...decisions. Although people tend to think carefully before they get married the rate of divorce continuously rises nowadays. There are a wide variety of reasons why people get divorced and I will highlight a few of these in this paper. Divorce in America: What’s love got to do with it? INTRODUCTION Divorce is any formal separation according to established custom, or a total disunion. There seems to be a growing trend in society today that when the going gets tough, get divorced. In order to see the effects of divorce in the United States, we have to take a closer look at what causes couples to make the decision to end their union and file for divorce. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 2,096,000 marriages in the US in 2010 and of those marriages 3.6% per 1,000 population ended in divorce (FASTSTATS, 2013). Those numbers sound scary to many couples considering marriage or who have just tied the knot; however, it is important to realize random forces don’t simply cause nearly half of all marriages to fail. Rather, couples divorce for very specific and common reasons, and not always the reasons you might think. Below are 8 of the most common reasons for divorce as listed by Octane.com (Cobus, 2012). Proper financial planning and management is essential to the success of a marriage. Arguments over money and how to manage it is the leading cause in divorce in the United States (Cobus, 2012). It is easy to overlook the financial aspect of marriage...
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...Running head: THE INCREASING DIVORCE RATE IN AMERICA The Increasing Divorce Rate In America Mohammed Alsalman Saint John College, University of New Brunswick, Saint John EAP Level 5, Writing and Research May 25, 2010 Outline I. Lack of time together and incorrect views about life can be determined as some of the reasons that divorce is increasing in America. Couples in America are spending less time together than in the past which has lead to an increase in the divorce rate. A. Workaholism 1. Main priority is work (Young & Harding, 2007, p.7) a. Interview with a workaholic and his spouse about their divorce (Piotrowski & Vodanovich, 2008, p.103). B. TV 1. Favorite programs are so important (Young & Harding, 2007, p. 28) a. 60% having TVs in all bedrooms of the house (Young & Harding, 2007, p. 112). Another major problem that is causing the increasing divorce rate in America is people have the wrong idea about life. A. The priority of the individual 1. Individual happiness is priority (Young, 2008, p. 25) a. Divorce due to irreconcilable differences in first three years (Young, 2008, Incompatibility section, para.10) B. Love is good 1. The Cinderella story. a. Interview conducted with 500 American children about love...
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...differences in culture was a big shock to me. It was not an easy transition. I quickly found out that some of the things frowned upon in Nigeria were acceptable in this society. Some of the fundamental cultural differences between these societies are in their outlooks on divorce, homosexuality, and the roles of women. One of the differences that struck me was how briefly marriages lasted in America because of divorce. Although many marriages are arranged in Nigeria, married couples tussle to sort issues out for better or for worse, no matter what the situation is. I, like most Nigerians, believe marriage is a form of blessing if married couples are willing to grow old together. The divorce process is fairly easy in America; however, most couples will file for divorce at the first sign of trouble. My first year as a freshman in America was devastating mainly because many of my classmates were separated from their father or mother through divorce. The ideal “traditional marriage” is a man, a woman, and their children in Nigeria but now in America, it is his, hers, and theirs. Watching the news, listening to my peers’ discussion about divorce and doing studies on divorce increased my awareness that divorce in America must be the easiest thing in the world! My...
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...Divorce and the Destruction of the Family Ron Swanson Western Washington University The Destruction of the Family Throughout history, societies that valued traditional marriage and sexual abstinence were able to remain fundamentally strong and have flourished. Once a society decides to abandon these simple principles, destruction inevitably follows. J. Unwin (1934) wrote, “In human records, there is no instance of a society retaining its energy after a complete new generation has inherited a tradition which does not insist on prenuptial and postnuptial continence” (Unwin, 1934, p. 174). In today’s society, family and marriage are not defined by the traditional definition handed down through several millennia of history; rather the definition has been warped, and a new unstable version of the family has been accepted by our society. Traditional marriage is by its nature, the foundation of the family. The family is the building block of society, and marriage is the basis of the family. The devaluation of the conventional family, and more specifically, the destruction of traditional marriage by divorce, can have no other outcome but the destruction of our society. There are many reasons to evaluate why we have arrived at this state in our society: the growth of consumerism and commercialism, influence of Hollywood over our lives, the decline of religiosity in the United States, the decline of the social order and neighborhood relationships. All of these reasons are legitimate...
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...What effect does divorce have on children? By Dwan Lee Subject: Sociology Teacher: Janel Rabinowitz, M.A. 1/28/2012 Describe how society defines the social issue. People in society believes that we must be married in order to feel whole although by getting married there is over fifty percent getting divorce today. This means that one out of every marriage will end in a divorce the main causes for divorce in America is fighting over money such as, sometimes overspending by one spouse can put the couple in debt. And at the time of mirage, the money that seemed adequate for the couple appears insufficient for a family after some years. Also if one spouse makes all the financial decision, the other spouse may not accede to all decisions and one of the most usual causes of divorce is lack of communication. Such as when it comes to finalizing decisions pertaining to children, the spouse fails to communicate openly with each other. And when decisions are to be made regarding share finances, several couples do no communicate property with each other .Also there are many married couples, who have an opinion that in a marriage minor problems do occur and these are insignificant. There is no need to talk about these .However lack of communication regarding these small issues may also lead to conflict between the partners. .And this is becoming a normal thing to do is get married and then get divorce the reason people get married in the United States is because of financial...
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...Analysis Paper With divorce still on the rise in America, many researches want to know what kind of affect divorce is having not only the children in the middle of it but also the intimate partners these children have later in life. Elizabeth Mullet and Arnold L. Stolberg conducted a study to examine divorce and its impact on the intimate relationships of young adults. The purpose of the study was to look at how the divorce of one’s parents impacts the intimate relationships of young adults. This was assessed researching the difference in intimacy levels as well as positive and negative communication patterns. The researchers looked at four different types of couples to study; neither person experienced parental divorce, both partners experienced divorce, and only the man or the woman experienced divorce. Based on previous studies, Mullet and Stolberg wanted to know whether or not the level of intimacy and communication contributes to unsuccessful relationships in young adults who experienced their parents’ divorce. They believed a woman who has experienced parental divorce will have a higher level of negative communication. They also believed that relationships in which the man only experienced parental divorce would decrease likely hood of his divorce because the woman would be more likely to have better conflict resolution skills and the man can adapt to that. Regarding relationships where the man and woman did not experience their parents’ divorce, higher levels of communication...
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...The Causes of Divorce In America today, one of many people’s main life goals is to marry the first person they fall in love with, live happily ever after, and skip gleefully away to live the American dream. However, millions of married couples quickly find themselves turning to divorce as an answer, to ending the fairy tale they had once dreamed. Many people would ask “why?” the perfect couple would choose such a negative ending to their once happy marriage. In some cases, many couples have to question their own motives for divorce. Although there are many alternate roots to fixing the simplest problems that may occur in a marriage, for some, simple does not always mean easy. It is certain that the cause of divorce varies from couple to couple, yet lack of communication, money and children, is among the most common causes of divorce. Lack of communication in a marital relationship, is one of the most common causes of divorce, because when two people lack communication, they are unable to solve problems that may occur in the marriage. Many married couples think that the minor problems that occur in their marriage, are insignificant, and are not worth talking about; however, they fail to realize that even the smallest things can cause conflict between the two when they are not able to solve them through communication. Many couples lack communication when it comes to making decisions about shared finances. This can cause financial issues to arise, and arguments to escalade in the...
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...between a man and a woman before God. A Christian marriage is between a man and a woman, in front of God, and the marriage is permanent. Thus if the marriage is broken by way of divorce it is breaking a covenant between not only the man and woman, but also breaking a covenant between God. In the Bible, covenants are very important, as seen with the covenants between Abraham and God, Noah and God, etc. In mathematics there are functions and one to one functions. Marriage can be related to functions and ordered pairs. In an ordered pair there is the x and the y, which are also known as the domain (x) and the range (y). The definition of a function in math is when each element in the domain must go to a unique range element. The difference between a function and a one to one function is that in a one to one function it is a function for which each domain value is associated with exactly one range value, e.g., (3,2),(4,6),(1,5) IS a 1 to 1 function but, (3,2),(4,5),(1,5) IS NOT a 1 to 1 function because two x values produce the same y value of 5. Thus, in marriage if you input one spouse’s name it should return the other spouse’s name because marriage is a one to one function. Now, in America getting married seems to have lost touch with its one to one function quality. The marriage rate of America is about 6.8%...
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...between a man and a woman before God. A Christian marriage is between a man and a woman, in front of God, and the marriage is permanent. Thus if the marriage is broken by way of divorce it is breaking a covenant between not only the man and woman, but also breaking a covenant between God. In the Bible, covenants are very important, as seen with the covenants between Abraham and God, Noah and God, etc. In mathematics there are functions and one to one functions. Marriage can be related to functions and ordered pairs. In an ordered pair there is the x and the y, which are also known as the domain (x) and the range (y). The definition of a function in math is when each element in the domain must go to a unique range element. The difference between a function and a one to one function is that in a one to one function it is a function for which each domain value is associated with exactly one range value, e.g., (3,2),(4,6),(1,5) IS a 1 to 1 function but, (3,2),(4,5),(1,5) IS NOT a 1 to 1 function because two x values produce the same y value of 5. Thus, in marriage if you input one spouse’s name it should return the other spouse’s name because marriage is a one to one function. Now, in America getting married seems to have lost touch with its one to one function quality. The marriage rate of America is about 6.8%...
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...Today’s Family Heather Miller Le Cordon Bleu Abstract When people envision family life in America they have pictures of the television shows of long ago that show dad, mom and two well-groomed and well-behaved children. Mom stayed at home baking pies, while dad toiled away at a white-collar job and the kids played in the street with the other neighbor children. Everyone had a cookie cutter live, and lived in their cookie cutter houses. Flash-forward to present day and no longer do people turn to the family life of fifty years ago as the norm, those types of relationships are a thing of the distant past. In any marriage or relationship there are gender roles, and social norms define them as a male and female role and no matter what type of relationship or marriage it is you are able to find these roles. The male role is still the one that is expected to be the bread winner, do household repairs and take care of yard work. While the female role is still expected to cook, clean and care of the children whether they have a job or not. Men who are the parent that takes on the female role in a household while their wife takes on the role of bread winner, are thought to be lesser of a man because he is allowing the wife to do the work. This is the issue of social norms people can feel as though they have failed if they are unable to accomplish them. If you look at relationships that do not fall into nuclear families, you can see there is still defined roles. Step-parenting...
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...Does the Divorce of Parents Harm Their Children? Each year the American society deals with divorce. Divorce introduces a massive change into children and adults life no matter what the age is. Divorce can be harmful to children if the parents continue to fight and argue and can never get along. Children can be made out to believe that the divorce between their parents was their fault or that they aren’t loved anymore. However, children can come out strong in divorce as long as their parents can be co-parents without conflict. Divorce in America now is more common than it was back in the 1960’s and 70’s. Many couples got divorced due to infidelity and abuse. Now, in this day and age, men and women get divorced due to their own personal happiness. Professor Tamara D. Afifi spoke on a TEDxTalk in 2012 and said that many children from families who divorced and fight have more trust issues and hurt more on the inside than from children whose parents get along and co-parent without conflict. (Afifi, 2012) Each year, over 1 million American children suffer the divorce of their parents; Half of American children born this year will witness divorce with their parents. Of that 50% another 50% will experience a second divorce. (Rector & Fagan, 2000) Many believe that divorce has a negative effect on children. Not only does it cause them to have trust issues and often have relationship difficulties later in life, but they tend to dwell on the divorce as their fault. Children of divorced...
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...Palak Patel Mrs. Roman Eng102 Date: 03/16/2012 Divorce in America In the 21st century, so many Americans are struggling with divorce. Studies show that approximately sixty percent of marriage in America ends in divorce, and this does not seem to be slow down (“Divorce”). Nowadays, divorce is more common as compared to the past. Furthermore, so many issues are related to divorce: couples do not want to compromise about their relationship, women are becoming more independent, and couples are getting married too young. According to Wilson, “couples who live together before marriage have higher divorce rates than those who do not, and less educated couples tend to divorce at higher rates than those with more education” (“Introduction to Divorce”). It is also possible that couples are getting married for the wrong reasons, and they are not putting enough effort into their relationship, and their marriages end in divorce. Children are struggling as well as their parents because when parents become divorced the children become divorced too. After parents get divorced, children face a lot of stress during their lives. In the 21st century, the divorce rate in the American family is increasing because married couples are refusing to compromise about their relationship which is posing a potential danger to children. The divorce rate continues to increase in America over last twenty five years. As a matter of facts, the divorce rate is higher in today’s society compared to the past...
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...What causes people not to commit? Thomas Peckinpaugh Everest University Online Professor Lyons Composition II 1102-53 January 8, 2015 What is the end goal of a relationship? Is it marriage? Is it finding that right person who will be there with you till the end of time? Is it someone who you can call a friend when in need? The answer is different for everyone but some have problems committing to any level of relationship. People tend to not commit to a relationship because they are afraid of what it means to commit. This is a trend that seems to be getting worse rather than better. In todays’ society, the amount of people being single is astounding. Roughly 124.6 million or 50.2 percent American adults are single. (Rao, 2014) Is this because people are enjoying being single? Are men and women just enjoying the freedom that single life offers? A big reason is societies changing culture. Social media and public opinion have made dating a completely different game than it was years ago. This also puts relationships at risk. So many choices give people the chance to change their mind often. This leads to separations or even divorces. 40-50 percent of all first marriages end in divorce according to the American Psychological Association. (APA, 2014) This is not a good trend to instill confidence in the younger generations. So what is the true cause for people not to commit? In each relationship the answer is different because each situation is different. There are many red...
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...The Causes of Heartbreak In America, there is one divorce approximately every 36 seconds. That's nearly 2,400 divorces per day, 16,800 divorces per week and 876,000 divorces a year. From the beginning of time people all across the world have been determined to find something called love, to begin a family of their own and enter into a sacred and wild adventure called marriage. Living together and depending on one another for mutual love, support and essential necessities is no easy task. For some the responsibilities of marriage become overwhelming or the problems within a marriage become so serious they cannot be solved, and couples all across the nation are choosing to end their marriage in a divorce. It is sad to say but although most people take their whole lives to decide to enter into marriage, most only take a few moments to consider ending one. Divorce rates continue to rise and rise in modern times and it could easily be said that divorce is the instant gratification married couples are turning to in order to cope in today’s society. There are many factors that go into the decision of ending one’s marriage but some factors that are changing the marriage game today are woman’s growing roles in society as self efficient individuals, economic and financial problems and a lack of communication or proper problem solving efforts and the effects of divorce and even more damaging than the divorce itself. With the edition of the nineteenth amendment to constitution giving...
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...Millions of married couples in America file for divorce everyday. The causes are numerous ranging from boredom of the spouse to violent treatment. Couples who get a divorce often have children, which are the most affected when a divorce occurs. Divorces usually lead to separation of belongings (including children), absence of one parent during children’s growth, and destruction of the family unit. When a divorce is filed it means that a couple has reached a point in which they can not stand to be with each other. The ones who suffer the most in these cases are the products of the love the couple once had for each other: their children. After a divorce takes effect, each of the parent’s belongings are usually evenly divided. The things that can be easily divided include a house, car, and bank accounts. But, children are not things that we can sell or divide. For this reason, divorced couples fight in court for the custody of their children. Each parent has to present their case and demonstrate that he or she is the most capable parent to take care of the children. This includes economic, social, and other aspects of life. Once a judge decides who the children will stay with (usually the mother) the other parent will have no other choice but to limit himself to visitations to his or her children. Some might even be obliged to pay a monthly amount for child support. After custody is won by one of the parents, children will have to adjust to living with just that parent most of...
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