Sociological Perspective

A sociological understanding is essential in order to be acquainted with some of the socially related issues in divorces and separations. However, there are many stable and strong marriages in the church. Some couples have been married thirty-five years and over and are still in love with each other.  They have faced the difficult times together, struggles, disappointments, ups and downs, worries, joys and satisfactions. Today, the institution of marriages is confronted with many encounters of divorces and separations, added to the fact that people are socialized differently. The odds of divorce are even greater; couples break up, separate and divorce according to Brehm, Kassin and Fein (2005).  They said although all marriages are different it is clear that a certain sociological pattern in divorce and separation emerges (p.343).  

The reality is that divorce and separation contains more than a legal declaration of dissolving the marriage or the separation of a couple.  It is associated with various problems that tend to emerge over long periods of time, before the individual can fully recover from the effects.  Divorce and separation involves a period of distressing marital conflicts that impacts, the home, the immediate family, the extended family, the in-laws, friends, the work-place, church, and society on the whole. Absolutely no one is prepared for the sociological effects of divorce or separation. It can happen to anybody in society; the individual may or may not be a church member.  Let's take a look at some of the sociological effects of divorce or separation.