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Chapter 13

it in 1997, Arizona in 1998, and Arkansas
in 2001. Since 1997 about 20 states have
either considered or are considering
covenant marriage bills (Covenant
Marriage, 2004). While it is really too early
to determine ifcovenant marriageslower
the divorce rate, there are some interesting
differences between people who opt for a
covenant marriage compared to standard
marriage. People who choose covenant
marriage are much less likely to have
cohabited, tend to be more educated, hold
more traditional beliefs, believe they have
social responsibility to marry and have
children, and to have attended premarital
classes than those who choose a standard
marriage. Covenant marriage partners
differ from traditional marriage partners
in communication practices, in that they
are less likely to respond to conflict with
sarcasm or hostility, possibly because of
higher motivation to resolve conflict or
the impact of premarital classes. Lastly,
covenant marriage partners, not
surprisingly, differ from standard married
couples in religiosity. (Covenant Marriage,
2004; Sanchez, Nock, Wilson, & Wright,
2006). Because of the differences in these
two groups of couples, it will be difficult
to determine if marital stability is due to
legal requirements or because of the
couple differences. These differences in the
two groups suggest covenant couples will
have more stable marriage regardless of
the terms of their legal unions.

The Consequences of Divorce

Is divorce really harmful? Researchers

seem to respond on both sides of this

question.As you will recall from chapter 3,

divorce was relatively rare until the 1960s.

The 1970s saw a doubling of the divorce

rate, as baby boomers left their families in

record numbers. For the next couple of

decades, the prevailing view among analysts

was that divorce was a brief crisis which

would resolve itself. In this section, we will

examine some of the current findings on the

consequences of divorce.

Utterly Befuddled

In her bookThe Case Against Divorce,

Dr. Diane Medved writes,

I have to start with a confession: This

isn’t the book I set out to write... For

example, I started this project

believing that people who suffer over

an extended period in unhappy

marriages ought to get out... I

thought that striking down taboos

about divorce was another part of the

ongoing enlightenment of the

women’s, civil-rights, and human

potential movements of the last 25

years... To my utter befuddlement,

the extensive