Parental separation not only impacts on family relationships, it also has implications for a child's school life and opportunity to learn. However, there is little understanding of how children of separated parents navigate the relationship between home and school. This paper reports findings from discussions with education professionals in…

This review of international literature assesses the impacts that the relationship breakdown of parents has on children and factors that can provide support should this occur. The parental separation process causes significant albeit short-term distress for most children, with a minority reporting longer-term outcomes such as socio-economic…

The hypothetical constructs of attraction and barrier forces, as well as contrasting alternative attractions are used to organize the research literature on the determinants of marital stability and dissolution. (Author/AM)

The opinion that divorce is more painful and difficult for men than for women is widespread among both professionals and the public. This issue was examined in a study involving 50 divorced men and 44 divorced women in Trondheim, Norway. Interviews were conducted with respondents and the difficulty and pain of divorce were measured in part by each…

Men and women were randomly chosen from courthouse divorce files. After initial contact by mail and by phone, those who agreed were mailed questionnaires developed to assess adjustment to divorce and to obtain information about the nature of divorce. Of those sent questionnaires, 44% completed and returned the assessment; the total sample…

Notes that except for black males, a greater transmission effect is found among respondents from childhood homes disrupted by divorce or separation rather than by death. Also suggests that the role model rationale for the transmission of marital instability be elaborated upon. (Author/AM)

The marital histories of 203 young women who became premaritally pregnant in their early teens and 90 of their classmates most of whom married before pregnancy show that disruption in the courtship process and limited economic resources are the most important factors in marital dissolution. (Author/AM)

Examined two contrasting views of divorce and long-term adjustment of children. Failed to support physical-wholeness position; parental marital status was not significantly related to psychological adjustment or social life satisfaction. Results provided strong support for psychological-wholeness position: adolescents' psychological adjustment and…

The discussion includes analyses of the probable causative impact of several types of changes on the stability of marriage: socio-economic variables generally associated with divorce; overall social acceptability of divorce as reflected by lessened negative economic and social sanctions; and the roles of women. (Author/AM)

Considers how ritual processes function to reduce the usual ambiguities, tensions, and conflicts following divorce. Examines ritual in collective gatherings when ex-spouses must interact, and observable behaviors that are formalized on the basis of rules of etiquette. Presents a ritual model of family reorganization, highlighting formal and…

Aspects of American society conducive to separation, sources of strain between partners, beliefs and norms about marital permanence, and evidence as to dissolution precipitating events are examined in the light of the papers in this issue, employing the four factor Kanter model. (Author/AM)

Public assistance and decennial census data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia are used to examine whether welfare payments provide an incentive for mothers with minor children to separate from their husbands. (Author/AM)

A review of the literature suggests that opposition to divorce reform for the sake of the children cannot be justified and an examination of the economic problems of single-parent families leads to proposals for income support. (Author/AM)

Examined the impact of support systems on post-divorce family functioning. Results suggest that families under extreme stress need to be provided with relatively high levels of support or their dissatisfaction with support systems will appear in harsher and more restrictive relationships with children. (Author)

Examined two contrasting views of how parental marital status relates to long-term adjustment of children. Results of analyses on white adolescents (n=917) from intact, divorced, and blended families failed to support physical wholeness position; rather, results supported psychological wholeness position. Adolescents' adjustment was related to…