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The effect of divorce on family life
Divorce in society
The effect of divorce on family life
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“A divorce is like an amputation: you survive it, but there's less of you.” In the words written above by well-known poet and novelist Margaret Atwood, I believe she makes a clear depiction of brokenness that occurs in the divorce process. I believe this quote sets the framework of what is true amongst most divorces. Divorces have become more frequent and in return to the steady rate, there has been an influx of broken homes in our current generation’s lifetime and the number will only grow from here. Divorce has a direct impact on those who are incorporated into all facets of the process and for that reason divorce roots run deep causing those involved to never the ability to escape.
We as a country and even further a world have found ourselves becoming increasingly more consumed with finding instant gratification in all aspects of this life. This instant gratification does not merely stop in the area of marriage instead it is found more frequently. For example, in areas congruent with marriage, we find a desire for instant happiness, pleasure and joy in most couples. We all want to be loved and show love, love is the embedded in our DNA, whether we are actively seeking it or not. I believe this proposes problems in the relationship aspect of life, if we seek instant gratification in something as important as love we only are destroying the word entirely. Love is a process and in most cases we rush the process, which can lead to divorce because one or both members of the marriage are not entirely committed or do not understand the commitment. Secondly, in a situation where the marriage is already established there comes a point where we can become not content in our current state and seek something “better” to fulfill our “needs...
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...se to exist. Honestly, a good solution would be to have fewer marriages across the board, but despite their being less marriage a lot of sexual immorality would occur because of the fleshly desires of the heart. For when sexual activity is present without the concrete act of marriage we run the risk of child conception into a non pre-established home which leads to diverse brokenness that is significantly harder to get over.
As a whole we will never truly solve the issue of divorce, but we can gradually progress into a state of further understanding of the repercussions of divorce. With divorce comes a significant amount of pain and stability issues. These issues will remain prevalent in every divorce that occurs, but divorces are becoming more socially acceptable. When these divorces become a social norm I believe there is no area of return but to save the young.
Divorce becomes unpleasing, but also the best option for the family. Kingsolver claims, “Disassembling a marriage in these circumstances is as much fun as amputating your own gangrenous leg. You do it if you can, to save a life-or two, or more.” (Kingsolver, 2014, p. 222). The majority of the time divorce takes place, it becomes a necessary break. Kingsolver describes divorce as amputating a gangrenous leg. The leg, if left intact, will slowly shut down the body. A family is considered a body, and each member of the family has responsibilities, such as the body. When a certain part of the body destroys the other parts, elimination rolls into effect to save the remaining family body. Not only does divorce lead to a broken bond in the spouses, it also leads to broken friendships. Rather than being shunned, divorced families should receive love. Kingsolver claims, “In the wake of my divorce, some friends (even a few close ones) chose to vanish.” (Kingsolver, 2014, p. ?). Kingsolver during, and after her divorce, lost many of what she believed were her best friends. Sadly, some friends decide to leave during a time when friends should be near; divorce, especially during the beginning, hurts. Why would anyone want to receive the outcomes of divorce, such as losing friends, and family? Divorce becomes necessary. Anyone, in his or her right mind, would only go
Many people who have suffered through the emotional trauma of divorce strongly believe that losing a spouse as a result of an unwanted divorce has had a greater impact on their emotional health and well being than losing a spouse in death. A significant number of therapists and other psychiatric professionals agree, for they understand that divorce is far more than just a legal process. (Rich and Schwartz)
Introduction A century ago, divorce was nearly non-existent due to the cultural and religious pressures placed upon married couples. Though over time Canadians have generally become more tolerant of what was once considered ‘mortal sin’, marital separation and divorce still remain very taboo topics in society. Political leaders are frowned upon when their marriages’ crumble, religions isolate and shun those who break their martial vows, and people continue to look down on those who proceed to legally separate their households. With that being said, couples do not just decide to get a divorce for no particular reason. There must be something driving them towards marital dissatisfaction and further, driving them towards divorce.
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 and has become a major issue in our society, the reason for that has been attributed to the drastic increase in divorce rates over the years. Divorce often disrupts the flow of the family structure, increases discord, and affects how family issues are handled. Families dealing with divorce are often times in a state of complete confusion and disorder, and filled with frustration, anger, and pain. Power struggles between spouses, which often times spread to the children if there any increase as the addiction worsens. There is a growing concernment among those in different fields like Social Work, Academia, and Mental Health in the United States, other countries, who have taken an interest in how divorce is readjusting
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.
According to recent statistics, there are more divorces now than ever before. At the rate things are going, the divorce rate may soon surpass the marriage rate. There are many reasons for such a high divorce rate, but one of the main ones is that people do not realize what they are getting themselves into when they marry. Couples do not realize that marriage is a job that must be worked at continuously in order for it to go well. Because many couples marry for the wrong reasons, a breakdown in communication results, which leads to a couple's growing apart. This process, all too often, ends in divorce.
Since there are high rates of divorce in America, I decided to write about it. Providing facts that might persuade the reader to think the way I do. Divorce is like a disease, it starts with a disagreement until the relationship is destroyed.
Wallerstein, J. S., & Lewis, J. M. (2004). The unexpected legacy of divorce: Report of a 25-year study. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 21(3), 353-370.
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 ...
Humboldt Journal of Social Relations 32.1, TRANSLATIONAL APPLIED SOCIOLOGY (2009): 158-83. JSTOR.Web. 11 May 2014. Chalmers, Jennifer H. "Romantic Love: Is It a Realistic Goal for Marriage Therapy?" Romantic Love: Is It a Realistic Goal for Marriage Therapy?
One tough thing about today's American family is divorce. In 1816, one marriage out of one hundred ended in divorce. Then between the years 1869-1888, divorce increased up to one hundred and fifty percent. And the worse, between the years 1960-1980, the divorce rate increased up to two hundred and fifty percent. Divorce rates peaked in 1981 and then started to decline a little during the mid 1980's. However, divorce rates now are as high as they have ever been. Now fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce. There are five reasons for the increase in divorce. The first reason is in modern societies; individual happiness is regarded to be important so when people are unhappy with their marriage, they break-up and split. The second reason is it is easier to get divorced financially. The third reason is that women's economic independence has contributed. The fourth reason is the stigma of divorce has lessened so people are not
With this ring I thee wed…. For better or worse, for richer or poorer…. Traditionally, two people speak these words on their wedding day, the day that two become one, the day that two people begin a life together and share an unbreakable union. This may be so in some cases but not all. Divorce among Americans is rampant. In society today divorces are as common as marriages themselves. Couples meet, date, fall in love, marry, and have children and then one day: Wham! Something is just not right with the relationship anymore, so they opt for the easy way out, the big "D". They get a divorce, is this really the easy way? The legalities and dissolution of the union may be easy and painless, but what about the emotions that are still in tact? Although a divorce may be hard on the adults involved, what about the children? What happens to the kids of these broken marriages?
Throughout the last half of the century, our society has watched the divorce rate of married couples skyrocket to numbers previously not seen. Although their has been a slight decline in divorce rates, “half of first marriages still were expected to dissolve before death.” (Stacy, 15, 1991) Whatever happened to that meaningful exchange of words, “until death do us part,” uttered by the bride and groom to each other on their wedding day? What could have been the cause of such inflated divorce rates? Perhaps young married couples are not mature enough to be engaged in such a trremendous responsibility, or, maybe, the couples really do not know each other as well as they thought. Possibly, they have been blinded by infatuation rather than by true love, or, quite simply, the couples mistakenly have different relational expectations.
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...