NAME: MISHAL SABIR

CLASS: 3rd YEAR 6th SEMESTER

ROLL NO: 06

FACULTY: MISS SHAHLA ARSHAD

SUBJECT: BEHAVIOURAL PSYCOLOGY

DATE: 14 APRIL, 2017

 FACTORS BEHIND DIVORCE

The legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body. Synonyms:

dissolution, annulment, official separation, judicial separation, separation, disunion, break-up,

split, split-up, severance, rupture, breach, parting;Pakistan does recognize the right for both the

husband and the wife to pursue a divorce. However, there are very strict requirements that must

be met before a court will grant a valid divorce. Pakistani Marriage Agreements.

Pakistani marriage is a contractual agreement between two people only in a legal sense.

The agreement of marriage is not a spiritual or religious binding in the eyes of the law and court

systems. The religious aspect of the marriage does contain spiritual and moral bindings in the

church. This means that though the court system sees the marriage as a piece of paper, the church

recognizes the marriage. If the marriage is salvageable, it is encouraged by the court to keep the

spouses together. If resolution cannot be obtained, then an agreeable dissolution is allowed.

Though a woman is able to and entitled to obtain a divorce, she may not know this. In the

Muslim culture, divorce is frowned upon, and girls may be brought up not to consider divorce or

worry about their dowry. Due to this cultural distinction, a woman may find it extremely difficult

to obtain a divorce or information about her rights according to the relevant laws.

If a Muslim woman is seeking a divorce from her husband in Pakistan, there are several

ways in which she can attain such recourse. Under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act

Section 2, various allowances provide for a divorce by the wife of a couple. If certain

circumstances arise, divorce may be obtained. For example, if the husband has been absent for at

least four years, the wife can request a divorce. Another ground for divorce in Pakistan is if the

husband has not fulfilled his duty to financially support the household for at least two years.
If the husband marries another woman while married to his wife and his wife does not consent,

the wife can request a divorce. Additionally, the man can be imprisoned for this particular act.

Other grounds for divorce is if the husband was impotent before marriage and continues to be so,

has a venereal disease or has not been physically intimate with his wife for at least three

years.Pakistan law recognizes the right for an adolescent’s father or other guardian to offer her

hand in marriage. If she was married while under 15 years of age, the marriage was not

consummated and the wife chooses to repudiate the marriage before she reaches 18 years of age,

the marriage can be dissolved. Another ground for a woman to be granted divorce is if the

husband is considered to be “unduly severe.” This means that the husband has abused his wife

physically, emotionally, or psychologically on a constant basis, he is consorting with other

immoral females or is being disreputable, he endeavors to coerce his wife into leading his

disreputable type of life, he stops her from recourse against his theft of possessions, he does not

allow her freedom of religious exercise, or he does not treat her with equal measure as his other

wives.

If the husband chooses to get a divorce, he must comply with specific requirements. The

husband has to provide a written notice to chairman of the court, and a copy must be provided to

his wife. If he fails to comply with these requirements, he can be fined or imprisoned.

Additionally, the divorce itself will not be recognized until he provides a written notice to the

chairman for up to 90 days. The chairman will attempt to mediate a resolution between the

husband and wife. If the wife is pregnant at the time that the divorce action is pending, the

divorce will be postponed.

The wife is entitled to the return of her dowry if the husband initiates a divorce and in

most cases if she is the one to initiate the divorce.

 A wife may remarry the same man even after divorce. She does not have to marry

another first to do so. If a man wants to marry a woman while still married to his wife, he must

receive the consent of his current wife. If he marries another woman without his wife’s consent,

he can be imprisoned for up to one year and fined. Due to the complexity of legal issues involved

in Pakistani marriages and divorces, individuals considering a divorce may choose to consult

with a lawyer familiar with Pakistani law.

Among the personal factors we found that the age and the socio-economic status

of the divorced have an impact on his or her adjustment. Young people tend to

suffer more after their divorce because of shattered dreams and little life experience

than people in their late thirties or forties. Ex-spouses with longer education and

higher cognitive abilities have an advantage and adjust to divorce more easily. The

economically weaker ex-spouse experiences financial disadvantages after divorce. In

the majority of divorce cases the family residence is attributed to the children and

their custodial mothers.Women seem to be less satisfied with the quality of their pre-divorce

relationshipwhich is reflected in the fact that most divorces are filed by women. Generally,the

one who initiates divorce has a temporal advantage because he or she hasplanned the event

earlier and has already thought about the consequences. Additionally, the initiator has already

confronted himself or herself with the emotionsthat go along with the decision. This creates a

feeling of being more in control of thesituation. As a consequence, it is often women who

improve their post-divorcesituation in the long run in terms of relationship qualities and personal

developmentin the private and the public spheres.

 Geographic movement is common among divorced families. Schlesinger (1982)

observed that 40 percent of the children of separation or divorce had changed neighborhoods

following the divorce of their parents. Fulton (1979) found that children had moved an average

of two times, and as many as eight times, following the marital dissolution. The reality for

children and single parents is that divorce often means a change in school, neighbourhood, and

peer groups. Physical dislocation may ultimately have an influence on many aspects of the

child’s life, including academic performance, peer relations, psychological well-being and

physical health. Although there is little research available in this area, what has been done

suggests that such changes may affect some aspects of children’s functioning (Grych&Fincham,

1992). For instance, Stolberg and Anker (1983) argue that change is the major determinant in

the development of child psychopathology in some children of divorce. In their study, they

found that children of divorce reacted differently to environmental changes than children of

intact families. As environmental change increased, behavior pathology among the divorced

group increased, while behavior pathology among the intact group decreased.

Divorce has a far reaching and long lasting effect on the lives of both men and women in

the Pakistani society. The stress of coping with the skepticism coming from people around them

is another long story. Divorced women are inevitably regarded as individuals who are eyed with

either scorn or pity. When a marriage falls apart, it becomes a perpetually stressful cycle for

women who have to deal with this emotional turmoil while balancing their priorities between

children, attaining financial stability and making efforts to rebuild their lives. The onset of so

many kinds of stresses and the lack of an outlet to vent their frustration often take their toll on

women’s health and consequently, they suffer from different psychological issues such as

depression, insomnia, heart disease and loss of appetite.

 The legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body is divorce.

Pakistani marriage is a contractual agreement between two people only in a legal sense. In the

Muslim culture, divorce is frowned upon, and girls may be brought up not to consider divorce or

worry about their dowry. A wife may remarry the same man even after divorce. She does not

have to marry another first to do so. If a man wants to marry a woman while still married to his

wife, he must receive the consent of his current wife or he would b imprisoned or fined. The

reality for children and single parents is that divorce often means a change in school,

neighborhood, and peer groups. Physical dislocation may ultimately have an influence on many

aspects of the child’s life, including academic performance, peer relations, psychological well-

being and physical health.

References:

Zafar, N., Joya, S. A., & Kausar, R. (2013). Development of Indigenous socio-economic status

scale. University of the Punjab, Lahore. Pakistan.

Guidubaldi, J. and J.D. Perry. (1984). “Divorce, Socio-economic Status, and Children’s

Cognitive-Social Compet

Hess, R.D. and K.A.Camara. (1979). “Post-divorce Family Relationships as Mediating Factors in

the Consequences of Divorce for Children”. Journal of Social Issues, 35(4), 79-95.ence at School

Entry”. American Journal of Ort

Healy, J.M., Malley, J.E. and A.J.Stewart. (1990). “Children and their Fathers after

Parental Separation”. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 60 (4), 531-543.hopsychiatry, 54

(3), 459-468