Divorce Essays Example

Abstract

Marriage dissolution is an occurrence that, though legal, does not always correspond with the couple’s emotional trauma caused by the process. It is a painful process that those involved must endure. It takes adults a long time to recover from the psychological challenges. The children’s recovery of stable perspectives after the experience remains uncertain. A divorce dissolves a legal marriage formally. Constitutionally, married couples do not have the legal right to divorce. However, the state permits divorces with an aim of serving the best public policy. To ensure that a divorce serves the interests of public policy, a “cooling- off period” is recommended in some states for spouses to bear before the divorce proceedings start. The emotional split even after divorce remains incomplete. It is evident in the parents’ hostility towards one another, and the direct harm it has on the children.

Introduction

The following types of divorce are lawfully acknowledged in the legal system: absolute divorce and a limited divorce. Absolute divorce must have evidence of transgression by either of the parties; it is a legal termination of a marriage. On the other hand, limited divorces are separation decrees. As a result, cohabitation rights are rescinded, without authorized dissolution of the marriage (Amos et al., 2002). In some instances, there is the occurrence of conversion divorce, which renders separation into a legally recognized annulment. It is as a result of the termination of a prescribed period.
In some states, there has been the implementation of no-fault divorce statutes. The statutes need no exhibition of spousal misconduct (Reid, 2002). The statutes stem from obsolete divorce statutes that mandate proof of unfaithfulness. However, the courts that are yet to approve of the no-fault divorce statutes see to it that the relationships are not feasible or that the irresoluble differences are resulting in an irreversible marriage breakdown. Also, if the discords have caused a ruin of the legitimacy of marital relationships ending with no possibility of reconciliation or if the marriage’s irretrievable break leads to the court dissolving the marriage by granting a divorce.
Division of property between spouses follows after divorce. The process of division is for the court to oversee. Prior to equalizing allocation of property amongst the partners, the common criterion used to divide the property was in favor of the wage-earning partner. As such, women were put at a handicap since in the earlier centuries, women rarely featured in the workplace. The role of the other spouse as a child-raiser and the main homemaker went unconsidered.
In property division proceedings, there are two types of property that the court considers: separate and marital property. Marital property is the property that has been acquired by the spouses together or independently but in the course of the marriage. Separate property, putting it under consideration, is the property that either of the spouses acquired before the marriage. Also, its value remains constant (Wilson, 2009). In case the spouse owning the separate property sells the property in the course of the marriage, the subsequent acquired money or the acquired property in exchange remains separate property for the respective spouse.
In the modern judicial system of property division, fair division of all the marital assets is desired. An equitable division is not an exact equal division. However, the allocation is in line with fairness and impartiality taking into consideration that all possible circumstances require analysis. Property division enables both parties to begin their new lives with financial adequacy. Most of the courts recognize several factors in property division. At least, the contribution of both parties in property accumulation, the liabilities of either spouse, and the acquiring of property before marriage are put into consideration. Also, the age, health, employability and the earning capacities, separate property value, retirement right and pension schemes are inclusive of the factors considered while dividing the property. Other factors that determine the equitability of property division include child provision rights, tax consequences, spousal contribution as a homemaker and if either of the spouses’ misconduct caused the divorce. However, the statutes vary from one jurisdiction to another.

Hypothesis

Different people have different takes on divorce and how the management of the consequences undergoes. Different factors also affect the dissolution of marriage by the judicial systems. The ethics of the whole issue vary. Rather, they depend on past experiences of those analyzing the situations and also on the extent of the circumstances leading to the divorce. Divorce is a sad life fact. The selfishness of the adults should, however, not be a hindrance for the children to continue loving both of their parents without living together with them (Wolfinger, 2005). The piling of guilt is of no help to any of the parties. The conservative take on marriage and the primitive attitude toward divorced parties should not concern the children. Otherwise, the women and children would continually be trapped in poverty and desolation. If the whole marriage institution were so much desirable, there would be no consequent need to bribe people and later dissolve the union.

Discussion

Is divorce a good thing?
Divorce is a sad reality that couples finally come to realize. Whether it is a good thing or not is debatable. In some instances, it may be a required and helpful but in others, it turns out not to be the best option. Divorce evidently wrecks a life as long as the parties involved are alive. The misery resulting from divorce lasts for generations. Parental separation studies proof that it has effects on children. Since investigations began, the theory that divorce is damaging to children has been gradually gaining ground. Fault- based divorces are over three- quarters. Fault- based divorces result from one of the spouses blaming the other for desertion of marriage, adultery or unreasonable behavior (Wallerstein et al., 2000). In most cases, women are usually the petitioners. The middle- class women, are often accusing their spouses of adultery while, on the other end, the low- class women, socio- economically, are seen to accuse their partners of being unreasonable.
In the last two decades, with the economic independence exhibited by women, their marriage expectations have changed a great deal. The previous emphasis on their duties in marriage life has become diverted by individual development and women rights. As such, women are less willing to sacrifice themselves in an attempt to save their marriages. The paradox that results, however, tends to work against the same women by tying them to their children, economically and emotionally, as compared to when they were in the marriage.
The main reason for divorce, as is put across by many couples, is for the well- being of their children. Many claim that it would be impossible for the children to put up with the unceasing arguments in the family. However, it is not evident that children are better of living with both parents who are together for their sake or with a divorced parent because researching the matter objectively is always a challenge.

What are the influences of divorce for a family?

Divorces are among the most vital social problems in the society today. Recent studies show that most of the second marriages in the United States ends up with the partners separating. Many of these families have some teenagers and children who must bear the problem of living with divorced parents. Evidently, the people involved in a divorce go through a lot of sufferings because of all the scandals, misunderstandings, confrontations, humiliations and other negative effects. There are instances, however, where the separation of spouses becomes a happy ending and creating a relief for everyone related to the family. Such situations are usually isolated, rare and are not typical. With that in mind, the effects of divorce are more likely to be destructive and negative rather than positive.
Undoubtedly, the separation of parents affects the family children the most. Divorce brings with it, various changes in the day- to- day running of the children. The changes are negative with most children becoming sad, stressed, lonely, and nervous. Children react differently but with an aim of resisting the separation. The resistance is in the form of school failure, withdrawal among other unusual, strange, and problematic behavior. The initial reactions of children to the news of a divorce are confusion, fear, and denial. Consequently, anger, aggression, panic attacks and suicidal thoughts come up. However, the emotional stresses reduce and the child learns to cope with the divorce status of the parents (Karney & Crown, 2007). The long- term effects of divorce on the children are psychological and may include certain fears, tension, and regular misunderstandings.
The second group apart from the children that are faced with some effects is that of the parents. The effects due to misunderstandings and tensions between the two spouses start long before the divorce comes to effect. As such, the life of the woman and man becomes terrible. At times, there are extreme problems such as affairs with other people, drug and alcohol dependence resulting in divorce. Other cases arise when couples just don’t want to live together and never get along well. The psychological reactions that result are depression, sleeplessness, nervousness, anger, fear, worry among other psychological upsets. Some react by getting into drinking, overeating, smoking and using hard drugs. Some end up losing their jobs due to the adopted vices and require medical attention.
Finally, the other group that is affected by divorces are those that have a connection with the social and economic situations in the family of the divorced parents. When one of the parents leaves the family, the family adopts a new social status altogether. The economic setting in the family also changes where only one of the parents earns for the children and the other partner’s financial support is limited. The life after divorce is, as a rule, much poorer than the previous. Reports estimate that close to a third of the single mother families live in poverty in comparison to the two-parented families. The resulting single parent family then moves to cheaper residences, poorer districts, and the children move to cheaper schools and give up some co- curricular programs.

Can divorces be prevented?

Following the above discussion of the effects of divorce on individuals and the society, it would be of great help coming up with preventive measures against divorce. Divorces bring along various problems, difficulties and stresses for the children as well as the parents. Divorce, as a leading problematic and topical social matter in the modern day, remains one of the social problems harboring the highest level of uncertainty (Shechtman, 1993). The risk factors identified to result in divorces include marriages before the age of twenty and marriage of partners that were raised in single- parent families.
However, it is not possible to detect and hence avoid the possibility of divorces coming up. Therefore, divorces affect not only the families but also the society as a whole. It would thus be very important to have a sense when people come to making decisions on marriage issues, and, in particular, divorce. Divorce brings a lot of suffering and misery to all that are around.

Conclusion

The diversification of families has resulted in many setbacks. Traditional families were more united with each family member knowing their roles. They had time for each other and such marriages had backup from in-laws and the society. People have now turned to be more individualistic taking that aspect even in marriages (González & Viitanen, 2008). The current trends only show dissatisfied couples and children and such people only turn to the media and internet to try and divert their mind from the ineffective nuclear families.
Feminists may concur with conservatives that marriage dissolution results in the feminization of poverty. They, however, deny that this indicates that women are in a better position while married. The argument is that marriage itself, harboring the gendered division of market and domestic labor, forms one of the main structural demerits that the women encounter, leading them to severe outcomes after divorce.
America has a population of diverse backgrounds and origins. As such, individuals may opt to stick with the traditional setting of marriages as entrenched in their original society while some may assimilate the settings of marriages in the society they live in currently. Technological advancements have altered the family setting through its influence on the way people think or act. That has resulted to branding America as consisting of diverse families.

References

Amos, J., Green, G., & Hampton, A. (2002). Divorce. Milwaukee, WI: Gareth Stevens Pub.
González, L. L., & Viitanen, T. (2008). The long term effects of legalizing divorce on children. Bonn: Forschungsinst. Zur Zukunft der Arbeit.
Karney, B. R., & Crown J. S. (2007). Families under stress: an assessment of data, theory, and research on marriage and divorce in the military. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corp.
Reid, B. (2002). Effects of divorce on children. Grayson, KY: Kentucky Christian College.
Shechtman, S. G. (1993). On the economics of marriage: a theory of marriage, labor, and divorce. Boulder: Westview Press.
Wallerstein, J. S., Lewis, J., & Blakeslee, S. (2000). The unexpected legacy of divorce: a 25 year landmark study. New York: Hyperion.
Wilson, M. (2009). Divorce. Detroit: Greenhaven.
Wolfinger, N. H. (2005). Understanding the divorce cycle: the children of divorce in their own marriages. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.
Appendix
Butler, J. (1990). Gender Trouble, New York: Routledge.
Clayton, Susan and Crosby F. (1992). Justice, Gender, and Affirmative Action, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.