Concepts of Divorce

1811 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Controversial issue

Concepts of Divorce

Is marriage no more than the result of voluntary agreements between two private individuals? Is the lack of detail concerning marriage arrangements causing all the divorce debates? Does divorce cause problems or solve them? Why is marriage such a religious experience and divorce such a legal experience? Why do marriages take place under the eyes of God while divorces take place under the eyes of the law?

I believe that it was because of my parents' divorce that I have chosen to tackle such a controversial topic. In many ways, I am in search of my own opinion. My parents divorced through the no-fault system. My dad decided it was time to move on to another life I guess. The no-fault divorce is a form of divorce granted without blame being sought or established. Sometimes, I try to think of how my life would have turned out if they were still together. I wonder if life would be any better. However, there are other days when I thank God for putting me through such troubling times; without them, I wouldn't be where I am today.

What troubles me with marriage/divorce issues is that one is dealt with while the other lies on the floor. Today, we discuss marriage, and we discuss divorce, but never both at the same time. Should we push premarital counseling, or should we make divorce harder? Why must we discuss one or the other and not both?

There are so many questions concerning marriage and divorce, and that is why I'm writing to you. I hope to answer some questions you may have. Though you may not form an opinion about no-fault divorce, you should finish this article with a little satisfaction, knowing that you've seen both sides of the issue.

There are many people who have spoken out...

... middle of paper ...

...out such topics when she says, "All this should be a very simple matter; God knows, it's been going on long enough. So why have we fallen into such a state of confusion?"

Bibliography:

Dalman, and Susan Ager. "Abolish No-Fault Divorce?" Divorce Online. 14 February 1996

Decter, Midge. "The Madness of the American Family" Policy Review. September-October 1998

Gallagher, Maggie. "Why Make Divorce Easy?" Current Issues and Enduring Questions. Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's Publishing, 1999. 17-18

Tyson, Ann Scott. "States Put Minor Speed Bumps in Divorce Path: No-Fault Backlash" 10 September 1996 (http:/www.rmfc.org/newsitem.html)

Whitehead, Barbara Dafoe. "The Making of a Divorce Culture" The Aims of Argument. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channell. California: Mayfield Publishing Company. 2000. 484-491

Show More
Related

  • Essay On What Happened To Ward And June Cleaver

    1649 Words  | 4 Pages

    The controversy, however, lies in the argument from critics that restricting couples from marriage or imposing fines or penalties is unjust. Jennifer Daw, a therapist with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy quoted an article from USA Today wherein opponents argued that, “divorce regulations or restrictions would create messier divorces, not prevent them and tougher restrictions on divorce could endanger women in abusive marriages.” People were once required to negotiate in divorce. The “No Fault Divorce” has changed that and takes the ground...

    Read More

  • The Impact of Unwanted Divorce vs. Death of a Spouse

    1179 Words  | 3 Pages

    Along with these feelings of rejection, the spouse who wanted to stay married also often feels betrayed. Their partner vowed to love and honor them forever, and to stand by them in sickness and in health, and to devote their lives to them. With divorce, all of that is taken away. Those promises of love, fidelity, and companionship are broken, by the choice of the spouse pursuing the divorce. In contrast, when d...

    Read More

  • Sociological Imagination: The Issue Of Divorce In America

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Rodgers (1995) no-fault divorce was implemented to make divorce less restrictive, and more importantly removes the factor of fault in that it removes the need for one party to be guilty or innocent. No-fault divorce law recognises that a breakdown of the relationship between spouses can result in them no longer being able to function as a married couple, and instead seeks to reduce the legal obstacles, economic costs, and psychological consequences of divorce (Rodgers 1995). Due to these factors, divorce may have become more accessible to low income families had who previously been unable to afford it under fault-based divorce. On the other hand, no-fault divorce may have become more attractive to high income families in particular the “guilty” spouse who under fault-based legislation faced alimony payments, child support payments and loss of property to the “innocent” spouse (Rodgers 1995). The role that the no-fault law plays in divorce is that of a societal structure, in that it encompasses an association between individuals and the social institution that is the American legal system on a sizable scale throughout American society.

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects of Divorce Rates in United States

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    ​For those who are heading in the direction of a divorce should take a lot of time to think over things before getting a divorced. A divorce can seriously effect many in negative ways that will change their lives forever. So therefore, divorce should be thought about twice before any one decides to go through it. If a marriage is having any problems its best for them to talk it out or seek some professional help to deal with the problems before it destroys the marriage.

    Read More

  • The High Divorce Rate in the United States

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marriage is a commitment that seems to be getting harder to keep. The social standards placed on an individual by society and influenced by the media inevitably lead some to consider divorce as a “quick-fix” option. “Have it your way” has become a motto in the United States. It has become a country without any consideration of the psychological effects of marriage and divorce. The overwhelmingly high divorce rate is caused by a lack of moral beliefs and marital expectations.

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects Of Divorce On The Family

    1671 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many Americans would be shock to learn that “in America, there is one divorce approximately every 36 seconds. That’s nearly 2,400 divorces per day, 16,800 divorces per week and 876000 divorces a year” (32 Shocking). Divorce causes many negative effects and has become too accepted in society. Children and parents are affected physically through the divorce process. There are psychological effects for the members of the family that are involved. The negative impacts on the family’s future life should be taken into consideration.

    Read More

  • Sociological Analysis of Divorce

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sociological Analysis of Divorce as a Social Problem and Proposed Solutions Every year approximately 2.4 million marriages occur. Out of those,2.1 millionwill file for divorce in the United States. These marriage and divorce rates have significantly increased since the years past(Coltrane and Adams, 364).According to Schoen, in the 1950’s, 15 out of 1,000 marriages ended in divorce. In the 1970’s, the rates of divorcedoubled,increasing to 40 per 1,000 marriages. Currently, the rate of marriages resulting in divorce remains the same.

    Read More

  • The Reality of Divorce in American Society

    1258 Words  | 3 Pages

    As with most life transitions, divorce can be liberating, depressing, frustrating, or traumatic to any person who experiences it. Perhaps the most painful part on the process of divorce is when the children get involved and when they all get trapped in the situation. These children may suffer significant losses in their lives and unless the situation can be handled in a civil manner, they will become prone to the psychological torment that could affect them for the rest of their lives. The issue of divorce however is becoming more and more intense since for the past ten years the divorce rate in the United States has skyrocketed to a record high of almost fifty- percent. It is also believed that the divorce rate in the United States is the highest in the world and the reason for this are primarily the ever-changing role of the husbands and wives in their household, early marriage, infidelity, extra marital affairs, domestic violence, financial instability and psychological incapacity.

    Read More

  • Factors Associated with Divorce

    390 Words  | 1 Pages

    - Being young they may get bored and prefer a new marriage as opposed to

    Read More

  • Pros and Cons on Divorce

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    Divorce, in history, has always been considered as a deviance of society. However, in the modern world, where people have senses of individualism, divorce has become a phenomenon. There are numerous reasons for divorce, from not knowing each other well enough before marriage, lack of money, long distance relationships, frequent disagreements to partners...

    Read More

  • Trends of Marriage and Divorce

    1291 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...S. Quinn. "National Trends in Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage." Children and Divorce 4.1 (1994): 16-21. Print.

    Read More

  • The Negative Effect of Divorce on Children

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    Divorce has a negative effect on the psychological and social aspects of our children, which may appear instantly or not come to the surface for years. This is why I think that divorce should only be a last resort and not rushed into even by couples with the most troubled marriages. The only acceptable reason for someone rushing into divorce is if they or their children are in danger. I believe that marriage is a commitment not to be taken lightly and disregarded at the first bump in the road especially when there are children involved. Far too many people do not want to take responsibility for their actions and choices; for example, people use abortion as birth control and couples’ jumping in and out of marriages like it’s a trial and error institution. Marriage is no longer taken seriously; commitment and monogamy are no longer an essential ingredient. For most couples today, it’s not even considered as a part of marriage. The negative effects that divorce has on children should be the number one consideration when a couple hits that hard time in their relationship.

    Read More

  • Issues in Divorce

    2336 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are many different religions in existence today that all have different rules when it comes to the issue of divorce. In the past, divorce was prohibited almost everywhere due to the fact that the majority of major religions did not allow it. This was due to Catholicism being the predominant religion in the world, which it continues to be today. Since it did not condone the idea of divorce, many countries ended up deciding to make the process illegal. This has changed since then, with most countries now allowing people to get divorced if they so choose. Here in America, where there are currently a little more than two million marriages, the divorce rate is...

    Read More

  • Divorce: The Separation of the Inseparable

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    In order to fully understand divorce, we need to look into marriage, understanding the connection between two people. Biblically, marriage is the union of a man and woman into “one flesh.” Although the precise meaning of one flesh remains debatable, we can confidently say that God places a high priority on the connection between married partners, going beyond the physical world, becoming connected spiritually in the eyes of God. Marital union is made complete when consummate because God stresses the importance of sex within a marriage and abstinence outside. “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral” (Heb. 13:4 NIV). Likewise, the seventh commandment—of only ten—is “do not commit adultery” (Deu. 5:18 NIV). The Bible further emphasizes this connection by saying a man who rapes a woman not committed to another man must marry her, never divorcing her as long as he lives (Deu. 22:28-29). God even uses marriage as the comparison between Christ and the church, describing Christ as the groom, and the church as his bride. Marriage does not eliminate...

    Read More

  • The Causes of Divorce

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin with, lack of communication is a significant cause of the recent rise in the rates of divorce. A marriage is on the rocks when the lines of communication fail. People will tend to stay quiet about money management and job issues, because they don’t want to burden their partner. Most of the time they think it’s easier to deal with it by one’s self, but in reality, it’s pushing their partner out of the room and shutting the door. When this starts to happen, it’s harder to push back. In marriage, one person’s problems is supposed to be handled by both. One will feel neglected if they don’t have a say in a particular situation. Thus, resentment and distance starts growing between the two. Those small problems now become big problems, which result in separation. In order to have a good solid foundation, each couple needs to be heard and voice his or her own feelings. This includes conflict of opinion with concerns to small or big disputes such as religion, children, job opportunities and money management.

    Read More

More about Concepts of Divorce

Open Document