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Divorce and Union Dissolution: Reverberations over Three Generations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Ingrid Arnet Connidis
Ingrid Arnet Connidis*
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à : Ingrid Arnet Connidis, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C2, Tel.: (519) 661-3691, Fax: (519) 661-3200. (connidis@uwo.ca)
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Abstract

High divorce rates over the past 40 years have affected multiple generations and have long-term consequences for family relationships. This article applies a life course perspective as it explores the reverberation of relationship dissolution beyond the nuclear family. Qualitative data from a study involving 86 adults from 10 three-generation families illustrate the extensive reach of divorce across time and generations. An intensive analysis of two families reveals six key areas of negotiation following divorce: relationship dissolution itself; balancing work and family obligations; inlaw ties; parent-child ties; sibling ties; and intimate relationships. Multiple voices from three generations demonstrate the complexity of family relationships over time and the reverberation of individual life course transitions throughout family networks. Applying the concept of ambivalence highlights variations among social groups in the ongoing renegotiation of relationships and situations that follows the dissolution of long-term unions.

Résumé

Le nombre élevé de divorces enregistré depuis 40 ans affecte plusieurs générations et a des répercussions durables sur les relations familiales. Cet article examine la question sous l'angle du cycle de vie et étudie les retombées de la dissolution des relations au-delà de la famille nucléaire. Les données qualitatives tirées d'une enquête menée auprès de 86 adultes (issus de 10 familles comptant trois générations) illustrent l'impact profond qu'a le divorce – dans le temps et à travers les générations. L'analyse approfondie de deux familles permet de dégager six secteurs clés de négociation après un divorce : dissolution des relations ; conciliation des obligations professionnelles et familiales ; liens avec la belle-famille ; liens entre parents et enfants ; liens entre frères et soeurs ; et relations intimes. Les nombreux témoignages recueillis auprès de membres des trois générations révèlent que les relations familiales restent longtemps complexes et que les étapes qui marquent la vie de chacun se répercutent à travers tout le réseau familial. L'application du concept d'ambivalence met en lumière les différences existant entre les groupes sociaux face à la renégociation permanente des relations et à la dissolution des unions durables.

Keywords

divorceintergenerational relationsambivalencelife coursesiblingsagingdivorcerelations intergénérationnellesambivalenceparcours de viefratrievieillissement
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , Winter/Hiver 2003 , pp. 353 - 368
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2003

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Footnotes

*The author thanks the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for funding the research project from which the data are drawn and Julie McMullin for helpful suggestions and feedback.

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