| Abstract: | Reviews the book, Divorced families: A multidisciplinary development view by Constance R. Ahrons and Roy H. Rodgers (1987). This book has much to commend it, but is ultimately disappointing. Though it challenges myths about divorce, it reinforces others. The book is engagingly written, but superficial, stretching its analysis far beyond what the data can bear, and ignoring, in its analysis, major questions. Ahrons and Rodgers take the position that, rather than being pathological, divorce is a normal institution of society. The authors set themselves apart from those who sentimentalize the "traditional" family and who blame separation and divorce for such social ills as drugs, delinquency, and premarital pregnancy. Instead, they argue that in the face of industrialization and urbanization, the family has remained remarkably strong. This book will no doubt serve a worthwhile purpose in helping to promote a more positive image of divorce. But the book's preoccupation with "image" is part of its problem. Clearly, another book is needed which is not just concerned about images but about what is really happening--economically, legally, politically, and culturally--to divorcing families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
