Three Aspects of Postdivorce Social Adjustment in Mormon Utah

107 Pages·2016·2.6 MB·English

BBrriigghhaamm YYoouunngg UUnniivveerrssiittyy
BBYYUU SScchhoollaarrssAArrcchhiivvee
Theses and Dissertations
1966
TThhrreeee AAssppeeccttss ooff PPoossttddiivvoorrccee SSoocciiaall AAddjjuussttmmeenntt iinn MMoorrmmoonn UUttaahh
aanndd PPrrootteessttaanntt NNeevvaaddaa
Sonia Lillard Richardson
Brigham Young University - Provo
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Part of the Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, and the Mormon Studies Commons
BBYYUU SScchhoollaarrssAArrcchhiivvee CCiittaattiioonn
Richardson, Sonia Lillard, "Three Aspects of Postdivorce Social Adjustment in Mormon Utah and
Protestant Nevada" (1966). Theses and Dissertations. 5073.
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3004
i
postdivorce adjustment
THREE ASPECTS OF POST DIVORCE SOCIAL
protestant
IN MORMON UTAH AND NEVADA
thesis
A
presented
to the
department of fpfaaammmiiilllyyylliiffee education
brigham young university
provo
utah
in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
master of science
by
sonia lillard richardson
may
1966
N
acknowledgements
can gratitude be properly expressed to a man with infinite
patience who has always found time to listen to help to encourage and
to support such a man is dr boyd rrcooollllllllinnnsss chairman of my committee
also appreciated is the help and encouragement of dr reed bradford
committee member and dr duane laws department chairman
thanks are also extended to mary and jim avance dale white
and my mother faith robinson for providing housing access to tele-
phones access to automobiles babysitting and referrals during the las
vegas trips and to my uncle roland wiley for providing the classified
ads in the las vegas newspaper
thanks are given to curly aylward harriet beal sharel hayes
rick mawson and friends fellow students and faculty members who
helped in the search for potential subjects
thanks to robert bair who spent many hours checking my mathe-
gail
matics and and david schrader who checked the tabulated material
protestant
thanks to the many ministers who took time to listen
and try to help and to the divorcees who cooperated cheerfully
thanks to my father richard lillard who gave helpful comments
and suggestions on the manuscript
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter page
introduction
I1 I11
II literature derivation
1I1 1I1 REVIEW OF AND OF PROBLEM 5
review of literature
5
divorce in the two cultures 9
problem
12
hypotheses
14
procedures
1Il1iI1iI METHODS AND 15
atf
1a
aadsfi
A S
1
subject qualifications
15
i
locating subjects
19
description subjects
of 20
instruments for data collection 23
administering the oquueessttiioonnnnaaiirree 28
1.1
jta A
sattaa
discussion
IV FINDINGS AND 34
testing of the hypotheses 34
discussion of variables 35
conclusions
V SUMMARY AND 56
purpose
56
methods and procedures 56
findings and conclusions 57
suggestions for future research 58
bibliography
60
appendices
63
questionnaire
64
A
census
sseelleedctteedd information from the 1960 70
B
C method of obtaining las vveeggaas s subjects 75
mean range standard deviation and correlation
D
general
coefficients for variables 85
explanation of terms 86
E selected detailed data from REA iiInnnvvveeessstttooorrryys results 89
F data from different scoring procedures for
interpersonal check list 93
LIST OF TABLES
table page
1 marital status of women by county & state 10
2 characteristics of the samples 21
3 occupations of subjects 22
4 loadings of REA items on primary factor 27
5 comparison of means for SE REA and SA 34
scores group
6 correlation of SE REA and SA by 35
7 correlation of SE with other variables 36
8 correlation of REA with other variables 40
9 correlation of SA with other variables 44
10 correlation of item 3 home pictures X with other
REA items 47
mean scores standard deviations and correlations
11
with other variables for the variable education 49
12 mean scores standard deviations and correlations
with other variables for the variable dating frequency 51
13 mean scores standard deviations and correlations
with other variables for the variable attitude toward X 52
14 mean scores standard deviations and correlations
with other variables for the variable attitude
toward love 53
is mean scores standard deviations and correlations
15
with other variables for the variable attitude
toward marriage 55
CHAPTER I
1
introduction
although divorce is a phenomenon attracting more and more
interest investigation of the ppoossttddiivvoorrccee situation is limited the liter-
ature is primarily concerned with the causes of divorce statistics
describing the incidence of divorce and the possible consequences for
society jacobson 1959 presents a thorough statistical coverage of
marriage and divorce in the united states books on marriage and the
family often contain chapters on divorce and bereavement and may touch
on individual adjustment some examples are waller and hill 1951
magoun 1956 fromme 1959 and burgess and locke 1963 some
authors such as despert 1962 and jones 1963 have concerned them-
selves with the problems of rearing children alone special problems of
remarriage are discussed by bernard 1956 the ccoonnsseeqqqgquuueuuneeeegnnnngccecaSss fflqooerrcj1hhteee
individuals involved in divorce are all but neglected by ccgrepeesssseqaprrcchh goode
iw
n- r ma wf i vv Aadmtm m M i j MW wwfinwwiiluwwsiwaw
1965 has produceeed4a tttthhhhoeeeooororindillllyyyy vvoolluummeekknnoowwnn to this wwriteer which jiss dddeuvvqqoteedd
thoo
fc
to the ppppoopossssetttdddiiivvvooorrrccceee ssiittuuaaatttiiioqqjnii
although a divorce sets both a man and a woman free to find
their way in the world aaalliooonune the female divorcee faces different and per-
Q
haps more difficult problems than does the male divorcee she lives in a
f azat Ws f c amow aaMmvVwW W w1twms tort n AH f 1 wv w njnj
society where iitt1iqsaappppprqopprrjiaattee for an older man to marry a younger woman
wr w
fxfkwklitnuhl afllwwii trinrtiqlrfaiattlwttifflnr wr uple
u us i ft
and where eligible women already outnumber eligible men she has
changed her name a fact more or less apparent so it may be difficult to
2
conceal her divorced status if she so desires sSinncge he ppprrrooobbbaababa1lbyyyl hjdiiaaasss
qrmqrejldren
one n aammaann interested iinnhheerrmmzlayy I1hh1aa4vvvajss toQ ajZscWejrtja
package deal also the children tend to tie her down so that she
vvg
t fv awAlWW vvmoaoggg ri T r wrvwwi wmwwwip alcckfici 3 rpba5aawwwaw eanlaw ffwoiiww
cannot circulate socially as freely as she mmiighhtt wish wherever she
wwvrhhuw mp VHW i bdeeooggiilltthaaplel it it sv1v WI IS
goes she faces to one ddeegarreeee porr another the external problems of social
stigma and uncertainty about her role in society and the internal problems
of qqgqquuuuuiiiilllllitttlaaaannnndddd failljuuurrreee she may be a bitter woman aqnrdtgshhe is likely a
iicllllii iaaff
yyiiyyic y fw fvsss bl 1B B H 1 AR fr a4ilil ee0at cbaafr i
lonely woman s5hheemmaayyjnot have revived taahhbeee s uappppoorrtt giivveennttoattthhoossseeewwhhoo
Q
aaaamrrrmmeejjeerreeaavvijaedd nhneha attention she ggeettss from mmeendpitnmrqnayyy be from jtihoosseejwwhhoo
consider her fair game for ssseeexgxuuuaaalI exploitation
1
women in special ssuubbccuullttuurreess may experience these problems
to a greater or jleesssseerr degree for example in the utah mmoorrmmoonni culture
the divorcee hhaassdjjtaaaakkkkeeeennnn pdpaaarrrt injjbbrgaeppakang up the ptprirmqqajrayyjejjiiggiioouuss uunnititjhthee
JD
family jaanndd ajssshhheee i sscjaaccgeep d wwiitthhttwwooQ dedaeiasjs helddapypbyymormon men the ddeessiirree
to marry a woman wwiitthhoouutt sexual eexxpeerfitennccee aaandndddttthhhoeedddgeastirree for the wweeddddiinngg
ccceaerrreeemmmonryy sanctioned by their church participation in this religious
ceremony called temple marriage may be difficult or iiimmmpppooojpsssssiiibbbllleee for
the mormon divorcee in contrast the protestant divorcee in las vegas
jasbsb swwvfvsvw mhsf wi a urtwtw lili vmmatsvv
nevada is probably not ffaacceedd with the strong church sanctions faced by
mv vviirrwwkKgkeeiiiiii tatttyiti a iwffn wwiiffffllwerr s ir bbweffii iw A fmebiii twatstomrifc nw
the mormon divorcee she may find comfort in numbers tolerance of the
ww ww
t aawl ww
B
divorcee is nneecceessssaaryr in las vegas where the majority of civil court
V
1 f viswws af w tt i wsfwwmskmv kgMaaWmmM t ttwbtivisstw8sf sattauft
actions are divorce cases not many las vegas landlords could afford to
refuse to rent to divorcees as did a provo utah landlady this past
summer who refused to rent an apartment to a friend of the writer when
she discovered that the friend was divorced
l1iiarttltthhhhheeeee terms mormon and LL DD SS or llaatttteerrddaayy saint refer to
latterday
the church of jesus christ of latter day saints
3
app
As a eerreessssuuuullliattt of the high incidencedoaff divorce in the united states
qtrujli
today there are jnajiy young wwaomqepn strugglinngutoo ssupport themselves to
w9
ap
9
reatr children alone and to mtoxeepfqepmmoqttliponnaal spiritual and social problems
1
too many to be iiqgnnoorreedd what is known about their problems what
help is available for them statistics show that children of divorce are
more likely to fail in their own marriages landis 1961 how can the
lives of the mothers be rreeccoonnstsrturcutecedtdssoo that their problems will not be
passed on from generation to generation the mormon church has no
pprrooggrrae
programm iinntto0 whhmajqsshhhlj he divorcee widow or spinster fits the larger
W es
1 1 7 640ol
f
P I1 66e44000041 s
mormon communities may have a social organization called the sSoocciiaabblleess
for single LDS people over 25 who are members of the church in good
standing utah county utah has a sSoocciiaabblleess organization but has no
other oorrcgraanniizzaatitoiroisnksr khankeaoojjwyvnattoo the author into which the divorcee fits
iiww
there are no parents without partners or divorcees anonymous no pro-
grams or group therapy set up for divorcees in spite of a substantial
tbflwyt n TT WW
number of psychologists marriage counselors and psychiatric social
workers in las vega s eliwuaaiiuuaaoonnss nnopt tmuucchh bbeetteerr among 3 3
protestant ministers interviewed there many admitted that they lose
divorcees from their congregations the women ccoommeo back to bboe remar-
ried in las vegas the rraqeccceeenqtt adttttocmmpptt ttoo 9oooorrrraggganaaannnniiiziiszssmeeee a parents without
kpaarrtt ners ffffaaaaillillilea9ddd divorcees anonymous exists aassaa ssooccilaallcclia whichh
sponsors a class in getting along with others taught by a psychiatric
chiropractor there is however a group of pioneering protestant minis-
ters who are trying among other things to provide pprreemmaarriittaall counseling
to be required for oouuttooffssttaattee couples who wish to be married by protestant
ministers and a program of pppooossstttdddliivvvooorrrccceee rehabilitation
4
since this writer has been confused by what seems to her to be
radically different attitudes toward marriage and divorce in her own home
town las vegas nevada and in utah communities where she has been
residing for the past five years the social adjustment of female divorcees
r M W fp gTaOwI 11ll wmhw
M
iiknnnajthhheesseetwtwoo lllooocccaaatttiiioooonppdpps wwcaaassstssttutuqadddikeedddihe ttbhe urpsei9jkwkccas jtpoqbgeggilninntottoojjbbuuiilldd
knowledggep about ppprtsqtdivivoorrccee adjustment and it is hoped that future
1- 1 1 T
students of the family will be inspired to further investigate ppoossttddiivvoorrccee
problems
CHAPTER II
11
literature
REVIEW OF
derivation
AND OF THE PROBLEM
review of literature
the most comprehensive discussion of the facts surrounding
divorce and its after effects is that of W goode in women in divorce
J
formerly titled ajcaafffttteeerrr diiivvvooorrrcccgeg his chapters on the institutionalization
of ppoossttddiivvoorrccee adjustment social adjustment and dating activities are
most pertinent to the present study he suggests that the status of the
divorcee in tthheeuurnjittqedd state is ambiguous and relatively noninstitution
j iv trixarfi
aalliipzeedd social adjustment takes place as the individual goes through
the phases of once more finding her own identity as a person and being
accepted as a person who is eligible to be a spouse she learns to live
by the daily and future demands of her new social position rather than by
constant reference to the ties defined by the previous marriage p 241
dr
he a4dllisscquqwss57esgejjrrii0et1nddpj3apjaanndd dddarrtiaiinnnnggggiiiinnnn terms of age education race
and religion and also by affect for ex huhauusssbbbaaannnddd attitudes toward love and
M
future mmm aarrlmrraiiaaaggggqae rreecceennutnipesgs of period of grea test lllioooonnnneeeesUnuunnnneeee s s aapndd ddiivvqjlrocee
Q
7
trauma iibnodeexx wbwooorrrkkkiiinngg with kthhee lagstt jfoouurr variables he ffoound jy lbiaaattt greater
lyt
frequency of dating was related positively to ffrriieennddly feelinnggss toward ex
1 i n us I1 ww3a wwtwvcivl wwassiwsiw MB
husband rraatthheerrbjjthhhhaaaannnn ffeeeelliinnggs of lp vvveeehlhaaattteee ojoorrrjjiqilddliiufffffere nce positive
QT
1
lapssince
feelings ttoowwaarrddlliooovvveee aariiilldddffuuttuurree marriage gg rpeater ttiime laps since pperilioooddd
K
5