A level Sociology - Changing Family Patterns - Divorce summary
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Course
Changing Family Patterns - Divorce
Institution
AQA
Changing Family Patterns - Divorce summary.
This document includes the reasons why divorce has increased, key sociologists and evaluation points in detail.
Changes in the Law
Declining stigma and changing attitudes
Secularisation
Rising expectations of marriage
Women’s increased financial independence
Feminist explanations
Individualisation ( and modernity)
Changes in the Law
Changes in the law that have increased divorce include:
Equalising the grounds for divorce between the sexes 1923
Widening the grounds for divorce 1971
Divorce reform Act 1969 - The Divorce Reform Act (1969) enabled divorce to become easier
for unhappy couples to access. Enabled a 'no fault' divorce to be requested.
Making divorce cheaper (1949)
All these laws made divorce much easier as it was financially easier ( much cheaper) and both men
and women could get a divorce if there was a legal reason to divorce.
Evaluation
However, even though changes in the law have given people more freedom to divorce more easily,
there are other factors such as secularisation or women’s increased financial independence that
cause an increase in divorce
Declining stigma and changing attitudes
stigma: negative label, social disapproval, shame of 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.
Mitchell and Goody (1997) found that an important change since the 1960s has been the
rapid decline in the stigma attached to divorce.
As stigma declines and divorce becomes more socially acceptable, couples become more
willing to divorce rather than struggling to solve their marital problems which creates more
peace.
Now divorce is becoming more normalised and isn't regarded as shameful.
Secularisation
Secularisation: the decline of the influence of religion in society.
Many sociologists argue that religious institutions and ideas are losing their influence and
society is becoming more secular.
As a result of secularisation, the traditional opposition of the churches to divorce carries less
weight in society and people are less likely to be influenced by religious teachings when
making decisions about personal matters (such as whether to file a divorce or not)
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