Separating Together How Divorce Transforms Families

by Stewart, Abigail J.; Copeland, Anne P.; Chester, Nia Lane; Malley, Janet E.; Barenbaum, Nicole B.

• ISBN13: 9781572302358
• ISBN10: 1572302356
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-08-01
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

Is divorce a catastrophe for children? Do single parents have trouble establishing authority in their homes? Do boys have a harder time adjusting than girls? Based on a unique longitudinal study of 100 divorcing families with school-age children, this book argues that popular images of divorce including those shared by many psychologists are too individualistic, too negative, and too universalizing about an experience that can be very different for men and women, parents and children, and different kinds of families. The book integrates qualitative and quantitative data to illuminate both the positive and negative effects of divorce on family members and family relationships, offering a nuanced, empirically grounded examination of divorce as a family system event.

Author Biography

Abigail J. Stewart, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan, where she is also Director of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender. Widely published, her research has focused on the psychology of women's lives; personality; and adaptation to change.

Anne P. Copeland, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology at Boston University. She is currently studying how family process and national culture affect adolescents' identity and adjustment.

Nia Lane Chester, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Dean for Learning and Assessment at Pine Manor College in Brookline, MA. A former Radcliffe Research Scholar and recipient of a DuPont grant from the Women's College Coalition, her interests include role and personality interaction, stress and coping patterns in adults and children, and women and work.

Janet E. Malley, PhD, is Senior Research Associate at the Murray Research Center of Radcliffe College. Her research interests are in the area of adult development, focusing in particular on how the process of development may be mediated by work and family roles.

Nicole B. Barenbaum, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Her research focuses on the history of personality psychology in the U.S.

Table of Contents

PART ONE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERIENCE OF PARENTAL DIVORCE	1	(92)
Changing Our Minds about Parental Divorce	3	(22)
Studying Family Transformation: Research Designs and the Family Changes Project	25	(24)
The Parents' Stories: The End of a Marriage and a New Beginning	49	(26)
The Children's Stories	75	(18)
PART TWO HOW INDIVIDUAL FAMILY MEMBERS ADAPT TO PARENTAL SEPARATION	93	(46)
Parents Adjusting after the Separation: What Helped?	95	(22)
Beyond the ``Effects of Divorce on Children'': Uncovering and Understanding Complexity	117	(22)
PART THREE FAMILY DYADS, ADJUSTMENT, AND CHANGE	139	(62)
The Mother--Child Relationship: Insider and Outsider Views	141	(18)
When the Conflict Continues: Implications of Parental Conflict in the Postseparation Family	159	(23)
Patterns of Conflict and Parenting in Divorcing Couples	182	(19)
PART FOUR PARENTAL DIVORCE AS A FAMILY TRANSFORMATION	201	(46)
Families after Separation: Changing Systems	203	(28)
Wise Families, Wise Changes	231	(16)
Appendix Tables	247	(28)
References	275	(8)
Index	283