For Better or For Worse: Divorce Reconsidered

Exploring divorce as a process, this study identifies marriages that predispose a couple to divorce and pinpoints "windows of change" which fashion divorce into an opportunity. The study concludes that the aftermarth of divorce need not be a pathway of dissolution but can be healing and fulfilling.

---

Surprising results from the most comprehensive study of divorce in America. Debunking popular wisdom on the devastating psychological and social effects of divorce, eminent psychologist Mavis Hetherington presents a more nuanced picture. This landmark study gathers nearly three decades of research involving 1,400 families and explores divorce not as a moment but as a life process. Hetherington identifies the kinds of marriages, or "pathways," that predispose a couple to divorce or not, and she also pinpoints "windows of change" that allow some to fashion the challenges of divorce into an opportunity. She shows how women and girls experience divorce differently from men and boys; why single-mother-son relationships and stepfather-daughter relationships are the most difficult; why divorce presents a greater risk to adolescent children; and how mentoring and authoritative parenting can buffer against negative effects. This unprecedented look at our divorce-prone society concludes that the aftermath of divorce need not be a prescribed pathway of dissolution but can be one of healing and ultimate fulfillment.