Family Diversity- Separation and divorce Flashcards
What are some different family types?
- nuclear
- bean pole
- lone parent
- same-sex
- extended family- classic or modified
- adopted
- reconstituted
- one person
What are the 3 types of marital breakdown?
1) Divorce
2) Empty-shell marriages
3) Separation
What is divorce?
The legal end to a marriage
What is an empty-shell marriage?
When a couple are still married and live in the same house but lead separate lives. They may stay together for the sake of the children, family, religious or economic reasons
What is separation?
When a couple live apart but are still legally married
What has happened to the divorce rate?why?
It has increased
- less people getting married
- divorce normalised, less stigmatised
What is the divorce rate?
The number of divorces per 1000 of the married population per year
Trends in divorce rate
- more personal choice on who you marry
- law changes
- decline in influence of religion on marriage
- widened reasons for divorcing
What are silver splitters?
The number of people ages over 60 who are divorcing have risen by 45% since 2002
Expected trends in marriage
34% of marriages will end in divorce by the 20th wedding anniversary
- the younger the couple are, the more likely they are to get divorced
What are 4 key divorce laws?
1949- Legal Aid
1969- Divorce Law Reform Act
1984- Matrimonial and Family proceedings Act
2020- Divorce Law
How did 1949 Legal Aid impact divorce trends?
Made divorce available by extending this to the poor so that they could now afford it
- easier to access
How did the 1969 Divorce Law Reform Act impact on divorce trends?
No longer needed to be a guilty party or matrimonial offence committed
- proof from irretrievable breakdown of marriage is required to evidence ‘unreasonable behaviour’ or years of separation
How did the 1984 Matrimonial and family proceedings act impact on divorce trends?
The amount of time before application for divorce can be made was reduced from 3 to 1 year
How did the 2020 Divorce Law impact on divorce trends?
Divorcing couples will no longer have to blame each other for the break down of their marriage- a new law to help reduce family conflict
- couples can make a joint application
What are the 9 reasons for increasing divorce since the 1920s?
1- Changes in law
2- Changes in society
3- Rising expectations of marriage
4- Growing secularisation
5- Changing social attitudes
6- Contraception
7- Privatised nuclear family
8- The reduced functions of the family
9- Increasing life expectancy
1- Changes in law
- possible/easier to get a divorce
- reflection of our attitudes
- men/women have equal rights in divorce
2- Changes in society
- 2/3 of divorce are initiated by women
- feminists believe women are less likely to put up with a patriarchal relationship
- women’s financial independence, can escape, welfare benefits
3- Rising expectations of marriage
- more likely to end than tolerate in comparison to other generations
PARSON/FLETCHER (functionalists) - those who are married have higher qualities of marriage
- love, companionship, sexual compatibility
4- Growing secularisation
- decline in religious influence
- people are not restricted for being divorced
- religious values no longer prevent people from getting a divorce, rates increase
5- Changing social attitudes
- divorce is more socially acceptable
(media and celebrities) - parties, happy divorce cards
6- Contraception
- no child to hold marriage together
- conflict between if they want a child or not
- less risk on cheating
- rise on cheating, won’t get pregnant, rise in infidelity
7- Privatised nuclear family
- less relatives as support and source of refuge
Functionalists - intense relationships, no rants or vents
- isolated from extended relatives
- don’t value their opinion/less significant
- more choice on their own marriage
8- The reduced functions of the family
Functionalist Parsons
- postmodernists
- confluent love
- pure relationships
9- Increasing life expectancy
- silver splitters
- spend more time together
- longer to go wrong
What are the 3 reasons postmodernists give for the rise in divorce?
1- individualisation
2- conflict
3- choice
PM- 1- individualisation
Under less pressure from traditional roles
- extended family, religion, culture
- more freedom, more selfish
PM- 2- conflict
BECK/GERNSHEIM
- more conflict from clash of interest
- ‘chaos of love’, battleground
- selfishness, triumphs, selflessness
- career over children
PM- 3- choice
- cultural/economic changes
- range of lifestyle choices and living arrangements
- increase in family diversity
- choose to marry/cohabit
Why may there have been an overall decline in marriage rate?
- the age of first marriage has increased
- cohabitation has increased, weeding out weaker relationships
X criticism of the NR theory, fear the increase in cohabitation - actually reduced divorce rate overall
Other reasons for a more recent decline in divorce rates
- relationships are more certain ‘pure relationships’
- people marry later so spend less time together
- population change (ethnic minority groups), hold marriage with more importance, immigration
Why may mixed social class or ethnic background marriages be more at risk of divorce?
Have different values
Why may a rise in silver splitters be a result of higher risks in divorce?
Spend more time together, lower death rate, higher life expectancy
Why may women be more likely to apply for a divorce than men?
Better health, more beneficial for men
- women deal with domestic abuse
Variations in divorce rates between social groups
1- teenage marriages
2- childless marriages
3- mixed social class/ethnic backgrounds
4- rise in silver splitters
