Sociology

Divorce has long been cited as one of the major causes of the decline of the American family. People are quick to point out that everyone in the family, including the parents and children, is negatively affected by divorce, leading them to exhibit negative behavior and consequently ruin their future. In the United States, the first ever data gathered on the countrys divorce rate was collected in 1867. Since then, divorce rates in the country have been rising (Davis et al., 1985, p. 43) although most recent data suggests theyve begun to drop (Weiten et al., 2008, p. 285). Divorce itself though, is not necessarily bad for family members, and there are studies which support this fact. However, based on the amount of studies done on the issue of divorce, it is clear that generally, divorce still contributes a lot to the decline of the cohesiveness of the American family.

Divorce Rates in the United States
There are many accurate statistics available on US divorce rates but it is still difficult to estimate the exact percentage of divorced marriages. Based on these statistics, divorce rates significantly climbed from the 1950s to the 1980s. After this period however, they seem to have stabilized and even declined. At their peak, estimates of future divorce rates were at 50. This may not be true today though, because the stabilizing and declining divorce rates have lowered a familys risk of divorce to about 40 to 45.

Despite the numbers, the chances of a marriage ending are still high. About one in five adults in 2001 ended their marriage. It is also interesting to note that while divorce is very much a part of American society, American families tend to underestimate their chances of getting divorced. In 2001, American families estimated that their probability of getting divorced was between 10 to 11, which was far below the populations actual divorce probability (Weiten et al., 2008, p. 285).

Effects of Divorce on Children
There are many possible causes of divorce, including extramarital affairs, lack of conflict resolution skills, value changes, satiation, and the perception that one would be happier if he or she were divorced (Knox  Schacht, 2009, p. 492-493). Whatever the cause of divorce however, it is commonly regarded that its the children who suffer most. Based on scientific research done on this topic, divorce generally has harmful effects for children, but they can be beneficial in setups where the parents relationship is full of conflict. These are cases where the parents of the child bicker too much or exhibit domestic violence that the child is actually better off when they separate.

After their parents are divorced, many children go through anxiety and depression. They also have frequent nightmares and exhibit more pronounced dependency. Theyre likely to become aggressive, distractible and may withdraw from society. Other harmful effects of divorce on children include poorer academic performance and physical health, substance abuse, and precocious sexual behavior (Weiten et al., 2008, p. 288). While these behaviors may not be directly associated with the decline of family cohesiveness, it is also clear these do not help foster a healthy family environment at all.

Studies suggest however, that divorce has a more direct link to the decline of family cohesiveness in the country. For example, in 2005, researchers from the University of Utah affirmed that children who come from broken families have an increased chance of getting divorced in the future. Children who come from divorced marriages want to avoid the mistakes of their parents so that their children wont have to go through the same pain they experienced. According to the researchers, these children tend to marry in their teens and cohabitate and eventually marry someone whose parents also divorced. When they are over the age of 20, theyre also 13 less likely to start a marriage. Another interesting finding of the study is that if a persons spouse comes from a broken family, the marriage is twice as likely to end in divorce. This forms a vicious cycle of divorced marriages that breed more divorced marriages in the future (U News Center, 2005, p. 1-5).

Some studies criticize the view that divorce is inherently harmful to children. Accordingly, children who suffer more when their parents are constantly bickering and fighting violently are better off when their parents get divorced. While this has some truth in it, its still doubtful whether this will positively impact the childs life. Sometimes, the fighting and the bickering between the parents do not stop even after divorce. Children may also be disillusioned with marriage if he lives with a mother or a father who constantly denigrates the other party. Ultimately, this contributes to the childs mistrust of the institution of marriage.

Effects of Divorce on the Mother
After divorce, the child is usually entrusted to the mother with the father having the right to spend some one-on-one time with the child. Compared to the father though, the mother suffers more strains, especially in terms of finances. Both men and womens incomes tend to drop after a divorce but women are likely to suffer more because of mens higher standing in society (Knox  Schacht, 2009, p. 501). A single mother has to fill in the shoes of the father while maintaining her duties as a mother.

Coupled with the emotional stress of divorcing are the increased responsibilities of the mother to take care of her child. In the absence of the father, a single mother must make all the decisions regarding the family and must provide for all of them. Therefore, aside from her professional job, the single mother must perform all housekeeping and parenting duties. They also have to support their children emotionally even if they themselves are emotionally and physically drained from the stressful family setup.

Divorced fathers should continue to support their children financially, but this does not always happen. There are also divorced fathers who are bound legally to support his family but he moves far away so that the mother cant establish further contact with him. The result is that the mother has more financial burden since she has to work more jobs to support the family. Women who were not employed before getting married may find it hard to reenter the job market, limiting her options to provide for her child and herself. All of this leads to a sharp decline in the single mother and childs standard of living. In contrast, men may experience an increase in their standard of living because their financial burden is lessened (Cherlin, 1992, p. 74). Ultimately, it is the child who suffers from this setup, hardening his views against marriage, encouraging him to initiate self-destructive behaviors, and perpetuating the cycle of divorce in American society.

Effects on the Father
As was mentioned, men may experience an increase in their standard of living after divorce. However, more recent studies also suggest that divorced fathers compared to mothers are more likely to lose their jobs after divorce. The reason for this is that an individual who went through divorce is likely to experience a significant drop in his ability to function and work normally, resulting in his firing (Knox  Schacht, 2009, p. 501).

Since custody of the child is often entrusted to the mother, the father must occasionally spend some time with his children in quality time sessions. Researchers found out however, that it is not divorce alone that affects the fathers relationship with his child, but the time they spend together. When people get divorced, the father loses some opportunities to parent and oversee his child, negatively affecting the childs behavior and contributing to the cycle of divorce in society.

Interestingly however, some father-child relationships do get better after divorce because the father is more prompted to spend quality time with his child. It is doubtful though, whether this has significant positive impact on the cohesiveness of the American family as the child will still have to live without both parents on his side.

Conclusion
As new findings about the effects of divorce surface, people realize that divorce is not entirely bad for everyone involved. Finding new partners and spouses may make the mother and father happier individuals. Children who suffer the constant bickering and fighting of their parents may also live more peaceful lives by staying with just one of them. While of these suggest that people should rethink their notion of divorce, they do not erase the fact that the American familys cohesiveness is deteriorating because of divorce.

The greater amount of evidence on the effects of divorce clearly indicates that the activity is harmful to all parties involved. Although fathers can achieve a higher standard of living because of lesser financial burden, mothers are saddled with more responsibilities related with rearing the child and providing for both of them. They are worse off psychologically at first because of the emotional trauma, especially if the divorce is the result of an extramarital affair, and then financially, as they have to take on both parents roles and duties. The result is that they have less time and resources to take care of their children, who grow up mistrusting the value of marriage even further.

In analyzing the effect of divorce and divorce rates on the cohesiveness of the American family, it is the children who are the ultimate determining factor whether divorce rates will continue to go up or down. As was cited on this paper however, based on present scientific evidence, children who come from broken families are more likely to have divorced marriages themselves. Since they do not want their children to experience their pains, they are more hesitant to enter into marriages and they are more likely to end them. Their children therefore, may turn out to have less experience of marriage and may not understand its value as a societal institution. Clearly, if this cycle of divorce is not stopped by an outside force, the government for example, divorce will continue to solidify its existence and value in American society and the cohesiveness of American families will continue to decline.