Divorce: Legal, Emotional, And Parental Aspects

Divorce Name Institution Divorce Introduction Divorce is not a new term and it has been in the mainstream media for a long time now. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines it as “the action or instance of legally dissolving a marriage.” People have been dissolving their marriages since before and while a larger percentage never wanted to talk about or even entertain the thought of divorce, today the trend has changed. Couples are getting divorced at a high rate. In the US, for example, CDC reports that in 2016, there were a total of 2,245,404 marriages which represented a marriage rate of 6.9 per 1000. However, divorce rates were almost half this number at 827,261 in 44 reporting States and DC which accounted for 3.2 per 1000. At almost a million divorces every year, one cannot be faulted if alarmed. One fact that stands out while people are dissolving a marriage is that it is never a happy event. While some couples try to maintain straight faces and show the world they are fine while undergoing a divorce, many of them are filled with regret over the loss of dreams and shuttering of expectations. Divorce is not simply signing papers to dissolve a marriage. It involves other aspects including legal, emotional, parental, practical, and financial which do greatly affect the couples directly. While some people believe they are winning when they, for example, get the custody of the children or when they get the better share of the estate, well, looking at the consequences or effects of divorce, one can be inclined to think that nothing good comes out of it. But the above is just one side of the coin. The other divide believes that marriages can at times be toxic and therefore, a divorce can be necessary. Well, regardless of where you are, divorce is part of the society and everyone has to live with that fact. Who Divorces While discussing the causes of divorce, it is crucial that one looks at this topic while focusing on men and women as separate entities. The above simply means that the reasons why men and women seek or ask for a divorce are different. An article by the American Sociological Association (2015) indicates that “women are more likely than men to initiate divorces.” However, the report continues to state that “women and men are just as likely to end non-marital relationships.” As per the report, women initiate a whopping 69% of divorces compared to men’s 31%. Well, the numbers are quite suggestive but one cannot fail to ask themselves why the disparity exists. There has been the notion that women are more sensitive to the difficulties experienced in relationships and therefore, will take the initiative to divorce. However, in his 2017 article, Rosenfeld opines that if the above was taken as the truth, then it should reflect in the non-marital relationships as well where apparently the men and women initiate breakups at equal rates. However, one wonders why women will initiate divorce in greater numbers than men to which Rosenfeld says that it is because women report lower levels of relationship quality compared to men. He continues to say that his results seem to be in agreement with the feminists’ claims that women find marriage uncomfortable and oppressive. Well, the reasons why women are the ones...