DIVORCE IN AMERICA

Topic: Divorce in America

By: Janna Green

Presented to: Professor O'HARA KIHARA

In partial fulfillment of

The course requirement for

SSC 327: Applied Anthropology Saint Leo University

Atlanta Campus

Atlanta, GA

October 6, 2009

Divorce in America

Introduction

The causes and impact of divorce are complex, as are the concerns and its effects on children. In the United States about four out of every ten recently married couples see their marriage end in divorce and now, the United States has the highest divorce rate in the world.

Main Issues

According to a recent research, (Goshgarian et al. 2005) in the United States about four out of every ten recently married couples see their marriage end in divorce and now, the United States has the highest divorce rate in the world. There are four reasons why American people have the highest divorce rate in the world.

Money is the main factor why Americans have the highest divorce rate. After marriage, most couples work continuously together to have affluent lives. However, if they are not satisfied with the money that they earn and feel their lives are the same as they previously were, they easily fall into thinking about getting divorced. In other words, although a man and a woman truly love each other, if their material circumstances do not support them, the happy life in their marriage becomes difficult, so they get a divorce. After getting married, they take care of their partner. For example, when they live together, a couple has to buy food for two people which would cost more money. However, when a person lives alone, he or she do not have to worry about spending extra money for the spouse.

Besides money, infidelity is another issue why the U.S has the highest level of divorce. Because of the fact that both husband and wife work, they spend more time at work than with each other. Although they are already married, as they spend a lot of time at work place, there are many possibilities that they might fall in love with somebody else. What makes it more possible is that whoever remains at home without work might have feelings of loneliness or need of love. In this case, going out with someone who can fill the need could be more attractive. It seems that the less time they have for each other, the more they could be tempted to see someone else at work or in the neighborhood. (Buckley, Jr., and William F 2005)

Problem

Every year in America, 50% of marriages fall apart, over one million children watch as their parents unions fail, and American people are left wondering why. Is it because of religion, or our lack there of? Perhaps we are simply marrying too young or have premarital cohabitation to blame. Maybe we are reliving the mistakes of our parents, the products of our experiences. Whatever the case may be, one in every two marriages fails. Where do we cast the blame?

Research and Argument

One convincing argument is the distance that Americans have put between themselves and God. It is no ...