Inasmuch as it is true that divorce effects the couple it is also true that it affects everyone else around them, including family members and most importantly children. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary the definition of Divorce is “The ending of a marriage by a legal process.” The average length of marriage ending in divorce in the U.S. is eight years, while the average age of people going through their first divorce is thirty years old. From experience, the effects of divorce can be emotionally and psychologically draining and damage more than just the people directly involved. There are many thoughts on divorce and the main causes of it, the biggest of them being, infidelity, dishonesty, addiction, abuse and changes in priority and all of those causes have truth to them. …show more content…
The most common causes of divorce are all valid, and hard to disagree with.
Infidelity, dishonesty, addiction, abuse, and priority changes are all the most common reasons people get divorced and in some cases it’s all or some of them combined. In an article written in the Huffington Post by Kim Olver, she states the many expectation people go into marriage having, stating that “Being able to trust, count on and predict one's spouse is paramount to a healthy, happy relationship”. With that being true it is safe to say trusts and meeting each others expectations is essential to a marriage and without paying attention to those key aspects the marriage can parish quickly. In this same article Olver asks couples what their non negotiable were in their marriage and they listed the same 5 things listed above. All five of these causes are common and almost always one of the reasons for a marriage ending in divorce. Sometimes the effects of the cause can be worse than the actual cause, and in my opinion they almost always
are. Divorce can leave a person and their family emotionally, mentally and in some cases physically damaged. It can affect everyone involved directly or indirectly and in almost all cases of divorce, children are affected the most. In an article called “The Effects of Divorce on America” written by Patrick. F. Fagan and Robert Rector, they discuss many statistics on the effects of divorce on children and the lives of people around a person going through a divorce. Within the essay Fagan and Rector state that “Moreover, half of the children born this year to parents who are married will see their parents divorce before they turn 18”, meaning the physical, emotional and financial effects that divorce will have on these children will last into their adulthood and carry on to the next generation. According to University of Utah researcher Nicholas H. Wolfinger, “Growing up in a divorced family greatly increases the chances of ending one’s own marriage, a phenomenon called the divorce cycle or the intergenerational transmission of divorce.” It is common for this cycle to occur more now in our generation than it was in previous generations. The affects of divorce on children are more than just while the divorce is happening, it lasts a lifetime, and from experience change a persons view on marriage, commitment, and love in general. The causes of divorce make people carry a heavy burden on their shoulders thinking of ways that things could’ve gone better or how they could’ve prevented that, but from statistics and many studies, the effects of divorce have proven to be a heavier burden than any cause. The fact that every year the number of the average length of marriage ending in divorce in America gets smaller and smaller should say something about the effects that divorce has had in our country and society. If it’s a cycle, where did it start, and where will it end? Divorce has 5 main causes that cause it to happen, when will people begin to look for ways to prevent themselves from causing these causes and prevent their children from feeling the effects and repeating the process.
Over the past decades, the patterns of family structure have changed dramatically in the United States. The typical nuclear family, two married parents with children living together in one household, is no longer the structure of the majority of the families today. The percentage of single-parent families, step-families and adopted families has increased significantly over the years. The nuclear family is a thing of the past. Family situations have tremendous influence upon a child’s academic achievement, behavior and social growth.
Divorce is prevalent in many parts of the developed world, it has been estimated that roughly 50% of marriages in America up until the 1980’s ended in divorce (Rutter). Divorce is arguably a personal hardship for both partners and their children, in that the stress of the divorce places both men and women at varying risks of psychological and physical health problems (Hetherington, Stanley-Hagan and Anderson 1989). However, using C. Wright mills’ definition of the “Sociological Imagination” we begin to view divorce as not just a personal problem of a particular man or woman, but as a societal concern that affects a wider category of people at a personal level. Therefore this essay will examine the societal structures which contribute to divorce
Divorce is something that affects millions of Americans. When my grandmother got divorced, she was left with little money and no job. She was able to get a job and provide for herself, but with the poverty rates for divorced women being significantly higher than for divorced men, it is a problem in society (Gadalla, 2008). When women feel unable to provide for themselves, and in some cases their children as well, they will likely seek government benefits. This will inevitably cost the taxpayers money. A recent study of Texas showed that 13.8 billion dollars’ worth of government benefits a year was the result of poverty after a divorce (Schramm et al., 2013). It has been found that after a divorce, women are left as the main caregivers
Overall a major reason for divorce is the fact that men and women have very different conversational expectations. If men and women could put their conversational differences aside there would be less failed marriages. Until men and women figure out how to put aside the differences marriages will continue to fail in the future.
The argument over how divorce affects children is one that has been going on for a very long time. Some people believe when parents get a divorce the children are not affected at all, while others believe when parents get a divorce the children are affected by the impact of divorce more than anyone in the family. In some cases, married couples can be in such a terrible marriage that divorce can in no way be avoided, and these divorces are usually the ones that children benefit from and are affected in a positive way. Many times though, a couple will choose to get a divorce because their marriage is not exactly the way it used to be, and they want that aspect of life back; these are the divorces that negatively affect children. Even though in some cases divorce does not affect children negatively, many times when parents obtain a divorce, the children are negatively harmed in many different ways that will forever change their lives.
Divorce can be caused by problems such as drugs, adultery, abuse, and money. The United States is a fast-paced country with little to no time to spend on the basic family values it was founded upon. Jobs are more demanding, kids are spending most of their time with people other than their parents, and the economy drains marriages by causing worry and stress. The foundation upon which marriage was built has been shaken.
than at home. For example, a couple living in New York State, where until 1967
Divorce should be harder to obtain due to the effect that it has on children the main effect it has on the children is depression. “ In the short term divorce is always troublesome for children Mavis Hetherington videotaped and scrutinized the workings of 1400 divorced families since the early 1970’s. Hetherington pinpoints a crisis period of about two years in the immediate aftermath of separation when the adults, preoccupied with their own lives, typically takes their eye off parenting just when their children are reeling from loss and feeling bewildered” (Hethrington 2). This article states that the short term effect of divorce affects the kid deep because they feel that they lost one forever and in those 1400 many of the kids felt the effect of the divorce. “Wallerstein has told us that divorce abruptly ends kids’ childhood, filling it with loneliness and worry about their parents, and hurting them prematurely and recklessly into adolescence. (Wallerstein 2).” This later affects the kids life because they try to think of happy memories they had but really all they can think about is the parent that they loss due to the divorce. “Contrary to the popular perceptions, the alternative to most divorces is not life in a war zone. Though more than 50 percent of all marriages currently end in divorce, experts tell us that only about 15 percent of all unions involve high levels of conflict. In the vast number of divorces, then, there is no gross strife or violence that could warp a youngster’s childhood. The majority of marital break-ups are driven by a quest for greener grass—and in these cases the children will almost always be worse off. (Zinsmeister 2)” this proves to me that when people get a divorce they most of the time don’t ...
Most people, when thinking about divorce, worry about the impact that it has on the children that are involved. Even though children are most likely better off if totally incompatible parents separate instead of staying together, divorce is about loss and change, and it is still hard for children. Everyone knows that divorce has its effects on children. There are three different sources that try to explain these effects. Graham Blaine Jr. states that divorce is a threat to all children, whereas Rhona Mahony states that divorce is not always the cause of behavioral or academic problems in children coming from divorced families. Yvette Walczak and Sheila Burns state that the extent of the damage can be determined by the parents and their methods of explanation to the children.
The first significant cause for divorce is lack of communication. In a marriage, the lack of communication represents a major issue and can hinder the relationship badly. When couples are unable to communicate effectively their feeling or needs, they have become distant to each other emotionally and physically. Some couples do not create time to talk to one another. When a problem starts, which can soon become a bigger issue when ignored. When couples are unable to resol...
Another cause of divorce is lack of commitment to the marriage. Infidelity or more commonly known as “cheating” is one of the main reasons for divorce in the US. Marriage is a relationship based on trust, faith and love for each other. Infidelity can be physical intimacy or emotional intimacy. The impact of infidelity is related to not only sex outside a relationship,
Over 60 percent of couples seeking a divorce have children still living at home. ( 6) What some parents don’t realize when they file for a divorce is the great impact that it will have on their kids. Divorce affects children in many ways. It affects kids emotionally and causes them to experience feelings such as fear, loss, anger and confusion. Divorce also hurts a child’s academic achievement. Children whose parents divorce generally have poorer scores on tests and a higher dropout rate. (3)
...money now or save it for the future. Additionally, many couples have not talked about their financial situation before getting married and do not often consider talking about the role money plays in their relationship and life (Lee, 2013). As a result, couples discover these things after getting married and realize that they won’t be happy and successful having financial troubles. This is when couples decide to divorce. Furthermore, some couples do not like to act as a couple and prefer to spend their money separately (Lee, 2013). They do not like to help each other when it comes to finances. This situation often leads to divorce, because couples are not able to achieve their future goals, since they are hiding their money businesses from each other (Lee, 2013). Hence, these financial problems tend to cause problems between couples and eventually lead to divorce.
A divorce is defined as “a judicial declaration dissolving a marriage in whole or part, especially on that releases the marriage partners from all matrimonial obligations” as stated by www.dictionary.com/browse/divorce. In current society divorces has been a well-known phenomenon and is quite common t everyone. Couples are getting divorced die to many reasons. Some of them are, but not limited to other love affairs, loss of romantic feelings, infidelity, getting married to young or even conflicts in the home between the two spouses. It is a heavy concept that impacts child(ren) and family one way or the other, both advantageous and negatively.
Cause and Effect Essay – The Causes of Divorce. From the past to present, people all over the world have determined to live together, which is called “get married” in another word, so that they depend on each other for living. Nevertheless, some couples are unable to maintain their relationship; therefore they choose divorce, which is one of the solutions to cope with problems between husband and wife. Furthermore, most people think carefully before they get married.