Functionalist Perspective On Divorce

There is a staggeringly large amount of divorces in the United States (US). In total, the US had a recorded total of 2,140,272 marriages in the year 2014 alone, and of those marriages, 813,862 ended up in divorce or annulment (Center for Disease Control). This means that as recently as 2014, there was a divorce rate of approximately 40%. This supports the statistics that the divorce rate for the US has stayed within 40-50% since the 1970’s (Austin Institute, 2014). While the numbers themselves are important, it is also important that the causes for the high divorce rate be explored, so that it can be known what pitfalls to avoid when participating in such an important union as marriage. There are many causes of divorce in the US such as conflicting gender roles, socioeconomic status, religious conflicts, physical abuse, emotional abuse, alcohol addictions, and many more (Amato & Previti, 2003). This paper will look at many of these reasons, but it will also focus on the differing reasons reported by men and women.

In sociology, functionalism is one of the main theoretical perspective. The father of the sociology Emile Durkheim was the promoter of functionalism. Functionalism mainly focusing on the stability and order of the society. This gives a variety of elaboration about the society or human behaviour. All the parts of the theoretical perspectives connected and influenced each other, this all works together in maintain the society healthy. All of these parts depends one to another, if one of the parts not working properly, that will affect all the system or that all circles.

The nature of my research walks a fine line between structural functionalism and symbolic interactionism. Because my research focuses more closely on how the individual has been affected by divorce, I would say that my research would be best understood through the lens of symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactionism, “asserts that interaction and meaning are central to society and assumes that meanings are not inherent but are created through interaction” (Ferris and Stein 35). I wanted to my research to focus on how the mother and her children felt that divorce had impacted them personally, and how it affected their worldview and who they are. All of these things are rooted in meanings created by an individual and will vary from person

Sociologically speaking divorce from structural functionalism point of view is seen as a failure of society as compared to individual faults. The view has a macroscopic lens that sees that society should provide adequate education and guidelines to couples making their marriages suc-cessful. This can be done by effectively communicating with each other, creating harmony and consistency among partners. Symbolic/social interactionism view divorce as an individual deci-sion by two people influenced by their social habits and environment. The view is of microscopic nature because all it comes down to is choices made by an individual deriving from their interac-tions in the society. In most societies divorce is an expensive procedure as it involves

Emile Durkheim came up with the functionalist theory. Functionalism sees society working together like a system. Society consist of interconnected parts that work together that keeps everything in a balanced state. Herbert Spencer gave the idea that societies are living organisms that grow and evolve. This theory emphasizes how different groups of society influence other parts of society. This could be a positive The two main principles of functionalism; The first would be that society is perceived as a functional system made of intertwining parts/groups. The second function is that each structure its own purpose that contributes to continue societies stability. If something does not contribute to society in a positive way and throws off its balance its considered dysfunctional. An example of dysfunctional would be things such as crime.

Divorce is a rising social issue in the United States of America, but it is not a new concept. Divorce has been a social issue since at least 1867 when for every 35.9 marriages, one couple were to get a divorce (Huth, 1947). Although divorce is not a new concept, it has become more social acceptance which is raising the divorce rate over the years. Another controversial topic in divorce is when the two people divorcing have a child or children together. Approximately 150,000-200,000 children in the United States of America are affected by divorce yearly (Huth, 1947).

Theories are meant to explain an unknown phenomena. Scientific laws are statements or equations that accurately describes a recurring process. Grand theories explain large-scale relationships why societies form and change. Micro-level theories explain small-scale relationships between individuals or small groups. There are three main theoretical perspectives in sociology, which are functionalism, conflict theory, and interactionism. They all attempt to explain how society functions through ideals that have formulated to be true. And, for each perspective, the ideas are different and conflicting, but they attempt to explain society. Functionalists see society as an integrated system of cogs that are all relevant to the constant progression of society. If an outside social force effects one, it will halt all the other parts. Functionalism encourages stability, and dysfunction cause instability. There are two types of social functions; manifest and latent. Manifest function is the intended or anticipated effects that a part has on the existing social order. Latent function is the unintended or unanticipated effects that a part has on the existing social order. Conflict theory tries to explain society through instability. A conflict theorist looks at

"Functionalist Perspectives” also known as "Structural-Functional Paradigm”- “The sociological approach that views society as a stable, orderly system. According to this perspective, a society is composed of interrelated parts, each of which serves a function and (ideally) contributes to the overall stability of the society. Societies develop social structures, or institutions that persist because they play a part in helping society survive. These institutions include the family, education, government, religion, and the economy. If anything adverse happens to one of these institutions or parts, all

Functionalism is a consensus perspective, whereby society is based on shared values and norms into which members are socialised. For functionalists, society is seen as a system of social institutions such as the economy, religion and the family all of which perform socialisation functions.

Children of divorced parents are more than twice as likely to have serious social, emotional, or psychological problems as children of two-biological-parent families. According to a study done by the Pew Research Center

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2011 there were 2,118,000 marriages in the United States and almost half as many divorces (2013). The CDC also reports that only half of all first marriages will reach their twentieth anniversary. Divorce is a topic everyone is familiar with and it has almost become a normal part of life. While it is assumed that more divorces occur now than in the previous generation, the CDC actually reports that divorce rates have dropped over the past twenty to thirty years, though this could be due to the increase in individuals who live together without ever getting married or those who simply separate and cannot afford to become legally divorced. However, it has become a more

People in America are determined to get married and live together. Married couples want to share everything and depend on each other. However, fifty percent of these couples cannot seem to fulfill their marriage vows. As a result, they choose to get a divorce. Divorce is very easy to do nowadays unlike the past. Statistics show that the four main causes of divorce are: financial difficulty, women are more independent, infidelity, and couples are getting married at a young age.

Functionalist theory is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. It can be argued that the functionalist theory has made a significant contribution to the study of society. It originates from the work of Emile Durkheim who suggests that social order is possible and society remains stable due to the functioning of several institutions. Everything has a specific function in society and society will always function in harmony. The main institutions studied by functionalism are the family, the education system, religion and crime and deviance.

Compared to children of divorced families, children of non-divorced families are not exposed to custody battles, divorce settlements, etc. Children of intact families are less likely to be exposed to traumatic experiences at a young age, thus keeping their lives stable and secure, while children of divorce are more likely to have an unstable life moving forward. Because of this, children of divorce are more likely to latch onto abusive behaviors throughout adolescent years, such as drug abuse.

One of the biggest effects of divorce is the effect it has on our children. Most couples get married and have children shortly after, and all decision made by the couples directly affect their children. Studies show that divorce has one of the most negative effects on children. Children living in single parent homes are more likely to be pregnant as teenagers, drop out of high school, abuse drugs and have behavioral issues. Furthermore due to the high dropout rates of single parent children they often have hard times finding jobs due to their lack of education. Often times we will see that children from broken homes will also have issues maintaining long term relationships as well. Studies show that children who parents are divorced or separated marriages will end in divorce as well. One last scary effect of divorce is that 92 percent of inmates in California State correctional facilities are products of single parent homes; in other words at some point when they were children their parents either divorced or became separated.