1. Divorce   Rates and trends   Societal factors (handout)   Individual risk factors (handout)   Divorce process   Impact on children

2. Divorce rate increased 1900-1970   Shift from fault to no-fault system   Shifts in marriage expectations: institutional to companionship to individual   Greater acceptance of and demand for divorce

3. Grounds for divorce   Traditional (fault) system: Guilt Contest   No-fault divorce: California est. in 1970 Irreconcilable differences May still involve contested issues May disadvantage women, children

4. Emotional Divorce (Vaughan) Some stages in uncoupling:   Secrets   Planning   Confrontation   Adjustment   Initiator completes stages first. Partner may be unprepared.

5. Divorce and Children Factors affecting children’s experience of divorce:   Age: Young children “act out” more. May blame self. May adjust better overall.   Sex: Boys “act out” more. Some evidence that kids do better with same-sex parent.   Support Network: Other adults.   Parents’ attitudes: Amount of destructive conflict. Using kids as pawns. Grow up too fast.   Financial Situation: Mom and kids lose out

6. Co-parental divorce   Before: Co-parenting   After: Parallel parenting - parents operating separately   Result: Dads “fade out” 1991 study: 54% saw their “several times a year” or less 31% once a year or less

7. Why Dads Disappear   Avoid contact w/ ex-wife   Can’t or won’t pay child support   Hard to be part-time parent; feel left out   Starting new family   Inability to relate to children directly instead of thru mother

8. A Chain of Negative Events   1. Loss of noncustodial parent   2. Loss of home, neighborhood, school.   3. Financial stress: Lose husband’s income Less than half receive any economic support Average mother’s standard of living goes down 30%   4. “Loss” of custodial parent due to increased work hours, emotional stress – “diminished parenting.”   5. Loss of childhood, problems in later relationships.

9. Long-term effects on children   Wallerstein: lasting difficulty in personal relationships   British study: Mental health somewhat worse   Most problems were in troubled families   Majority adjust well   Good divorce is better than bad marriage

10. Making divorce easier on children   Avoid custody conflicts or using custody as bargaining: Joint legal custody as default Hands-on care as standard for physical custody   Custodial parent keeps home   Improve child support system.   Mandatory counseling for parents and kids   Workplace reforms to help single parents.   Divorce support groups in schools.

11. Single parent families, remarriage, and stepfamilies   Single-parent families Statistics (handouts) Characteristics Outcomes   Remarriage Statistics Characteristics   Stepfamilies Characteristics Outcomes

12. Characteristics of single parent families   Created by divorce, premarital birth   Households may include unrelated members   Temporary

13. Outcomes for single parents   Financial: Lower income Career sacrifices Lack of sufficient child support (handout)   Parental Sibling rivalry Parent rivalry Raising opposite sex child

14. Outcomes for single parents  Social: Finding time for social life Guilt Child’s acceptance of dating Child’s attachment to dating partners

15. Remarriage rates & trends   over 50% of all marriages   About 2/3 of divorced persons remarry   Younger women   Women with 3+ children   Whites   More likely to end in divorce

16. Why remarriage is “riskier”   Selection effect   Foundation of 1 st marriage Repeat earlier mistakes High pressure to succeed   Presence of ex-spouse   Presence of children

17. Stepfamilies   23% of married couple households   Most common: biological mother-stepfather or joint biological   Redefined to include cohabitating couples: 25% of stepfamilies are cohabiting Common pattern among African Americans

18. Characteristics of stepfamilies   May be born of a crisis   Not all members biologically related Blood ties may take priority Parent-child relationship precedes husband- wife   Diversity of beliefs, values = more conflict   Children get extra set of relatives

19. Challenges for stepparents   Little or no legal authority Children challenge authority   Role is ill-defined, much variation Parent? Friend? Outsider? Family must negotiate roles (2-4 years) Young children may accept easier

20. Challenges for stepchildren   Conflicts w/stepparent over discipline or authority (80%)   Divided loyalties (50%)   Step-sibling relationships   Feeling abandoned

21. Stages in adjustment Transition   Step-parent as “polite outsider”   Need to establish boundary around marriage Stabilization   Step-parent as “intimate outsider”

22. Primacy of Private Family   Three themes of change Emphasis on personal fulfillment Women’s economic independence Worsening economic prospects of young men   All make marriage more fragile

23. As a result…   Kinship is created, not born More subject to change, disruption   Economic advancement for women No longer have legal protection of marriage   Possible disruption, trauma for children May not have lasting negative impact