Sociology Now, Census Update

EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT DIVORCE IS BAD for children. It’s a daily staple on TV talk shows that

children of divorced parents are less emotionally well-adjusted and have lower rates of achieve-

ment in school, poorer grades, lower

self-esteem, and higher rates of depres-

sion than kids from intact families.

What everybody knows is based on

two sorts of studies. First, child psy-

chologists indicate that the majority

of the kids they see are children from

families of divorce. And studies com-

paring the experiences and achieve-

ments of children from divorced

families are compared with children

from intact families. Therefore, we are

constantly advised, parents should stay

together “for the good of the children.”

To a sociologist, though, both sources of data are riddled with problems. How does the

population of children in therapy compare with the population of children who are not in

therapy? Could it be that children whose parents are divorcing are sent to therapists by

courts or mediators? Could it be that whatever problems children might have, they are

attributed to the divorce by

well-meaning therapists—even

if the problems have nothing

to do with the divorce?

And comparing children

from families of divorce with

children in intact families

compares two incomparable

groups. After all, divorce is not an alternative to marriage, it’s an alternative to an unhappy

marriage. And if you were to compare children from families of divorce with children from

How Do We

Know What

We Know?

The Methods of

the Sociologist

103

It turns out that much of what passes for

common sense turns out to be wrong.

Sociology enables us to use scientific

thinking to see the complexity of various

issues.