Family - Marital Breakdown

Question 1

What are 3 different forms of marital breakdown

Answer 1

divorce
separation
empty-shell marriage

Question 2

What is divorce

Answer 2

legal ending of a marriage

Question 3

What is separation

Answer 3

agree to live apart after the breakdown of a marriage and people who have religious or moral obligations to divorce may elect to separate instead

Question 4

What is empty sell marriage

Answer 4

stay together in name only e.g. no longer in love and just for the children and there are no reliable estimates of the number of empty shell marriages as it is hard to operationalise any definition of empty shell marriages

Question 5

Give patterns in divorce before 2010

Answer 5

divorces are increasing from 60,000 in 1970 to 180,000 in 1993 by 200 it had fallen but then rise

divorce rate risen 5.9 in 1974 - 14.2 In 1994

2005-2009 saw a gradual decline to 10.5

Question 6

Give patterns in divorce after 2010

Answer 6

• age of divorce M(43.5) F(41)
• marriage duration - 11.4 years
• 1/3 of marriages at least 1 partner had been widowed or divorced
• 67% of divorce were initiated and awarded by women , 33% men

Question 7

What couples are at greater risk

Answer 7

marry young
child before marry or cohabit before marriage
where one or both partners had been married before

Question 8

What do New right sociologists argue on stats

Answer 8

that the rising divorce statistics are a symptom of serious crisis in the family

Question 9

What do New right sociologists claim

Answer 9

easy accessibility of divorce - people are no longer as committed

direct relationship between divorce, one-parent families and anti-social behaviour among the young

people who experience divorce of their parents suffer from a range of problems as they get oder such as prone to crime and unemployment and experience divorce when they marry

Question 10

Who looks at this clam made by new right sociologists :

people who experience divorce of their parents suffer from a range of problems as they get oder such as prone to crime and unemployment and experience divorce when they marry

Answer 10

Rodgers and Pryor

Flouri and Buchanan’s

Question 11

What did Rodgers and Pryor

find

Answer 11

children from separated families are more likely than children from 2 parent families to suffer behavioural problems, underachieve at school , become sexually active, become pregnant, smoke, drink,do drugs and when adults more likely to experience poverty

Question 12

What did Flouri and Buchanan’s find

Answer 12

stay of 17,000 children divorced but father still involved = child more successful in education and continued to seek educational opportunities in adult life.
Less likely to be in trouble with the police and less likely to be homeless
children grow up to enjoy more stable and satisfying relationships however they found if the conflict continued after divorce between parents children could become vulnerable to mental health problems

Question 13

Give 5 reasons for why divorce rate is increasing

Answer 13

1. changes in divorce law
2. changes in social attitudes
3. secularisation
4. decline of extended families and community controls
5. recession

Question 14

Explain secularisation for why divorce rate is increasing

Answer 14

Gibson divorce is no longer associated with stigma and shame due to secularisation which has loosened rigid morality

many churches have also begun to soften their views on divorce and divorcees

Question 15

Explain recession for why divorce rate is increasing

Answer 15

couples who experience poverty because of unemployment have higher divorce rates than other social groups

unemployment and downturns in the housing market can cause family instability

Question 16

Explain decline of extended families and community controls for why divorce rate is increasing

Answer 16

close nit communities and extended families exerted pressure on couples to stay together

the view that divorce can lead to greater happiness is more acceptable and even more so if it is escaping from an abusive relationship

Goode divorce increased as nuclear family has become more isolated from extended kin which may have acted as peace makers

Geographical mobility - divorce may be the outcome of couples no longer having family nearby to hep them cope or resolve marital problems

Question 17

Who looked at the postmodern approaches to divorce and what did they argue

Answer 17

Beck and Beck-Gernsheim argue the modern world is characterised by individualisation, choice and conflict

Question 18

Explain individualisation as a postmodernist view to divorce

Answer 18

we now have the freedom to pursue individual goals making people more selfish - they put there own interests before those of others

Question 19

Explain choice as a postmodernist view to divorce

Answer 19

cultural and economic changes mean that we have a greater range of choices available to us in terms of lifestyle and living arrangements

Question 20

Explain conflict as a postmodernist view to divorce

Answer 20

There is now potential conflict between men and women because there is a natural clash between the selfishness encouraged by selflessness required by relationships , marriage and family life

Question 21

However what do Beck and Beck-Gernsheim say about the future of marriage

Answer 21

People still generally want to find love with others in order to help them cope with a risky, rapidly changing word
in particular love helps compensate for the stress and particularly the impersonal and uncertain nature of the modern world.

Question 22

Conclusions of divorce

Answer 22

divorce trends suggest monogamy will be replaced by serial monogamy

however new right also mention panic about divorce is over exaggerated as although 4/10 marriages tend in divorce, 6/10 succeed and over 75% of children living with both natural parents who are legally married and so showing society still places a high value on marriage

Question 23

Explain changes in divorce law as to why divorce rate is increasing

Answer 23

1857 Matrimonial Causes Act = matrimonial offence
1950 Divorce Law added mental cruelty + desertion
1969 Divorce reform act
1984 Divorce Law Act
1996 Family Law Act
2004 Civil Partnership Act