1. Family breakdown - Divorce
Access to HE – level 3
Sociology and the Family
Family breakdown - Divorce

2. Learning Objectives: Recap the feminist theories of the family.
Examine reasons for divorce in the UK
Analyse divorce rates and observe patterns of divorce rates in the UK

3. STARTER ACTIVITY
State whether the following statements would be made by Liberal (L), Radical (R), Marxist (M) or Difference (D) feminists:
All men are potential rapists
Women are the slaves of the wage slaves
Throughout history in every known society, men have ruled over women in every way.
Suffragettes did much to further the cause of women.
The family is a source of comfort and support to women who are the victims of racial discrimination.
Women service men like mechanics service cars: to make sure they keep going for those that control them.
Girls are now achieving more than boys in education. There is still a ‘glass ceiling’ in the workplace, but gradually it’s starting to crack…
Pornography is the visible expression of men’s hatred and domination of women.

4. Role play activity
In the groups chosen last week, re-enact your role play scene.
Remember to get in character – which type of feminist are you?
The other groups will watch and try to guess who is who…

5. Why study divorce?
We study divorce because this is a major cause of changing family patterns and greater family diversity.
Most re-marriages involve a divorcee, and divorce creates both lone-parent families and one-person households.

6. Changing divorce patterns
Divorce has increased dramatically since the 1960s
Number of divorces doubled from and doubled again by 1972.
Since then the rate has steadily increased until it was 6 x higher in 2001 than in 1961.
Now 40% of all marriages will end in divorce – why?

7. Variations in divorce rates
Some couples are more likely than others to divorce:
Couples who marry young
Those who have a child before they marry
Those who cohabit before marriage
Those where one or both partners have been married before
Those where the partners are of a different social class, ethnicity or religion

8. Reasons for increase in divorce rate
Changes in the law - Divorce was very
difficult to obtain in 19th century Britain, especially for women. Gradually, changes in the law have made divorce easier.
There have been three kinds of change in the law:
Equalising the grounds for divorce between the sexes (1923)
Widening the grounds for divorce ( DLRA 1969)
Making divorce cheaper (Legal Aid 1949)

9. 2. Declining Stigma and Changing Social Attitudes – Stigma refers to the negative label, social disapproval or shame attached to a person, action or relationship. In the past, divorce and divorcees have been stigmatised. For example, churches tended to condemn divorce and often refused to conduct marriage services involving divorcees. Juliet Mitchell and Jack Goody (1997)

10. 3. Secularisation - Secularisation refers to the decline in the influence of religion in society. Many sociologists argue that religious institutions and ideas are losing their influence and society is becoming more secular. 4. Rising Expectations of Marriage - functionalist sociologists like Ronald Fletcher (1966) argue that the higher expectations that people place on marriage today are a major cause of rising divorce rates. Higher expectations make couples nowadays less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage.

11. 5. The impact of feminism – About three-quarters of divorce petitions are from women. Women have become far more independent. One reason for women’s increased willingness to seek divorce is that improvements in their economic position have made them less financially dependent on their husband and therefore freer to end an unsatisfactory marriage.

12. 6. The Welfare State – State benefits help divorced women, particularly those with children, meaning less financial dependence on a man. 7. Increased Life Expectancy – if you marry in your late twenties you can expect to live for another 50 years. This may mean that people are more prepared to divorce if they fall out of love.

13. Comparative study
In groups, think of as many reasons that you can think of (however ridiculous) that might lead to a divorce.
Write your reasons down (10 minutes).

14. Dateline – divorce in England and Wales
Using the dateline below cross off your list any reasons that would apply equally in both 1921 and 2012.
Incidence of divorce in England and Wales:
1857: Approximately
1921: 3,000
1941: 7,500
1947: 47,000
1951: 29,000
1970: 58,000
1989: 151,000
1997: 164,000
2012: 118,140
Think of the sociological reasons for those that are left… e.g. easier divorce, legal changes.

15. Compare the dateline to the events/legislation listed on your worksheet and find the sociological or historical reasons for changes in the divorce rate.
Pick one of the sets of figures from the dateline and write an evaluative paragraph giving explanations for the rise/fall that you can see.

16. Impact of family breakdown
Watch the clip of the TED talk by Tamara Afifi
Answer the questions on your sheets.
Read through ‘The Impact of Family Breakdown on Children’s Well-being’ and list five conclusions of the report at the bottom.
Review and discuss with the class.

17. Plenary – reasons for divorce