Divorce in the News

Article 1: Till-death-or-living-in-America-do-us-part
by: Patrick Mcgee
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
This article discusses the growing divorce rate in America and its effects on immigrants. It especially focuses on the comparison between marriages of Latin American origins and marriages in America. It explains the shocking influence America has on immigrants, who come from countries with much lower divorce rates. The author of the article utilized a variety of sources and provides information via quotations, interviews, and research results. Sources include Coalition for Marriage Family and Couples Education in Washington, D.C, Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, U.S. Census Bureau, professors, direct interviews with immigrants. The ideology behind this article seems to suggest that children are harmed by divorce. It suggests that adults are better of staying in struggling marriages so as to avoid harming their children in the long run. It also seems to hint that Americans are influencing immigrants in a somewhat negative way. “The culture that we are adapting to is changing us," Carlos Espinoza said. "We should fight more to maintain the marriage, to maintain the family."

Article 2: Money to Fight Divorce
The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts)
by: Evan Lehmann
This article reports on the growing rate of divorce in America since the 1960s. It presents the government initiative to put a halt and hopefully help the problem. It discusses the federal governments to put money towards programs on the importance of marriage at schools to help “soften the divorce rate.” The facts collected in the article are presented as direct quotes from interviews, government statements, research from the census bureau and from the Massachusetts Institiute of Marriage and Family. It places import on maintaining a strong marriage and teaching it to children. Since the article praised Massachusetts and was written in Massachusetts it was written perhaps with a slight bias towards this state. However, it was well researched.

Article 3: What's Indiana's divorce rate? Nobody knows.
Journal Gazette
by: The Associated Press State & Local Wire
This article discussed the fact that Indiana along with four other states including California, Georgia and Hawaii do not share or take note of their divorce rate. This has caused problems in the greater United States especially when trying to propose marriage bills. It is impossible to do this if the rate is unknown. The article uses various sources. They include Indiana speaker of the House and the Legislative services agency. They have been interviewed quotes have been used in the article. The ideology behind this article seems to suggest the importance of having factual information for each state as a way of getting a better understanding of knowledge on the United States divorce rate.

Article 4: High divorce rate will likely affect caregiving
by: : JANE GLENN HAAS
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
This article discusses the high divorce rate in conjunction with finance. It explains that America is becoming more financially secure and more educational savvy. However, with the growing divorce rate there is a higher growth in long term financial problems within families. The author uses an interest way of describing the problem. She talks about a friend of hers under an alias and describes this woman’s experiences with marriage. She then uses research from interviews and research from the U.S. Census Bureau and representatives from various groups. The belief behind this article is to suggest the economic benefits to staying in a marriage, it does not present the emotional benefits or the benefits for the children.

Article 5: Couple fix broken marriages
by: Beth Anspach
Dayton Daily News
This article focuses on the salvation of marriage. It states the increase in divorce and offers hope to those who are struggling. The article focuses on a couple who suffered in their marriage. They were close to divorce until they attended a marriage workshop. After this workshop their outlook on marriage changed. The hoped to reaffirm their committmetn and decided to create something for others who were in the process of divorce. They created a Marriage Ministry at the Christian Life Center in Ohio. The facts provided in this article spring only from direct interviews with this couple. Although it provides facts about divorce the sources are not given. The ideology behind this article seems to be a Christian one, and therefore it is somewhat biased and based on Christian views.

Conclusion: There were a variety of debates brought up in the various articles about divorce, divorce rates and marriages in America. Main issues include the affects on children of divorce, the differences in the divorce heavy America of the present and the past and also alternatives to divorce. The overall consensus though was that with the growing divorce rate in America, something needed to be done or improved or changed. However, it is clear that people are very biased. Their biases are based on geographical location, economic background and personal situation. Although they all provide facts it is interesting to see how the facts have been somewhat skewed and altered in order to support the argument. For instance an article written in Texas focuses a great deal on Latin American immigrants and divorce effects on family, while an article in Bergen County focuses more heavily on the economic strains of divorce. I do believe that the facts from the U.S Census Bureau and other reputable sources such as thought are trustworthy; however it is hard to determine the accuracy of the information which is unsupported. It was important to read from a variety of families and backgrounds in order to get a broader understanding. I believe that location, environment and personal experience greatly affects our knowledge of families.