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What Are The Statistical, Legal, & Historical Trends in Divorce?
Separation
• A termination of marital cohabitation
• Types of Separation
• Trial Separation – A couple lives apart for a period of time
in order to decide whether or not to separate permanently
• Living Apart – Couples do not intend to get back together
• Permanent Separation – A couple begins living apart
• Legal Separation – A formal separation including court
proceedings
• Separation Agreement – A binding agreement between
husband & wife regarding debts, assets, custody, child care,
& support payments
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• Legal Separation or Divorce?
– Want to avoid the “D” word
– Some states require separation before divorce
Divorce
• Statistical Trends
• Divorce rate in the US has decreased over the last 30
years
• In 2004, Nevada had the highest divorce rate
– Washington D.C. had the lowest
• Approximately 43.7% of custodial mothers & 56.2% of
custodial fathers were separated or divorced in 2003
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Divorce
• Statistical Trends
• Divorce rate in the US has decreased over the last 30 years
• In 2004, Nevada had the highest divorce rate
– Washington D.C. had the lowest
• Approximately 43.7% of custodial mothers & 56.2% of custodial
fathers were separated or divorced in 2003
• Southern states have the highest divorce rates in 2009
• In 2009, the northeastern states had the lowest divorce rates
• In 2010, women who divorced in the past 12 months were more
likely to receive public assistance than recently divorced men
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• Patterns of Divorce
– Divorce rates rise during major events, such as
war, & decrease during times of economic hardship
• Legal Trends
• Canon Law – the ecclesiastical body of laws used in
England that governed the Catholic & Anglican
churches
• Fault-Based Divorce – A type of divorce in which one
partner is obligated to prove that the other had
somehow violated the marriage contract
• Absolute Divorce – the official end of a marriage in
which all legal bonds between a couple are severed
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• No Fault Divorce – a type of divorce that allowed
couples to divorce without proving guilt or fault on the
part of the other
• Covenant Marriage
• Requires a couple to commit to a more strenuous set
of legal requirements in an effort to strengthen their
relationship
Divorce Risk Factors
• Demographic Factors
• Education Level
– People who graduate from college have more
stable marriages
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• Income Level
– Couples with sufficient financial resources are less
likely to divorce
• Employment Status
– Low-status occupations have a higher divorce rate
• Religion
– Religious couples are less likely to divorce
• Race & Ethnicity
– Blacks face the highest divorce rates
– Hispanic Americans have the lowest divorce rates
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• Societal Factors
• Social Integration
– Couples who are tightly bonded to the community are
less likely to divorce
• Cultural Values
– Increasing emphasis on individual happiness & self-
fulfillment may be the root cause of many divorces
• Lifestyle Factors
• Age at Marriage – younger more likely to divorce
• Premarital Pregnancy – increases the risk
• Premarital Cohabitation – increases the risk
• Intergenerational Transmission – couples with divorced
parents are more likely to divorce
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• Bohannon’s Six Stations of Divorce
• Emotional Divorce – one spouse starts to withdraw or
both start to lose mutual trust & respect
• Legal Divorce
• Economic Divorce – continued arguments over
financial matters after legal divorce
• Coparental Divorce – discussions about issues with
any children
• Community Divorce – changes in social relationships
• Psychic Divorce – full sense of independence &
emotionally let go of the ex-spouse
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• Consequences of Divorce for Adults
• Economic Outcomes
– Decline for both spouses; more for women
• Marital & Emotional Outcomes
– Higher level of depression & anxiety
• Physical Outcomes
– Suffer more health problems & have higher
mortality rates
• Relationship Outcomes
– Social isolation
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• Consequences of Divorce for Children
• Personal Adjustment
– More social & psychological problems
– If see noncustodial parent regularly adapt better
• Interpersonal Relationships
– Date early, engage in premarital sex, & more likely to choose high-
risk partners
• Antisocial Behavior
– Adolescents in mother-only households are more likely to engage in
deviant behavior
• Cognitive Functioning
– Lower academic records
• Self-Esteem
– Divorce doesn’t necessarily lower children’s self-esteem
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• Consequences of Divorce for Children
• Conclusions of a recent studies
– Men whose parents divorced before they were 18 were 2-3 times
more likely to consider committing suicide when compared to men
whose parents were not divorce by age 18
– Parental conflict may have more damaging long-term effects than
the actual divorce
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• Adjusting to Divorce
• Affected by personal factors & contextual factors
– Personal Factors – individual characteristics such
as age, education level, & employment status
– Contextual Factors – outside factors such as the
level of social support an individual receives during
their time of need
• Positive Outcomes of Divorce
• Children tend to be more mature & have higher self-
esteem
• May provide the chance for a new & better life
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Think Marriages & Families
What Are The Theories Behind Divorce?
Adjusting to Divorce: Theoretical Perspectives
• Social Exchange Theory
• All human activity is a series of rewards & costs
• Reward – a benefit
• Cost – a detriment
• Profit – the ratio of reward to cost
• Rationality – an alternative view of what constitutes a
reward or a cost
• Exchanges & Equity – a system of judging the reward & cost
of a situation or relationship
• Generalized Set of Rewards – an examination that tries to
figure out why most people in general believe in a particular
way
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Discover Marriages & Families in Action
How Do Demographers Measure Divorce?
• Measures of Divorce
• Marriage to Divorce Ratio
– Compares the number of divorces in a given year to the number of
marriages
• Crude Divorce Rate
– The number of divorces per 1,000 people
• Refined Divorce Rate
– The number of divorces per 1,000 married women
• Age-Specific Divorce Rate
– The number of divorces per 1,000 married women in each age category
• Standardized Divorce Rate
– Statistic based on the age-specific divorce rate in each age category that
is calculated by adding the total number of divorces across all age
categories, dividing by the standard population & multiplying this
number by 1,000
