Chapter 10 Divorce A Risk and Resilience Perspective Divorce o Family stress and family divider Divides not just mom dad children but also the extended family o Rates of divorce vary by race and ethnicity We have different stats on these groups look in book 2004 About 78 white children lived in 2 parent homes 87 Asian American children 68 Latino American children 38 African American children highest rate of divorce o Single parent homes poverty Feminization of poverty the idea that there are so many single parent homes in poverty of which a women is the parent head of household Family Systems theory with risk and resiliency extensions o Family systems theory suggests that the family needs to be reviewed in its entirety Dyads within family Risk resiliency To understand how children are affected by divorce you must understand the subsystems within the family parents relationship parent child relationship sibling relationship etc Outcomes depend on interplay among risk and protective factors and mechanisms o Resilience factors will make the difference between families that will thrive and families that will not History and Context of Divorce o Rates increased steadily throughout 1900s o Divorce rose dramatically after World War II o Exception to rise 1950s Instability of family increased during war led to higher values placed on family which thus resulted in lower divorce rates During the post war economic boom the standard of living increased marriage and birth rates increased and divorce rates decreased but this didn t last o From late 1950s to 1980s singlehood cohabitation childlessness and nonmarital sex became more acceptable Inequalities in marriage placed extra burden on women Increase in divorce rates because ideas of marriage were based on marital satisfaction BUT marriage was not meeting the personal needs people identified with Stagnant wages for white men more women in workforce also led to a rise in divorce rates Divorce Era s Women became more financially independent and developed the sense that I don t need a man to support me o Rate stabilized at high level in early 1980 s Recent we see lower rates with more education increased cohabitation and increased age at marriage o Era of restricted divorce Before 1858 Annulment afforeded to men only Only if desertion or adultery o Era of divorce tolerance 1858 to 1970 Drunkenness mental cruelty had to show cause had to be under extreme circumstances then it was tolerated o Era of Unrestricted Divorce 1970s to present Idea that if you re not happy you can leave No fault divorce you do not have to prove that there is a cause fault for divorce Pros easier to exit a bad marriage Cons contributing to higher overall divorce rates women and children hurt more in no fault divorce Factors that Predict and Cause Divorce o Cohabiting premaritally predictor possible cause o Having a child before marriage o Being young at time of marriage marrying prior to age 20 o Having less education o Having divorced parents o Being remarried o Being nonreligious Divorce and Aftermath of Divorce o Mostly moderate or short term effects o Emery 1999 concluded 1 Divorce is stressful for children due to transitions children will experience 2 Divorce leads to higher levels of adjustment and mental health problems for children not all children though 3 Most kids are resilient and adjust well to divorce over time 4 Children whose parents divorce report considerable pain unhappy memories and continued distress 5 Post divorce family interactions greatly influence adjustment after divorce if the parents are psychologically health and acting appropriately Economic consequences adjustments transitions of divorce o Feminization of poverty Children Lower earnings Inadequacies of child support payments Lack of affordable child care Psychological Adjustment o Differences in male and female adjustment Those in new relationships adjust better psychologically and emotionally especially men Rebound relationship and problematic relationships Women more affected by residual hostility from past relationships Tend to be more deeply committed to marriage parenthood family life because they re more likely to devote more time and energy to these things More social stigma attached to women than to men typically they become single mothers and just a man rather than a stigma placed on the single father too Children s Adjustment to Divorce o Most children experience adjustment difficulties to divorce o Typically the first 1 2 years following divorce are often most difficult Moving leaving their home may have to leave their school many changes Economic hardship is a serious problem o For most children and adolescents adjustment is moderate Some have more difficulty than others o Differences in children s psychological well being within family types tend to be much larger in magnitude than differences between family types Children s Adjustment to Divorce cont o Educational Programs Classes for parents who are divorcing Mediation Encourage less conflict for the parents more motivation to work together gain insight Children not often involved in these classes although they are the primary target of such classes These are mandatory for the benefit of the children o Can be positive or negative really depends on the couple situation Domestic violence power control NOT good candidates A 3rd party is involved to mediate Can help to avoid time in court if both partners fair Based on principle of cooperative negotiation Negotiating time with children money child support holidays etc No short term differences found Effective in some dimensions Feeling understood long term non residential parents had more contact with children more likely to have more of a say in the negotiation in the divorce outcome o Collaborative divorce Each party has own lawyer but very similar to mediation Conclusions o Divorce has almost become a normative experience o Divorce more widely accepted and less stigmatized today than it has been o Attention needs devoted to designing programs that better prepare and in decades passed educate divorcing adults Financial cooperation Personal stress Transitions How to work together towards the same goal Chapter 11 Stress and Coping Within the Context of Stepfamily Life Stepfamilies o Double remarriage mom remarries and dad remarries o Single remarriage only 1 parent remarries o Cohabiting with children o First marriage with child from previous relationship o Many terms used to