Feminsim Vs Marxism

2. Introduction to the topic you investigated.

The key subject for the integrative assessment is the family. As the family is the most important part of socialisation, beginning as soon as we are born right through to adulthood. It is the most crucial aspect of our lives as it shapes our norms and values within society. The topic that has been investigated is to what extend are children affected by divorce. The UK is the divorce capital of Europe, with around 40% of marriages ending in divorce, leaving as many as 1 in 3 children in Britain enduring the consequences of parental divorce or separation.

The graph below shows that in 2004 the number of divorces granted in the UK increased by 0.2 per cent to 167,116 from 166,737 in 2003. This is the highest number of divorces since 1996, and the fourth successive annual increase. This is 7.2 per cent lower than the highest number of divorces which peaked in 1993 (180,018).

Divorces (Includes annulments. Data for 1961 to 1970 are GB only)

Sources: Office for National Statistics; General Register Office for Scotland; Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

Data for 1961 to 1970 are GB only.

Published on 31 August 2005 at 9:30 am

In 1961, there were 27,224 divorces in Great Britain; by 1969 this had more than doubled to 55,556. The number of divorces doubled again by 1972, to 124,556 in Great Britain and 124,991 in the United Kingdom. This latter increase was partly due to the Divorce Reform Act 1969 in England and Wales. The Divorce Reform Act 1969 in England and Wales came into effect in 1971. This Act introduced a single ground for divorce - irretrievable breakdown of marriage - which could be established by proving one or more of certain facts: adultery; desertion; unreasonable behaviour; separation of two years with mutual consent and separation of five years at the sole wish of the petitioner.

In England and Wales, the number of divorces fell slightly between 2003 and 2004, from 153,490 to 153,399. In 2004 69 per cent of divorces were to couples where both parties were in their first marriage. The corresponding proportion in 1984 was 78 per cent. This downward trend largely reflects the fall in the number of first marriages.

3. The central issue you were addressing in your investigation.

The central issue in the investigation will be addressing the effect divorce has on children. Divorce rates have been rising steadily since 1961 and Britain to this day has the highest divorce rate in Europe. As many as 1 in 5 children will see his or her parents divorce before their sixteenth birthday (you can't get precise figures because almost a third of children are now born outside marriages and split-ups; these families are not officially recorded). In society today divorce is perceived as another social norm - a fact of modern life due to the rates being so high.

Studies have been showing for years that children are affected by divorce in different ways; however some are not affected at all. Depending on the age, gender, and social class of the family different issues will have an effect on the outcome of the problems divorce causes. A study conducted by Dr Martin Richards from Cambridge University (1995) concluded that children who experience the death of a parent exhibit problems similar to those of children who lose a parent through divorce.

Not all children living in one parent families will have lived with their absent parent. However, for those whose parents were living together there is now a large amount of research showing the effects of family breakdown on children.

The results of a survey (Joseph Rowntree) based on pooled data from 80,000 adults suggest that parental divorce has an adverse effect on children's lives Compared with those raised in intact two-parent families, adults who experienced a parental divorce had lower psychological well-being, more behavioural problems, less education, lower job status, a lower standard of living, lower marital satisfaction, a heightened risk of divorce, a heightened risk of being a single parent, and poorer physical health.

The view that children adapt readily to divorce and show no lingering negative consequences is clearly inconsistent with the cumulative research in this area.

4. A discussion of the methods used to carry out your investigation.

Secondary sources of information will be the main method used to conduct the investigation. This is information that has been compiled in the past and written up by the researcher at the time. This means that what we read in the research paper is that particular researcher's own interpretation of what the research means. The researchers will have analysed, edited and summarised the events. The secondary data used within the investigation is newspapers, internet, and analysis of records such as official government statistics, relevant books and reports. These gave valuable sources of historical information to help understand how the divorce rates have changed and why these changes have occurred. The time restriction on the investigation made it too difficult to use primary source because surveys, interviews or experiments are time consuming and may cost money in order to conduct. Also you need to take the ethics involved into consideration in order to conduct surveys or interviews.

5. A discussion of the two social science disciplines and perspectives used to explain the topic of your investigation and address the aims/objectives set out in your plan. A balance between the two disciplines chosen must be evident in this discussion.

Sociologists are interested in the causes of divorce in society, why it's becoming much more frequent in our society. Sociologists also look at divorce laws.

Sociologists also look at the reason why Britain has the highest divorce rates in Europe. This is caused by legal changes, attitudes towards marriage, and decline in religious beliefs, and even changes in the role of woman in society have affected divorce rates.

Other cultures do have a more relaxed attitude towards divorce and in Islam, the only ritual required for a divorce is for a man to say "I divorce thee" three times. Only men can divorce. He has to give the wife back all of her wedding presents and any money that she brought

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