CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

According to Brotherson and Duncan (2014) divorce is the oldest social problem in human

history. It is usually found along with the basic social institution called marriage. Further,

Brotherson and Duncan described that marriage is a reference point for divorce. Divorce is

directly related with the institution of marriage because it is the dissolution of marriage ties.

Marriage is, thus, the only best reference for the analysis of divorce as a social problem. It is the

impact of the dissolution of marital ties of spouses that always triggers people to seriously

complain against the issue as a burning question of a society. That is why almost all

governments in the world exert efforts in strengthening the stability of marital bonds through a

variety of approaches. The societal trends in relation with family formation, marriage, and

divorce often shape the interests of people in treating marriage to be stable as one of the social

institutions

Divorce has its own impact on the lives of children. A child’s perception of divorce will be

largely determined by age and gender, as well as the child’s history of stress and coping

(Matthews, 2021). When stressful events outweigh available protective factors, even the most

resilient child can develop problems. A growing body of information suggests that certain

factors may make some children more at risk for maladjustment than other children. Some are

unalterable and some existed before divorce. Others exert considerable pressure on children at

the time of separation or divorce, and still others influence the children following divorce

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(Matthews, 2021). Most divorcing parents are very concerned about their children’s reactions to

their separation and divorce (DeBord, 2017). They want to know whether their children will

grow to be healthy and happy or not. Research shows that the effects of divorce depend on the

age of the child at the time of divorce. It can also depend on the child’s gender and personality,

the amount of conflict between parents and the support provided by friends and family (DeBord,

2017).

Statement of the Problem

A growing body of ‘divorce research’ has shown that divorce experience reaches beyond the

lives of the marital partners to encompass their children and to some extent their kin and their

social networks (Robertson, 1986). Besides, Robertson also explained that the establishment in

the western world of laws for ending of marriage by divorce is usually explained in terms of

changing religious and familial ideologies (Robertson, 1986).

There are several arguments among scholars on the consequences of divorce. One of such

debates is concerned with the impacts of divorce on children. Some studies show the prevalence

of strong effect of divorce on children while others argue that the differences between children

of divorced parents and children of continually married parents or intact families are

overestimated (Parrilo, 2008).However, most experts agree that children of divorced family has

more negative outcomes on the education achievement, delinquency and crime, psychological

well-being, teenage pregnancy, and behaviors when compared with children of “intact” family

(Clarke-Stewart & Brentano, 2006; and Parrilo, 2008).

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Research Questions

To conduct this study the researcher inquires the general question, how divorce affects the

child’s/children’s wellbeing and develop contextual care and custody. This general question is

further subdivided into the following specific research questions. Specifically, the study intends

to answer the following questions:

1. What are the economic impacts of divorce on the wellbeing of children?

2. What are the social impacts of divorce on the wellbeing of children?

3. How can we develop contextual ways of care and custody for children in post-divorce

families?

4. What are the levels of service delivery to the children from broken families?

Objectives of the Study

The aim of this study is to assess and explore impacts of divorce on the wellbeing of children.

More specifically, the study has set the following specific objectives.

1. To describe and explore the economic impacts of divorce on children’s

2. To describe and explore the impacts of divorce on children’s social wellbeing.

3. To suggest ways of developing contextual care and custody for children of

4. To describe and explore the service delivery of Lapai Women, Children and
Youth Affairs office to the children of divorced families

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 Significance of the Study

This research result will have the following significance

 For institutions under investigation to enhance divorce related environment by

understanding the needs of the children, they will be able to devise a mechanism to and

improve their service.

 For decision makers (like, The Youth, Children and Women’s Affairs Bureau, the court

House of peoples representative and Ethiopian human right commission), it is a good

stepping stone to design and implement appropriate policy.

 For the researcher to enhance the existing theoretical knowledge concerning divorce and

its impact on the wellbeing of children.

 For interested individuals and researchers to lay ground to conduct a wide and in-depth

study with respect to divorce and its impact on the wellbeing of children.

Operational Definitions of Terms

Child: For the purpose of this MSW dissertation, Child is human being with parents are separated

or divorced and whose ages between 10 to 18 years.This age range is purposely

determinedagegroupoftheresearchertogetmoreindependentresponsesfromthechild. This

definition includes all boys and girls whose parents have stayed from 2 to 5 years aftertheir

separation or divorce and are living in Addis Ababa city Administration, Lideta Sub city, whose

parents are both alive. It does not include child/children from intact families and whose

parent(s) passed away.

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 CHAPTERTWO

REVIEW OFRELATED LITREATURE

DIVORCE
According to The Covenant Divorce Recovery Leader's Handbook (2008) Divorce (ordissolution

of marriage) is the termination of a marriage or marital union, the canceling and/or reorganizing

of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the bonds ofmatrimony

between a married couple under the rule of law of the particular country and/or state. Divorce

laws vary considerably around the world, but in most countries it requires the sanction of a court

or other authority in a legal process. The legal process of divorce may also involve issues of

alimony (spousal support), child custody, child visitation / access, parenting time, child support,

distribution of property, and division of debt.

Causes For Divorce

a status, or a combination of these. Where it is seen as a contract, the refusal or inability of one

spouse to perform the obligations stipulated in the contract may constitute a ground for divorce

for the other spouse.

Ambert (2019) point out that the reasons or explanations that people give for their divorce, such

as alcoholism, domestic violence, infidelity, “didn’t get along, ” “no longer loved each other”

and “money problems” actually flow from the socio-cultural and demographic factors. For

instance, without an emphasis on individualism and gratification, people would not divorce as

often because they “fell out of love.”

In countries where marriage is embedded within a context of family solidarity, these reasons

would be considered frivolous. In a society where divorce is more difficult to obtain and less

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acceptable, or where marriage may represent the only legitimate means of forming and

maintaining a family or obtaining economic security, only reasons such as abuse and

abandonment are tolerated. Therefore, before people decide to divorce on particular grounds, a

social and cultural climate has to exist that offers a legitimate framework for their reasons.

Furthermore, personal grounds for divorce such as fighting, alcoholism, violence, tend to be

mentioned more by couples with some of the demographic characteristics, such as youthful

marriages, parental divorce, multiple prior cohabitations, and poverty. Thus, cultural and

demographic factors related to divorce “push” people into divorce via their own interpersonal

mechanisms (Ambert 2019).

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 CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The assessment of divorce and its impact on children needs effective research methods

for studying and addressing it. To make things moved on, the researcher had applied

multiple source of evidence approach which seemed to be relevant with regard to the

Nature and Scope of the study. To this end, the research will design employed descriptive

survey, which is a systematic method for gathering information from (a sample of)

entities for the purpose of constructive quantitative descriptors of the attributes of the

larger population of which the entities are members (Groves et.al, 2014) In addition its

objectives according to William Emory(1980) is to learn who, what, when, where and

how of a topic.

Sampling Techniques and Sample Size

The researcher will use both probability and non probability sampling technique

(method) to select her samples for the research. First, the total population of the children

whose parents were either separated or divorced as per the source in Lapai Women,

Children and Youth Affairs office.

Data Instrument

The primary data of research relied on instruments. First, Questionnaire was the main

data gathering tool that will be widely used so as to obtain adequate information. It will

be designed in a closed format. The language construction of the questionnaire will be in

Amharic with the belief that it would provide maximum opportunity to accurate

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 communication of ideas between the researcher and the respondents. To this end,

Amharic versions of questionnaires will be used for the actual data collection.

Data Analysis

Both quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to organize and analyze the data.

The quantitative method involves a serious of tabulation.

The researcher started with, tallying the data collected through questionnaire and

transcribing interviews into organized data. Transcribing will go together with

interpretations of statements made by interviewees to bring real meaning that they were

intended to give to the researcher. The researcher will continue to sort out core categories

then formed themes that are related to ascertained research questions. Consequently,

themes will be analyzed in detail in the analysis section to bring meaningful study results.