FAD Exam 3 Study Guide Chapter 10 Divorce Divorce Family stress and family divider o Parental divorce Parent outcomes Child outcomes Rates of divorce vary by race and ethnicity Single parent homes poverty o Feminization of poverty Family Systems Theory with Risk and Resilience Extensions Family systems theory suggests that the family needs to be reviewed in its entirety o Dyads within family To understand how kids affected by divorce have to know about relationship of parents parent to child etc Family systems alone not enough to explain divorce Need to address risk resilience perspective to address why some kids and parents are resilient through divorce while others do not adapt as successfully o Risk resiliency Outcomes depend on interplay among risk and protective factors and History and Context of Divorce mechanisms Rates increased steadily throughout 1900s Divorce rose dramatically after World War II Exception to rise 1950s However did not last o Instability of family increased in great depression and war high value places on family so lower divorce rate in 1950s o Post war economic boom improved standard of living for middle class o Marriage and birthrates rose divorce rates dropped o Inequalities in marriage and burdens placed on women o Cultural climate of 1960s and 1970s increased emphasis on individualism Higher divorces based on marital satisfaction Marriage not meeting personal needs o From late 1950s to 1980s singlehood cohabitation childlessness and nonmarital sex became more acceptable o Economic opportunities for men declined Stagnate wages for white men declining wages for African American men More women entering workforce Rate stabilized at high level in early 1980 s o Decline in divorce rates among individuals with college degrees o Increase in cohabitation o Increased age at marriage Divorce Eras Era of restricted divorce Before 1858 o Annulment men only desertion or adultery Era of divorce tolerance 1858 to 1970 o Drunkenness mental cruelty had to show cause 1 1 Era of Unrestricted Divorce 1970s to present o No fault divorce Factors the Predict and Cause Divorce Living in West or South USA Living in Urban area Being African American Cohabiting premaritally Having a child before marriage Being young at time of marriage Having less education Having divorced parents Being married a shorter amount of time Being remarried Being nonreligious Dissatisfaction with relationship Living in community accepting of divorce No Fault Divorce Pro s o Can easily exit bad marriage o Don t have to show fault o Easier to exit if abusive relationship Cons o Women and children tend to be hurt by no fault divorce o Higher overall divorce rates Divorce and Aftermath of Divorce Some researchers argue children and adults have difficult adjustment period after divorce Others find moderate or short term effects Emery 1999 concluded o 1 Divorce is stressful for children o 2 Divorce leads to higher levels of adjustment and mental health problems for kids o 3 Most kids are resilient and adjust well to divorce over time o 4 Children whose parents divorce report considerable pain unhappy memories o 5 Post divorce family interactions greatly influence adjustment after divorce and continued distress Economic Consequences of Divorce Feminization of poverty o Children o Work experience and access to time to work o Institutionalized sexism and wage discrimination in workplace o Lower earnings o Inadequacies of child support payments o Lack of affordable child care Psychological Adjustment Differences in male and female adjustment o Those in new relationships adjust better psychologically and emotionally especially men 2 2 o Women are more affected by residual hostility from past relationship and problematic relationship Women tend to be more deeply committed to marriage parenthood and family life because they devote more time and energy to these activities Women that are worse off economically have a harder time bouncing back Children s Adjustment to Divorce More social stigma attached to divorce for women Most children experience adjustment difficulties to divorce Differences in children s psychological well being within family types tend to be greater 1 2 years following divorce is often the most difficult For most children and adolescents adjustment is moderate in magnitude than those between family types o It mostly depends on how each family handles it Reduced involvement with nonresidential parent o Often infrequent o Father s involvement diminishes over time o Some say has little effect on child s wellbeing Change of residence o Often several times Economic changes for children o Feminization of poverty mother s often gets custody Educational Programs o Classes for parents who are divorcing Encourage les conflict Little research is shown that these classes are effective o Children not often involved in these classes although they are the primary target of the classes Parents are more amenable to such interventions Parents have more motivation and insight to benefit from such programs Easier to require adults than children to attend classes Mediation Can be positive or negative o Domestic violence or power struggles are not good for mediation o Can help avoid time in court if both partners are fair o Based on the principle of cooperative negotiation o No short term differences between mediation and more traditional adversarial approaches o Effective in some dimensions with children Feeling understood long term non residential parents had more contact o Men s greater power places the women at disadvantage in mediation Collaborative Divorce personal gain Better and longer lasting solutions achieved if spouses work together to maximize own Mediation has objective 3rd party but in collaboration both retain their own lawyers Chapter 11 Stress and Coping within the Context of Stepfamily Life Stepfamilies Double remarriage 3 3 o Both parents remarry Single remarriage o 1 parent remarries Cohabiting with children Blended merged reconstituted combined remarried First marriage with child from previous relationship Complexities of Stepfamily Family systems perspective o Family nested in larger social context and parts of family interconnected o Can t only look at couple must include children family as a while o Couple subsystem Previous relationship with patterns habits traditions etc dissolved New couple lacks shared history Need for two HHs to have adequately permeable boundaries to allow