For better or for worse : divorce reconsidered / by E. Mavis Hetherington and John Kelly.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hetherington, E. Mavis (Eileen Mavis), 1926-

Contributor:

Kelly, John, 1945-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Divorce--Psychological aspects.

Divorce.

Divorced people--Psychology.

Divorced people.

Divorce--United States.

United States.

Physical Description:

viii, 307 pages ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : W.W. Norton, [2002]

Summary:

For Better or For Worse presents a radically new story about the nature and consequences of divorce in America today. Debunking popular wisdom on the devastating psychological and social effects of divorce, this new story will replace the fiction with the facts derived from eminent psychologist Mavis Hetherington's landmark study. After nearly three decades of research involving 1400 families of divorce, Hetherington puts forth a much more nuanced picture of marital breakup -- not as a momentary event but as a life process that yields its continuing influence throughout the stages of divorce, single-parenthood, remarriage, or stepfamily life, and in diverse interpersonal contexts -- with partners, children, stepchildren, and eventually in the adult relationships of the children themselves.

From her long-term perspective, Hetherington identifies distinct pathways into and out of divorce. She highlights three different kinds of marriages that predispose a couple to divorce and two that do not. She also pinpoints "windows of change" that allow some people to fashion the challenges of divorce into an opportunity. As the book follows families through the life process of divorce, Hetherington shows how women and girls experience divorce differently from men and boys; why single-mother -- son relationships and stepfather -- daughter relationships are the most difficult; why divorce presents a greater risk to adolescent children; and how mentoring and authoritative parenting can provide the needed buffering against the negative effects of divorce.

This unprecedented look at the underlying dynamics of our divorce-prone society concludes slightly optimistically that the news need not be all bad. While some survive divorce's effects, others actually thrive. For Better or For Worse offers readers an important first step in recognizing the obstacles likely to be encountered and the choices to be made, so that the pathway out of divorce need not be a prescribed path of dissolution but one of healing and ultimate fulfillment.

Contents:

1 A New Story About Divorce 1

Part 1 The Experience of Divorce: Children and Adults in the First Six Years

2 The His and Her Marriage; the His and Her Divorce 19

3 Leaving and Letting Go: Changes and New Chances in the First Two Years After Divorce 43

4 The Balance of Happiness: Why People Succeed or Fail After Divorce 67

5 Six Ways to Leave a Marriage: The Pathways Men and Women Take Out of Divorce 94

6 Incompetent Bullies and Undisciplined Disciplinarians: Children and Parents in the First Two Years After Divorce 110

7 What Helps and What Hurts: Children's Adjustment Six Years After Divorce 124

Part 2 Remarriage and Stepfamily Life: Adults and Children at Eleven Years After Divorce

8 Repartnering: High Hopes and Crossed Fingers 163

9 Building a Stepfamily 181

10 Welcome to Peer World: Why Teens from Divorced and Remarried Families Leave Home Earlier and Get into Trouble More Often 203

Part 3 In the Home Stretch: Adults and Children Twenty Years Later

11 Mostly Happy: Children of Divorce as Young Adults 227

12 Win, Lose, and Draw: Adults Twenty Years Later 254

13 Lessons Learned in Forty-five Years of Studying Families 275.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [289]-291) and index.

ISBN:

0393048624

OCLC:

47690357