Your assignment is to prepare and submit a paper on divorce in the usa. Loss of intimacy and renewed pursuit for careers and professions appear to have replaced the traditional definition of family. A few studies have shown that there is consistent deterioration in the family structure and social fabric continues to get eroded. As a result, divorce is now acceptable in the U.S and a flexible legal system has fueled this growing social challenge.
Divorce is one of the leading social challenges in modern families across the globe. In the U.S, alone, the rate of divorce is 3.6 per 1000 marriages. With a marriage rate of 6.8 per 1000 persons, it is certainly worrying to have such a high rate of divorce (Lansford, 2009). Despite being a mutual agreement by involved persons to end the partnership, the cause of divorce in modern times appears to have been compounded by some factors. Certainly, when people settle down for marriage, they often hope for a lifelong partnership and a prosperous future. However, there is a couple of key controversial issues that have been identified to pose a threat to the existence of a firmly solid family fabric. A multiplicity of conditions has appeared in the past to accelerate family disintegration and subsequent breakdown. In this paper, we examine some key contributors to the high rate of divorce and family breakdown in the United States.
Based on the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) survey 2006-2010, divorce, and cohabitation are on the rise as compared to the last century (Amato & James, 2010). In the wake of the new dispensation of liberalism and American empowerment, a lot of social, economic, and political milestones have been achieved. However, the continued decline in the basic institution, the family continues to baffle. A number of suggestions have been advanced to explain this trend. However, the hallmark of the issues surrounding divorce are multifaceted and can be better understood through the sociological approach.
