Introduction
A divorce is a formal procedure for dissolving a marital union that frees people from remarrying. The judgment to divorce is taken by the participants of the relationship, that is, the husband and wife or any other arrangement. As a result, numerous laws have been enacted in various jurisdictions to manage the divorce procedure, and these rules depend on where the couple resides. Generally, a petition presented for a divorce to the court system is within the competence of any legislative grounds to refuse or grant the claim based on current laws. In many countries, the United States, for example, divorce often comprises child support, child custody, debt distribution, and property division, among others (Aviel, 2018).
Multiple factors contribute to divorce, including mismatch, adultery, and irreconcilable familial or personal conflicts. Despite these factors, divorce breeds challenges since it stresses out the parties and damages families; therefore, divorce should be made difficult to obtain. Hence, this research aims to highlight reasons why divorce should make demands; furthermore, the paper will detail the repercussions of divorce on various parties.
Reasons for Making Divorce Difficult
Typically, everyone desires a life devoid of emotional and mental suffering. Nevertheless, the present self-centered strategy to divorce is ineffective, and children suffer the price. This is due to the fact that seeking a divorce has grown less complicated. In this way, one million children annually lose the safeguard that marriage gives (Damota, 2019). Children from fractured families are more inclined to face destitution, early pregnancies, alcohol and drug addiction, despair, lower educational achievement, shorter lifespans, and suicidal ideation. Similarly, children too are compelled to leave their residences every other weekend for the comfort of adults.
In addition, divorce should be far more difficult to get. Providing couples considering divorce with hope and alternatives is vital to preserving the childhoods of many children. In this sense, couples with underage children are required to attend marital education programs alone or jointly, learn about the detrimental effects of divorce, and take an eight-month break before filing for divorce. As a result, this paradigm prioritizes relationships with little conflict and will preserve marriages. Most significantly, children should not be denied their deepest wish to grow up in a single-family with both parents available. Therefore, families should imbue themselves with bravery and compassion and accord the most significant commitment the respect it merits. Therefore, this will revive the dignity of marriage and provide children with their greatest desire.
Consequences of Divorce
Everyone in the family goes through a terrible time during and after a divorce. It is an agony that affects both the body and the mind. The breakdown of a marriage or legal separation may often result in significant changes in one’s life. Before, during, and especially after a divorce, men, women, children, and society at large normally go through many of the same feelings in similar proportions.
Men
In the wake of divorce, many men tend to lose their identity. In this aspect, men construct their identities based on their careers and families. Men may maintain permission to visit or even custody of their children following a divorce, but they frequently battle with the changing family situation. In addition, they experience a greater loss of financial resources. Despite the fact that the disparity in earnings between the sexes is shifting between men and women, men continue to be the primary breadwinner in the majority of households (André Ausseresses, 2018). Men who divorce nearly invariably have a considerable percentage of their income given to their ex-wives and children, requiring them to adapt to drastically new living conditions.
Lastly, males are always assumed to be at fault; divorce blame may be stigmatized for both genders. In many instances, however, men bear the brunt of the blame despite being attentive and caring husbands. It is an incorrect caricature, yet many men encounter it during family gatherings and divorce processes.
Women
Upon divorce, women often experience remorse and humiliation. Even while divorce no longer carries the stigma it once did, divorced spouses sometimes experience feelings of remorse or shame (Blank, 2018). This is particularly true if there is evidence of marital cheating or if there are minor children in the home. On the same note, guilt and shame are normal responses to the apparent or real condemnation of society, as well as a part of the emotional transition process after divorce (Blank, 2018).
In addition, women experience bitterness and resentment following a divorce. For instance, they acquire a divorce hangover, a condition of rage and resentment that commonly drives women to commit acts of vengeance against their husbands. To retaliate against their former husbands, many women often drag out the divorce process and make it difficult for their ex-spouses to execute visiting rights.
Children
Children’s perspectives on sexuality change once there is parental separation. Children’s acceptance of premarital sexual activity, cohabitation, and divorce increases considerably, but their acceptance of marriage and motherhood decreases. Children from divorced households additionally have a higher likelihood of feeling that marriage is not necessary before having children and are more likely to have an unwed child (Damota, 2019). Even after adjusting for socioeconomic level, this stays true. In addition, sexual toleration among divorced parents strongly boosts permissive behaviors and attitudes among their children, both boys and girls.
Conversely, children from divorced households often exhibit behavioral issues. Children with separated parents have more marital turmoil that precedes divorce, which jeopardizes their social skills (Damota, 2019). Even in intact homes with low to moderate levels of conflict, children had fewer behavioral issues than those in broken families with high levels of conflict.
Moreover, parental conflict influences the results of children’s conduct issues independent of the marriage status of the parents. During a divorce, parental disagreement is often characterized by less love, less attentiveness, and a greater propensity to discipline their children, leaving them feeling emotionally unstable. Youngsters who witness these adversities are more prone to see their social environment as uncertain and out of their command. Furthermore, children who quarrel and misbehave at school have a greater chance of coming from broken households.
After a parent’s divorce, a child’s sexual behavior may alter. There is a strong correlation between adolescent virginity and the availability of both parents. Each change in family structure throughout adolescence raises the risk of initiating sexual relations.
Children of separation are more involved in relationships and thereby have multiple partners and more unsuccessful intimate relationships, which may lead to risk factors for acquiring deadly diseases and a variety of emotional consequences (Damota, 2019). Notably, after a divorce, the majority of moms must work full-time; this sense of full-time working mother results in the greatest amount of adolescent sexual activity and is highly associated with having several sexual partners as an adult. This may cause life-threatening early pregnancy and termination.
Society
Divorce is detrimental to society because it dismantles families and undermines the importance of the family as a social unit. Usually, the family does more than bring individuals together via marriage, blood, or adoption; it also offers its members the academic, economic, and moral support they need to flourish socially (Vrouvas, 2021). Without this assistance, divorced individuals and their children suffer from mental and physical deterioration and become less effective members of society.
In a broader sense, divorce causes individuals to doubt the value of having a family. In this way, children of divorced homes are likely to engage in marriages with high levels of risk. Far worse, these youngsters often do not marry and establish their own families, a behavior that may disrupt societal cohesion.
In addition, divorce creates poverty, especially among women and children. In the first 18 months after a divorce, 77% to 83% of moms and their children are impoverished (Vrouvas, 2021). With reduced financial means, the majority of children of divorce endure disruptions in their lives, such as changes in child care, housing settings, and schools. The long-term repercussions of divorce-related poverty are more pronounced for females.
Conclusion
Advocating for stricter divorce procedures does not always imply that individuals would abuse their partners if they cannot divorce them. For instance, those in emotionally abusive relationships and those living with habitual adulterers may be susceptible to infections transmitted sexually. As a result, most women have opted for a fundamental change in single parenthood. This has affected children, who are more likely to enter many cohabiting relationships since they lack money and resources.
Nevertheless, no one promotes divorce, notwithstanding the devastation it causes to children and the spouse. However, most individuals do not engage in divorce easily. Many couples seek therapy to save their relationship. Importantly, high-conflict marriages may be more detrimental to youngsters than divorce, and post-divorce parental conflict is particularly detrimental to children, as are custody rules that limit children’s time with the father. Hence, the purpose of a community is to safeguard all children, not only those whose parents are contemplating divorce.
References
André Ausseresses. (2018). 7 ways divorce affects men differently than women – law office of andré j. ausseresses, APC. Law Office of André J. Ausseresses, APC. Web.
Aviel, R. (2018). Family law and the new access to justice. Fordham L. Rev., 86, 2279. Web.
Blank, C. (2018). The effects of divorce on women. Our Everyday Life. Web.
Damota, M. D. (2019). The effect of divorce on families’ life. Academia Edu, 46. Web.
Vrouvas, M. (2021). The effects of divorce on society. Law for Families. Web.