Conclusions, Predictions, and Prognostications 219
court costs and at least some of her attorney’s fees; he’d probably
lose his home, as well as his kids, and if debts had to be settled,
he’d get the larger share of them; both alimony and child support
could cut into his earnings to the point where financial reversals
were inevitable.”
Mr. Baber then went on to describe some typical aspects of life
after divorce for men. Some of the more interesting of his assess-
ments are as follows:
• When a woman refuses to grant her ex-husband visitation
rights with their children, only rarely does she suffer any
serious sanctions. If in turn, however, he withholds alimony
or child-support payments in retaliation, the chances are that
he will face prosecution and possibly even jail.
• Men are much more vulnerable than women to mental ill-
ness and self-destructive physical diseases following divorce.
Dr. Stephen Johnson of the University of Oregon, who is
doing research in the area of divorce and mental health, says:
“There’s no doubt about it, men take divorce much harder
than women. Divorced men seem to have higher rates of
mental illness and suicide than do divorced women.”
• Men are less apt than their ex-wives to seek any kind of pro-
fessional counseling. According to Dr. Johnson: “it’s obvi-
ous... that women come to get help much more often than
men. I’d guess nine women for every man; something like
that. Men just can’t admit they need help.... Men are an
unexplored area, really. They don’t identify their emotions
very well. They usually know when they’re angry, but they
hardly ever can admit to grief.”
• At present there are no national men’s rights groups that
are anywhere near as strong or as prominent as are compa-
rable women’s groups such as the National Organization
for Women. There is no coordinated male-oriented divorce
reform organization. Instead, all that is really available to
men are a number of independent divorce advisory groups
that focus on male-type problems. (Nonetheless, Baber
advised that every man about to go through a divorce should
consider joining such a group.)