Although it has been made easier to obtain a divorce, sociologists argue that several factors have contributed to more couples wanting a divorce. For Fletcher (1966), and Dennis (1975) couples had higher expectations of marriage than previous generations. Fletcher claimed they anticipated a ‘close, intimate and intense’ relationship, and if they did not achieve in their first marriage, they would look for a new partner. Dennis proposed that modern marriages are fragile because:
‘...in so far as companionship, a close, durable, intimate and unique relationship with one member of the opposite sex becomes the prime necessity in marriage, a failure in this respect becomes sufficient to lead to its abandonment.’
These arguments, however, do not consider the dilemma that married couples with children face in such situations. The marriage may be no longer personally satisfying, but they have to consider the effect divorce would have on the children.
Hart (1976) focused on the status of women within society, and the ‘opportunity structures’ that she claims have made a single motherhood a viable option. The introduction of Legal Aid has made it easier for women to afford divorce proceedings. Increases in welfare payments and female employment have made financial independence possible. Other sociologists have concentrated on what they see as the ‘secularisation’ of society, whereby traditional religious teachings have had less impact on peoples’ lives. According to Wilson (1966), less than half of all marriage services are religious, and ‘the idea of a lifelong marriage blessed by God is clearly less significant now than previously’. It has also become more common for couples to divorce rather than staying together ‘for the sake of the children’. The stigma and shame once attached to divorce has passed into history. For Goode (1963), individuals are more likely to ask whether divorce is a ‘useful or better procedure’ than whether or not it is a ‘moral’ course of action. Another factor is longevity - increased life spans mean couples have longer to grow apart. Referring to the United States, Kearl (2001) observes:
One century ago, when one said "I do," there was the actuarial fact that the commitment until "death do us part" was for approximately a quarter of a century. As life expectancies have increased from 47 years to nearly 80 over the course of this century, that time of commitment has roughly doubled.
Even so, most divorces occur within the first ten years of marriage, and as both partners usually lived for far longer than that after marriage, even a hundred years ago, the theory’s significance is minimal.
There is no doubt that successive Acts of Parliament have made it easier for individuals or couples seeking divorce to have their marriages legally terminated. The 1969 Divorce Reform Act increased the grounds for divorce, and the 1984 Matrimonial and Family Practice Act meant marriages could be ended sooner after they had began, but these seem to have had little long-term impact on a divorce rate which was already growing dramatically. Far more important, it seems, were the effects of increasing expectations of marriage (Fletcher), the nature of modern marriage (Dennis), increasing female financial independence (Hart), and the ‘secularisation of society’ (Wilson). That the number of divorces per thousand married couples in the UK rose from 2.1 to 12.8 between 1961 and 1988 was more to do with changes in society than laws. The legal reforms, far from causing an increase in divorce, simply reflected society’s demand for the painful and protracted process to be made easier for all concerned.
References
Office For National Statistics; General Office for Scotland; Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, ‘Fig.4: The Divorce Rate‘, quoted on page 9,
Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations 2000, ‘Health and Social Care Advanced’
Esher College, ‘Family Revision -Divorce’ - http://www.esher.ac.uk/scextranet/sociology/divorce.htm - 2nd November 2001
Fletcher, R., ‘The Family and Marriage in Britain’ (Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1966)
Dennis, N., ‘Relationships’ in Butterworth and Weir (1975)
Hart, N., ‘When Marriage Ends: A Study in Status Passage’ (Tavistock, London, 1976)
Wilson, B., ‘Religion in a Secular Society’ (C.A. Watts, London, 1966)
Goode, W.J., ‘World Revolution and Family Patterns’ (The Free Press, New York, 1963)
Kearl, M., ‘Divorce and Death: Their Social and Social-Psychological Impacts - The Divorce Revolution’ - http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/fam-div.html - 2nd November 2001
