Custody

The majority of custodial parents in the U.S. are women.

Joint custody is an arrangement where the child spends at least 30 percent of time with each parent.

Joint custody is promoted by the absence of parental conflict.


Custodial Parents Custodial fathers tend to be white, over 30,

highly educated, and have high incomes.

Custodial mothers experience high rates of poverty.

Non-custodial fathers have low compliance with child support awards, and have little contact with the children.


Split Custody

Split custody involves separating children so that each parent has custody of at least one child.

This arrangement is usually instituted because of children’s wishes.


Homosexual Parents

Most courts assume that it is not in the “best interest of the child” to live with gay or lesbian parents.

Research indicates that there is no evidence to support this bias.


Economic Well-Being Two key determinants of economic well-

being for divorced, custodial mothers are:– Child support– Remarriage

Mothers who regularly receive child support are less likely to remarry.


Remarriage About two-thirds of divorced persons remarry.

The Likelihood of remarriage is higher for:– Men– Those who divorced at younger ages– Childless persons– Persons with less than a college education– Women who do not participate in the paid labor force– Men with higher incomes and women with lower

incomes


Marriage among theRemarried

Remarriages have a higher probability of disruption than first marriages.

Remarried persons are more likely to:– Be poorly integrated;– More willing to leave marriage; and– Have lower socioeconomic status.

Children from previous marriages tend to have a destabilizing effect on remarriage.


Remarried Couples withStepchildren

Remarriage increases a family’s economic security and provides an additional parental figure.

Remarriage does not directly benefit children or stepfamily households.

Children exhibit more adjustment problems than children in intact families.


Remarried Couples with Stepchildren

The structural variations of remarriage create boundary ambiguity, or uncertainty concerning membership, roles, and responsibilities.

This uncertainty increases family stress and child behavior problems.

copyright © 2010 pearson education, inc. all rights reserved. chapter 14: divorce and remarriage

Documents

divorce divorce rates

divorce slide

nofault divorce

parental divorce

probability of divorce

divorce mediation

adversary divorce

consequences of divorce