Divorce Babes, Divorce

Item H

There has been a significant increase in the number of divorces since 1970. One important factor behind the increase has been the changes in the law relation to divorce. However, legal changes alone may not be enough to explain the trend and sociologists have suggests a number of possible causes of a higher divorce rate. One of these is a decline in the influence of traditional norms about marriage that used to stigmatise divorce.

Applying material from Item H and your knowledge, evaluate sociological contributions to our understanding of the trends in divorce in the United Kingdom since 1970 [20 marks]

‘changes in the law’

  • Made it easier to get a divorce - after 2 years of separation if they both want, 5 years after if one wants - e.g. Divorce Reform Act

  • Helps with changing position of women - women initiate more than 63%

  • Stacey argues that this is good for women as she studied Silicon Valley and found that women were the driving force for family diversity and divorce through rejecting housewife role and pursuing further education to better their careers and then remarrying

    • Family members are now connected through divorce rather than marriage ‘divorce extended family’

  • Feminists find this positive as women are rejecting tradition

  • Divorce more accessible = increase

  • C - Murray would argue that this causes inadequate socialisation which leads to unemployment and teen pregnancies - no/irregular father figure

‘decline in the influence of traditional norms that used to stigmatise divorce’

  • Churches used to condemn divorce and it used to ruin status

  • Chester argues that although nuclear is the ideal family type, people go through different types throughout their life course which were unpredictable (people don’t go into marriage thinking they are going to get divorced)

    • Most cohabiting people will marry and most divorcees will get remarried

    • Neo-conventional

    • Family diversity is too exaggerated

  • C - Beck - family is unstable due to greater freedom (risk society).

Higher expectations

  • Less pressure to be married young, ease of divorce, rise of technology to showcase the marriage/relationships of others

  • Fletcher argues that high expectations are the main reason for divorce

  • Ideology of romantic love has become more dominant rather than marrying for business

  • Marriage is no longer seen as a binding contract which should be done by a certain age - people take time to choose their partners and make sure they are being fulfilled e.g. pure relationships

  • C - Dobash and Dobash found that most women went back to their partners even though they experienced domestic violence. Although DV is factor that shouldn’t compare to a regular marriage (making this c irrelevant) it is still something to consider.

Conclusion

  • Divorce is also something that could eventually decline due to less getting married in the first place

  • Many people who get divorced are older and wish to be single for their remaining years