Marriage/Divorce

• Power/roles

  Dobash and Dobash

  found domestic violence was a reaction to husband's authority being challenged
• Marriage/Divorce Matrifocal household

  Greer -Radical feminist

  argues for a matrifocal household - having heterosexual relations is 'sleeping with the enemy'
• Marriage/Divorce

  British Social Attitude Survey

  indicates couples still want to marry and see it as an essential part of life
• Marriage/Divorce

  Sharpe/ Wilkinson

  discovered that females often see marriage as a hindrance to their career

  new generation prioritising career instead of marriage
• Marriage/Divorce gender roles

  Dutchman- Smith

  the very act of getting married has its roots in outdated notions of ownership and immutable gender roles

  only men benefit from the institution of marriage
• Marriage/Divorce cohabitation

  Diamond and Berrington

  cohabitation common amongst those who had been married before
• Marriage/Divorce Act

  Divorce Reform Act 1969

  introduced 'no fault' divorce but fault was needed to prove that the marriage had broken down via unreasonable behaviour
• Marriage/Divorce Act

  Dissolution and Separation Act 2020

  updated law established 'no fault' divorces and so applicants no longer had to blame their former partner
• Marriage/Divorce Expect more

  Fletcher

  rise in divorce is because people are increasingly expecting more from marriage- higher standards of marriage
• Marriage/Divorce little evidence

  Barlow

  found little evidence to suggest people place a higher value to marriage than before
• Marriage/Divorce Divorce normalised

  Mitchell and Goody

  Since the 1960s there has been a rapid decline in stigma attached to divorce as couples see divorce as a means of solving marital problems due to it being more socially acceptable
• Marriage/Divorce capitalism

  Hart

  believes capitalism has further enhanced conflict
• Marriage/Divorce pure relationship

  Giddens

  one that exists to satisfy each partner needs and not out of a sense of duty, traditions or for the sake of children
• Marriage/Divorce less embedded in economics

  Allan and Crowe

  found marriage is less embedded within the economic system and the family no longer acts as a unit of production

  Marxist criticism