...This article deals with the issue of declining marriage rates in the United States. This analysis hopes to use a sociological perspective to explain the phenomenon. To understand the reason for declining marriage rates, it is important to understand the functions of marriage. Marriage is the first step to forming a family. Traditional functionalists would argue that the family, through marriage, serves as a basis for regulated sexual activity, economic cooperation, reproduction, socialization and emotional support (Brym & Lie, 2007) As such, a reason for the drop in marriage rates could be the fact that people no longer find that marriage fulfils this purpose. Due to the entry of women in the workforce, they are now self-sufficient and no longer rely on men for economic support. Additionally, there are plenty of other institutions available that can serve the roles that were once exclusive to the family. Emotional support can be found in religious institutions and helplines. Clubs and bars serve as places where socializations take place. Ergo, due to the emergence of various institutions that now provide services that were the cornerstones of the family, it has caused for marriage to be " no longer a necessity” in the US. Another possible reason for the declining marriage rates could be the worry that the marriage will not work out. USA has the largest divorce rate in the world, with 4.95 per 1000 people (Nationmaster.com). This may have an adverse effect...
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...changing attitudes in society especially with women as they had begun to receive more rights. By the times divorce had become a lot more socially acceptable. In the 19th Century divorce was extremely difficult to obtain, more so for women. Eventually in 1923 grounds were equalised for men and women, but this was followed by a sharp rise in the number of divorce petitions from women. Again in 1972, the grounds widened to ‘irretrievable breakdown’ which made divorce easier to obtain and produced a doubling of the divorce rate overnight. The introduction of legal aid for divorce cases in 1949 lowered the cost of divorce. With each change in the law divorce rates have risen. The new right are against the introduction of new laws which make marriage easier as it breaks up the idea of a traditional family which they support. It lead to a trend in single parent households. There were many laws which helped divorce become a lot cheaper and easier to obtain, the most significant law put in place in examining the reasons for changes in divorce rate is the law which was passed in 1971 which widened the grounds of divorce. The ‘divorce law reform act’ increased the divorce rates massively as now you were able to obtain divorce for ‘irretrievable breakdown’, this was a change to before when you could only obtain a divorce for desertion, adultery and abuse which were often very hard to find proof for this. Due to this in 1965 only 30,000 divorces were being granted. This...
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...Current Event Article BUSN 576 September 29, 2012 The article I selected was regarding marriage rates among the poor and the fact that they have declined since the 1960s. It discussed if other incentives and alternatives decisions were made and then more couples marry would this reduce poverty. According to research at Johns Hopkins University only 70-75% of African American women expects to get married whereas 91% of Caucasian women in a lifetime. The most cited reason for delaying marriage by women is that it is not affordable which leads to declining of marriage and increase in poverty. According to George Mason University most couples come out ahead after marriage simply by cutting the total house expense such as one home, one insurance, one grocery list all because it is a combined effort and the couple’s income naturally increases. Education, experience, and sometime race account hugely when it comes to earnings. Basically, it is said that married men earn 40% more than single but on the other hand married women can earn approximately 10% less than a single women. Hence the reason why the marriage rates dwindle among the poor simply because of not having the ability to reach the high standards of quality living, financial stability and simply going by what is to be expected be in place for a single person’s life prior to marriage. According to the Center for Research on Child Well-Being at Princeton University a Fragile Families Survey indicated unmarried...
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...divorce were widened meaning that ‘irretrievable breakdown’ was allowed as grounds for divorce. Irretrievable breakdown means that a marriage stopped working, but there is no blame on the people within the marriage; the marriage simply broke down and the people within that marriage were no longer happy with each other. This lead to an increase in divorce because previously couples who did not love each other had no specific grounds for divorce, such as adultery, and this is why the divorce rate doubled in 1972. In 1993, divorce rates were at the highest they had ever been, peaking at 180,000. This may have been down to high expectations of what marriage would be like, and these expectations not being met. Functionalists such as Fletcher believe that over the last few centuries, and idea of ‘romantic love’ has become dominant; when the love dies, people see no reason to stay together. The obsession for finding ‘the one’ can be pursued after divorce. Another reason for divorce rate increasing is that the stigma that used to be attached to it is disappearing. People used to view divorce as shameful, the church condemned it and would refuse to marry people who had been divorced. However, divorce us now seen as bad luck for those involved rather than shameful, and is also seen as a normal part of life. People accept others decisions to end an unhappy marriage. The New Right sees high divorce rates as undesirable because it undermines the traditional nuclear family. They believe that divorce...
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...“Rises in the number of divorces in the UK since the 1960's are due mainly to changes in the law” (Asses the extent to which sociological evidence and arguments support this statement) Divorce is the legal termination of a marriage contract between two people. The divorce rate is the number of legal divorces filed per 1000 married people per year as opposed to the total number of divorces which is the entire amount of divorces filed. The changes in the law is seen as on of the main reasons for the increase in divorce over the years. As the years have past these changes have made divorce somewhat easier. One of the three changes in the law is known as Equalising the grounds for divorce between the sexes this meant that women were now able to freely file for divorce as only men could do previously. Another change was the Widening the grounds for divorce, this was enforced in 1937 and therefore made divorce easier to obtain and allowed a doubling of the divorce rate because more reasons were now accepted for a divorce to take place. The last change in the law includes, Making divorce cheaper, the introduction of this legal aid lowered the cost of divorces which allowed more couples to file for a divorce as it was more affordable also those of wealthy families found that it was easier to file for a divorce and pay the price rather than to actually work things out between their partner. All three changes allowed the divorce rates to rise vastly. Due to the process being...
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...Death Due to Dowry - A Legal Analysis SOCIOLOGY By : RASHMI NAIK TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CASES 3 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 7 CHAPTER I: DEFINING DOWRY IN LEGAL TERMS. 9 CHAPTER II: SOCIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF DOWRY AND LEGAL ANALYSIS.. 13 CHAPTER III: IS DOWRY DEATH DECLINING? 19 CONCLUSION 21 BIBLIOGRAPHY 23 TABLE OF CASES 1. Dwarkadas shrinivas v. Sholapur Spinning and Weaving Co. 2. K. Prema S. Rao v. Yadla Srinivasa Rao,. 3. Kunju Moideen v. Sayed mohd. 4. Paniben (Smt), v. State of Gujarat. 5. Smt. Shanti and Another v State of Haryana. 6. The Collector of Bombay v. Nusserwanji Rattanji Mistri and others. 7. V. Jhadav v. Shankarrao Abasaheb pawar and others. 8. Samir Samanta v.The State, 9. Gurditta Singh v. The State Of Rajasthan, 10. Shamnsaheb M Multani v. State of Karnataka 11. Pawan Kumar v. State of Haryana 12. Ashok Kumar v. State of Rajasthan 13. Kundula Bala Subrahmanyam and Another v. State of Andhra Pradesh TABLE OF AUTHORITIES 1. Dowry prohibition Act, 1961. 2. Indian Evidence Act, 1872. 3. Indian Penal Code, 1860. INTRODUCTION Dowry death is an important topic in a country like India, which has given shame to this country. In the past centuries, women were generally abused exploited and discarded and were denied social, economic and political justice. Dowry is one among the cruel social practices practiced in India. Dowry is an issue in which women’s...
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...Examine the reasons for the changes in the patterns of marriage In the last 30 years, the British society has experienced many changes affecting the family. There have been changes in attitudes to and expectations of family life, as well as official changes such as government legislation. Society has been affected by feminism, which has led to increased awareness of women’s rights and freedoms, as well as postmodernism and secularisation. The changes resulting have affected marriage rates, which are decreasing, and more people are now marrying later in life and more than once. More people are choosing to cohabit, either before or instead of marrying, and this is becoming increasingly common in young couples. Divorce rates have also increased in the last 30 years, following changes in legislation and attitudes. As society’s view of a ‘conventional family’ has changed over the last 30 years, the acceptable norms have widened. In the past, an unmarried woman would be looked down on, as it was expected that women would marry and invest their time in raising a family. If they didn’t, it could be presumed that could they couldn’t find a willing partner, or that there was something wrong with them. Although 95.1% of British women still marry before they are 49, it has become more acceptable to choose not to get married, and rather than being looked down on, single women are more likely to be viewed as strong, focussed, and independent. This means there is less pressure on...
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...Was same sex marriage widely accepted as a social norm? Was coming out even supported? Should anyone have the right to deny another human being their right to pursue happiness? For a country that claims to be the land of the free but denies certain people of the same rights because of sexual orientation is beyond despicable. Same sex marriage can help our county by raising money, decreasing the number of orphans and decreasing depression. So what is there to lose? Is same sex marriage the business of the public? Some would argue yes, because marriage has traditionally been defined as a contract between man and woman (“Gay Marriage ProCon.org., 1-1). But is there really such a thing as traditional marriage? Every marriage is unique its own way and over the centuries has changed significantly (“Gay Marriage ProCon.org., 2-1), for example polygamy (a marriage between one man and many women) used to be a common or “traditional” marriage practice, but is now illegal and deemed immoral. Same sex marriages can help bring financial gains to state and local governments. Collecting higher income taxes and reduces the costs for state benefit programs not to mention the money collected from the marriage license (“Gay Marriage ProCon.org., 5-2). Not only that, but since same sex couples cannot conceive their own children they tend to adopt which would decrease the number of children without families (“Gay Marriage ProCon.org., 6-1). What if I told you that same sex marriage also provides...
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...AND TOUCH THE SKY Declining Sex ratio in Gujarat : Campaign Against Sex Determination and Sex Pre-selection. - Dr. Trupti Shah, "in our society the male child is always a precious child for a mother having three daughters. To her it is of a more value. Because of illiteracy and social customs the status of a mother would change after having a male child." The above mentioned lines are not quoted form the speech of some traditional Kathakar (preacher). These were the wording in a judgement dated 10th July 2001, by the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Ahmedabad in Complaint No. 271/1993. The Consumer Redressal Commission has delivered an order of compensation of Rs. 25,000 for medical negligence in a case that involved sex determination and subsequent abortion of a foetus, which was earlier detected as female foetus but after the abortion it was found out to be a male foetus. In addition, the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission further observes, “The loss of motherhood of only male child can not be compensated by any amount." This attitude of people sitting in judiciary reflect the kind of forces we are fighting in Gujarat. The data from 2001 Census make this point much more clear. Gujarat is among the top four states (including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh) to register the most alarming declines in the number of girls in the 0-6 years category. Gujarat is one of the DEMARU states as termed by Ashish Bose. 1. Declining Sex Ratio in Gujarat ...
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...Chapter 8 “Whiten Marriage” Marriage Marriage is in retreat • 71% people married • 15% never married • 5% divorced or separated • Now 50% married and almost 20% divorced Why people get married? • Love • Family • Having children • Financial stability • Making lifelong commitment Is marriage bliss? • 36% married people happy • 22% not married were happy Is happiness related to marriage? Decline in marriage • “do your own thing and you will be accepted • 41% births outside of marriage • What once seemed shocking has now become mainstream 11.7 million single-parent household Divorce much more prevalent though now declining • Higher amongst inter racial couples • 1 in 5 American divorce involve Facebook • 100 divorces per hour Highest divorce rate is in Nevada 16% Are children better off w/ unhappy marriage? Gray divorce • People older than 50 years old • Growing trend of divorce w/ baby boomers • Projected 800,000 divorces in 2030 3 of 4 people claim divorce was right decision Gay marriage • People changing perceptions and open mindedness of globalized world • People change perceptions because they know someone who is homosexual • Knowing someone that is LGBT main diver for perception change • Increasing support • 9 in 10 LGBT believe acceptance is growing every year • Support amongst generations o Millennials 70% o GEN X 49% o Boomers 38% o Silent 31% • Most now say they wouldn’t be upset if children were LGBT • Survey ...
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...Divorce rates are declining overall, but appear to be on a steady rise within middle-aged couples, for numerous reasons. As society advances throughout modernism and new ideals, people are experiencing the world in ways that would have been shamed and discouraged in years before. Once people reach the middle-age marker in their life, they may go through hard times, which drive them and their partner away from each other, therefore contributing to the heightened divorce rates. Furthermore, divorce is becoming a commonly accepted exit out of unwanted or unhappy relationships whereas it was demoralized before, and racial differences continue to contribute the climbing divorce rates, as well. Middle adulthood is riddled with unique events that...
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...marks) The divorce rate in the uk has increased to 6 times the amount in 1969, studies prove that 40% of marriages end in divorce. 70% of these marriage petitions coming from women. There are various factors which contribute to the rapid increase in divorce rate, for example: FLETCHER, a functionalist, argue that this increase is due to the higher expectations of marriage which exist today, as marriage, in contrary to the past is not based on economic factors, therefore the purpose of marriage is purely love, therefore if the love dies and the marriage turns into an "empty shelll marriage" then there is no longer any use for it, which in turn leads of divorce and furthermore an increase in divorce rates. Feminisits on the oter hand would argue that the increase in divorce rates would be due to the changin position of women in society, for example the financial aspect, women have the oppurtunity to be in paid work, or recieve welfare state benefits, therefore meaning they don't have to rely economically on a marriage, and also they have the costs to cover divorce. This is also an explaination of the divorce pattern of 70% of petitions coming from women. Feminists would also state that the impact in feminist ideas have resulted in an increase in divorce, rates as it gives women more of a sense of economical independance, and also influences them to turn away from marriage, which is said by feminists to be a patriachal institution. Changes in the law since 1969 have resulted...
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...Outline reasons for the decline in first time marriages (10 marks) There are numerous reasons for a decline in first time marriages; these could be a simple change in the attitude toward marriage, secularisation, a change in the position of women, a fear of divorce and a decline in the stigma attached to alternatives to marriages. A change in the attitudes toward marriage, there is less pressure to marry and there is more freedom for individuals to choose the type of relationship they long to be in, this could be cohabitation or just a relationship without living together. In today’s society, there is a widespread belief that the quality of a relationship has higher importance over the legal status. The norm that everyone ought to marry has been greatly weakened and the level of stigma toward those who hadn’t married no longer was as strong as it used to be. In previous years, men who were single didn’t need to marry but women who were single needed to marry as they were not financially independent; people now choose to live as creative singledom, which means anyone, any gender, can live financially independent and not have the need to get married. Secularisation means that society has moved from religion to a nonreligious society. This influences first time marriage as churches influences on marriage is declining so that people have the right to choose not to marry. According to the 2001 consensus, 3% of nonreligious people were married in comparison to 17% of people with...
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...For and Against Gay Marriage Same-sex marriage is one of the issues that American lawmakers are going through, right now. It could be a big decision in history, if legalized because the consequences, either positive or negative, can extremely affect our society. That’s why many debates start once this topic, legalizing same-sex marriage, starts. In “For Gay Marriage” Andrew Sullivan talks for homosexual being married, and in “Against Gay Marriage” William J. Bennett expresses himself against same-sex marriage. Andrew Sullivan thinks that homosexuals cannot have equal rights until the same-sex marriage is legalized, but William J. Bennett says that talking on this topic is totally pointless. Bennett says that legalizing gay marriage would be destroying that word “marriage.” He calls it an “honorable estate,” because of the differences between men and women balance it out and makes it complete. Marriage is a tradition not an insult to those who cannot get married. According to Bennett, heterosexual marriage is a social act and taught by all major religions, worldwide. It is a universal reorganization of male and female. But, Sullivan talks about the basic needs of a marriage rather than looking at it religiously. Sullivan discusses that there is no law that expects a married couple to have kids. It is a bond emotional, psychological, and financial bond between two people. Also, Sullivan argues that heterosexual marriages do not guarantee that they will always workout...
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...Traditional Nuclear Family “Assess the view that the growth of family diversity has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family.” (24 marks) Before 1970, cohabitation was illegal in certain countries. The law changed and now cohabitation is a common pattern among people around the world, as well as having sex before marriage and having a baby. At least 50% to 60% of couple’s cohabitate, starting from the late 1990’s. This results into the amount of traditional nuclear families decreasing as people want to live in companionship as nearly half the amount of marriages end in divorce. Also cohabiting is an easier way as it is much cheaper since there is no marriage expenses and doesn’t cause much hassle. The New Right see the decline of the traditional nuclear family and the growth of family diversity as negative trends in modern society. From the New Right perspective, these changes are the cause of many social problems in Britain today. In society now, there is easy access to contraception and married couples are not having children for various reasons which has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family. There has been an increase in marriage of 9.2% between 2006 and 2011. Murdock argued on the basis of his studies that the nuclear family was a universal social institution and that it existed universally because it fulfilled four basic functions for society: the sexual, reproductive, economic and education functions. However, the numbers of nuclear families have...
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