Perfect Family In the 1950s, family was seen as almost perfect, and people was in search for "THE" perfect family. Things changed twenty years later, but people still think about that model family. According to Coontz in "Marriage then and now" many relationships were affected by the proposal of deep marriage relation leaving unsuccessful marriages more than successful ones(12). Marriage back in the 1950s were perhaps more stable, but today divorce has increasing , meanwhile marriage is boosting the marriage industries. Marriage , family, divorce, that is the cycle that is pushing people way from that model family. The reality of divorce is people trying to get out of their marriage as soon as they say "I do", but most of time the couple do not realize that they are not happy because it is almost unconsciously. "During the past thirty years, however, the long-term trend making marriage less central to social and personal life reasserted itself"(Coontz 12). Marriage became more like an industry than a matrimony , and that makes the model family go in the opposite direction. The positive side is that marriage might be evolving due to unexpected feelings. Marriage is a union to built a family with children, and supportive work. "Alternatives to marriage have continued to multiply at the turn of the millennium, not just for companionship and sexual relationships, but even as a vehicle for raising children"(Coontz 12). Families are being separated because sometimes young age adults think they are ready for marriage and it ends up in divorce that also cause future problems with the ex couple even more if they already have a child. The family member most damaged is the child. "Marriage also continues to be important f... ... middle of paper ... ... season has its proper format. Works Cited Coontz, Stephanie. "Divorcing Reality." Nation 265.16 (1997): 21-24. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. . "Marriage: Then And Now." National Forum 80.3 (2000): 10-13. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. . "The Origins Of Modern Divorce." Family Process 46.1 (2007): 7-13. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. Wolfson, Evan. "What Is Marriage?" Rereading America. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's. 89-101. Print. Karsten, J. L. "Adam And Adam: Or Eve And Eve?." JEPTA: Journal Of The European Pentecostal Theological Association 34.1 (2014): 1-14. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. Kradin, Richard. "The Family Myth: Its Deconstruction And Replacement With A Balanced Humanized Narrative." Journal Of Analytical Psychology 54.2 (2009): 217-232. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
DeVault, C., Cohen, T., & Strong, B. (2011). The marriage and family experience: Intimate relationships in a changing society. (11th ed., pgs. 400-426). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth cengage learning.
“In the 1950’s, 86 percent of children lived in two-parent families, and 60 percent of children were born into homes with a male breadwinner and a female homemaker” (Conley 451). In contrast, “in 1986, fewer than 10 percent of U.S. families consisted of a male breadwinner, a female housewife, and their children, a figure that has since fallen to 6 percent” (Conley 455). Modern families come in all shapes and sizes. They no longer follow the strict nuclear family layout. There are many reasons why the nuclear family is no longer the most common family type. Some of these reasons include increased divorces, increased acceptance of different sexual orientations, increased amount of couples choosing not to get married/common-law marriages, increased amount of people choosing not to have children (rise of birth control methods), increased amount of families with both parents working/needing to work, etc. Personally, I do not believe the decrease in the nuclear family model is a bad thing. By definition a family is just a group of people who are related or married/in a relationship and it can still be a healthy and well-functioning unit no matter the size or combination of people it is made up
Schwartz, Lita. Painful Partings: Divorce and its Aftermath. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1997.
When you think about family, what is the first thing that comes to mind? If you only thought about your parents or close relatives then you may have been caught in an “individual vs. family” paradox. Nearly every culture considers family important, but “many Americans have never even met all of their cousins” (Holmes & Holmes, 2002, p.19). We say we are family oriented, but not caring to meet all of our extended family seems to contradict that. Individual freedoms, accomplishments, and goals are all American ideals that push the idea of individualism. What's important to note is that family or even the concept of family itself doesn't appear in any of those ideals. Holmes and Holmes (2002), observed that “The family reunions of yesterday are now rare, and when they occur they are often a source of stress.” (p. 19) That quote solidifies one reason why family interaction today is : it's just too stressful, so we avoid it. Where does marriage fit into our culture of individuals? Marriage itself may be less of a family unifying event than a way for two individuals to obtain personal happiness; the climbing divorce rate alone seems to suggest the devaluation of commitment in a relationship. Likewise, the Holmes and Holmes (2002) state “marriage is in effect a continuation of courtship” (p. 19) In my opinion, I would have to agree with the authors on family and marriage, considering the above-stated facts and trends. If we, as a nation, can place the individual so far above our own relatives, are we not creating a future of selfishness?
Marriage is a commitment that seems to be getting harder to keep. The social standards placed on an individual by society and influenced by the media inevitably lead some to consider divorce as a “quick-fix” option. “Have it your way” has become a motto in the United States. It has become a country without any consideration of the psychological effects of marriage and divorce. The overwhelmingly high divorce rate is caused by a lack of moral beliefs and marital expectations.
The era of the 1950s was an iconic era in American history. The American dream of freedom, self empowerment, and success was growing. After world war 1, the ideals of american culture changed. The country saw the aftermath of the war in the countries of western Europe where communism was beginning to take hold, and the U.S tried to be the opposite. Marriage was propagated to be the opposite of the war torn families across the world, where women were working in factories and children fending for themselves with no home. The American “nuclear family” strived to be one where the father supported his family, the wife stayed home and provided for her children. Family became a national priority, and women were taught that a happy marriage and home
Fagan, Patrick F.Rector, Robert. “The Effects Of Divorce On America.” World & I 15.10 (2000): 56. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
Sociological Analysis of Divorce as a Social Problem and Proposed Solutions Every year approximately 2.4 million marriages occur. Out of those,2.1 millionwill file for divorce in the United States. These marriage and divorce rates have significantly increased since the years past(Coltrane and Adams, 364).According to Schoen, in the 1950’s, 15 out of 1,000 marriages ended in divorce. In the 1970’s, the rates of divorcedoubled,increasing to 40 per 1,000 marriages. Currently, the rate of marriages resulting in divorce remains the same.
According to recent statistics, there are more divorces now than ever before. At the rate things are going, the divorce rate may soon surpass the marriage rate. There are many reasons for such a high divorce rate, but one of the main ones is that people do not realize what they are getting themselves into when they marry. Couples do not realize that marriage is a job that must be worked at continuously in order for it to go well. Because many couples marry for the wrong reasons, a breakdown in communication results, which leads to a couple's growing apart. This process, all too often, ends in divorce.
Schwartz, M.A. and Scott, B.M., Marriages and Families: Diversity and Change Third Edition. 2000. Prentice Hall: 116-121.
Robson, Ruthann. "The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History: Marriage." Houghton Mifflin Study Center. 19 Nov. 2005. http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/women/html/wh_022200_marriage.htm.
“You change for two reasons: either you learn enough that you want to, or you’ve been hurt enough that you have to.” While maturing, young adults start searching for other peers to settle down with and marry. Although glamorous to picture, marriage is a commitment two partners make for life. To stick by one another “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health” (Sample Marriage Vows, 2004). Unfortunately, the promise to stay true to one another through everything diminishes. Resulting in what modern day society’s term as divorce. There are many paragons to justify on why individuals consider such deviances from their oaths. This does not mean, however, that every marriage will end in a catastrophe. Matrimony involves learning throughout life on how to work as one. Some couples play by the books and develop a system that agrees with both parties. Differing partners, on the other hand, fail at the teamwork category in their relationship. Therefore, the cause and effects of divorce in the United States of America illustrates different reasons on why and how the term comes about.
According to the 2014 National Survey of Family Growth conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every year, 2, 077, 000 couples in the United States get married. Unfortunately, almost 50% of these marriages end in divorce (Jasmin). What happened to “Till death do us part?” Has marriage lost its value in the society? Why has divorce become prevalent? According to a survey conducted by Daily Infographic, poor communication, finances, abuse, lack of interest to each other, and infidelity are the top five most typical reasons of divorce. In marriage, hurdles such as arguments, contrasting ideas, and other problematic circumstances are as inevitable as taxes. The significant factor though is how a couple (despite their differences) handles those quandaries. Although divorce can be a remedy to undesired relationship, the dissolution of marriage can be distressing and can cause economic adversity to the couple, and can bear a negative impingement to the child.
In this twenty century, divorce is very common; especially in the America today, the country that focus on their citizen’s freedom. The term "common" here is not that every marriage couples will end up divorce, but it means that the society already accept and have an open might about divorce. In the article "The Making of a Divorce Culture" by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, she had mention that "divorce is now part of everyday American life. It is embedded in our laws and institutions, our manner and more, out movies and television shows, our novels, and children 's storybooks, and our closest and most important relationships." Everyone should have seen or at least hear about it once in their life from their own experience or from someone they