| Description |
The intergenerational transmission of divorce has been well documented by research; however, some children of divorce have established successful marriages of their own. Exploring the ways in which these individuals have established successful marriages reveals strategies that could enable others to avert divorce. One group that appears to differ from others in marital demographics and beliefs is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This study focused on determining how members of The Church of Jesus Christ avoid the intergenerational transmission of divorce by exploring the behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs they feel are key to the success of their marriages and how those marriage-saving beliefs are acquired. Interviews were conducted with 12 active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who were married for at least 8 years. To facilitate comparison, individuals from intact families as well as those whose parents divorced were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed, and theory was developed using the grounded theory method. Analysis of the strategies children of divorce employ to establish successful marriages has revealed several themes. It appears that children of divorce focus on alleviating problems, while children of intact families focus on efforts that strengthen commonalities through positive interaction. Individuals from divorced families seem to define success in marriage as marital stability (whether the couple remains married). Individuals from intact families, however, judge the success of marriage according to marital quality (a couple‘s deriving fulfillment from their marriage). Further, it appears that individuals from divorced families are motivated to avoid divorce because of experience and reason, while individuals from intact families are motivated by God‘s expectations. Another theme is that individuals from divorced families seem to focus on their abilities to individually affect the success of the marriage, whereas individuals from intact families more frequently focus on the efforts of both partners. While all respondents reported relying on God, it appears that individuals with divorced parents rely on God to strengthen themselves so that they can effectively address problems in marriage, while individuals from intact families rely on God to strengthen the couple relationship more directly. |
