love:husbands of in-law problems and sexual in-represented,with 270 of men and 2690 of compatibility. women's husbands in the semiskilled,unskilled, The present study aims to extend this line of and unemployed categories,compared with an research by exploring the associations between the estimated 20.4 semi-and unskilled in the reasons advanced by a sample of men and women general Australian population.The proportion of for the failure of their marriages,and a number of Roman Catholics was lower than that in the structural and demographic variables.Specifical- general population but higher than the average ly,these are sex of respondent,marital status proportion of divorced persons categorized as (divorced or separated),age at marriage,number Catholics in annual divorce statistics.Moreover, of times married,religion,socioeconomic status, these were just as likely as Protestants to be marital status of parents and spouse's parents, divorced (rather than separated),and 910 of still- duration of marriage,and number of children of married Roman Catholic women were intending the marriage.The study also includes a group of divorce.Immigrants from non-English-speaking variables that are not structural or demographic countries,currently a significant minority in the but that have been shown to be associated with Australian population,were underrepresented,no proneness to divorce.These are parental attitude doubt partly due to the fact that the study's pub- to the marriage,length of prior acquaintance, licity was restricted to the English-language point at which the marriage was seen as "begin- media. ning to break down,''and perceived current stan- Altogether 390 of the women and 350 of the dard of living compared with that pertaining dur- men were divorced,the remainder of the sample ing the marriage (Goode,1956:Fulton,1979: being separated only (this distribution cor- Thornes and Collard.1979). responds roughly to that obtaining in the Australian population at the time of the study: DESIGN Burns,1980).The age range was from 21 to 60 The Sample years,with the largest single group of both men The data come from a volunteer sample of 233 and women being aged 31-40.In 7007 of the women and 102 men,divorced or separated,who cases,the divorce or separation was of less than three-years standing.Men were somewhat more responded to publicity in metropolitan and sub- urban newspapers in Sydney,Australia.This likely to describe their spouses as the departing party (6000)than were women(5200).This sug- method was chosen because court records in gests that,as might be expected,people who saw Australia are confidential and not available to re- themselves as the injured party were particularly searchers,and because this project lacked the re- sources to seek out a random sample of divorced likely to have joined the study;and there was some evidence that this was the case (Burns, and separated men and women from the general 1980) population.The publicity took the form of short feature pieces describing the study as an investiga- The Questionnaire tion into the experience of divorce and separation The questionnaire comprised five sections: in Australia and calling for volunteers.Due to background material,causes and timing of the lack of interviewing resources,a self-report for- breakdown,experiences with the courts and with mat was used,and the questionnaire was distri- counseling agencies,reaction of children,current buted by mail to all men and women who con- tacted us(N 412).Of these,335 returned com- life situation and attitudes.In the present analysis,only the section on causes and a selection pleted (although not always fully completed) questionnaires.It is not possible to state how of variables from other sections is included.To assess causes respondents were offered a checklist representative the sample is of the divorced and of 18 reasons,based on Goode's list (1956)and separated people in Australia,since the character- istics of this population are not known.In the asked to check all items that were relevant in their own cases.The checklist was followed by an absence of this information,a comparison with open-response item. the general Australian population was made in terms of occupation,religion,and country of origin.The occupational distribution of male re Treatment of Data spondents and of female respondents'husbands Open responses were coded into the data,and proved to be very similar and only slightly higher all causes were coded as dichotomous variables than that of the general population (Burns,1980). (yes 1,no =2).Perceived onset of breakdown Given the usual tendency of volunteer samples to was collapsed for the main analysis into a 4-point be of higher SES (Moser and Kalton,1971),the scale(within the first year of marriage,2-5 years, lower occupational range was unexpectedly well- 6-10 years,and 11 years or later).Duration of 552 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY August 1984 This content downloaded from 211.80.94.134 on Mon,19 Dec 2016 05:27:55 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/termslove; husbands of in-law problems and sexual in- compatibility. The present study aims to extend this line of research by exploring the associations between the reasons advanced by a sample of men and women for the failure of their marriages, and a number of structural and demographic variables. Specifical- ly, these are sex of respondent, marital status (divorced or separated), age at marriage, number of times married, religion, socioeconomic status, marital status of parents and spouse's parents, duration of marriage, and number of children of the marriage. The study also includes a group of variables that are not structural or demographic but that have been shown to be associated with proneness to divorce. These are parental attitude to the marriage, length of prior acquaintance, point at which the marriage was seen as "begin- ning to break down," and perceived current stan- dard of living compared with that pertaining dur- ing the marriage (Goode, 1956; Fulton, 1979; Thornes and Collard, 1979). DESIGN The Sample The data come from a volunteer sample of 233 women and 102 men, divorced or separated, who responded to publicity in metropolitan and sub- urban newspapers in Sydney, Australia. This method was chosen because court records in Australia are confidential and not available to re- searchers, and because this project lacked the re- sources to seek out a random sample of divorced and separated men and women from the general population. The publicity took the form of short feature pieces describing the study as an investiga- tion into the experience of divorce and separation in Australia and calling for volunteers. Due to lack of interviewing resources, a self-report for- mat was used, and the questionnaire was distri- buted by mail to all men and women who con- tacted us (N = 412). Of these, 335 returned com- pleted (although not always fully completed) questionnaires. It is not possible to state how representative the sample is of the divorced and separated people in Australia, since the character- istics of this population are not known. In the absence of this information, a comparison with the general Australian population was made in terms of occupation, religion, and country of origin. The occupational distribution of male re- spondents and of female respondents' husbands proved to be very similar and only slightly higher than that of the general population (Burns, 1980). Given the usual tendency of volunteer samples to be of higher SES (Moser and Kalton, 1971), the lower occupational range was unexpectedly well- represented, with 27% of men and 26% of women's husbands in the semiskilled, unskilled, and unemployed categories, compared with an estimated 20.4% semi- and unskilled in the general Australian population. The proportion of Roman Catholics was lower than that in the general population but higher than the average proportion of divorced persons categorized as Catholics in annual divorce statistics. Moreover, these were just as likely as Protestants to be divorced (rather than separated), and 91% of still- married Roman Catholic women were intending divorce. Immigrants from non-English-speaking countries, currently a significant minority in the Australian population, were underrepresented, no doubt partly due to the fact that the study's pub- licity was restricted to the English-language media. Altogether 39% of the women and 35% of the men were divorced, the remainder of the sample being separated only (this distribution cor- responds roughly to that obtaining in the Australian population at the time of the study: Burns, 1980). The age range was from 21 to 60 years, with the largest single group of both men and women being aged 31-40. In 70% of the cases, the divorce or separation was of less than three-years standing. Men were somewhat more likely to describe their spouses as the departing party (60%) than were women (52%). This sug- gests that, as might be expected, people who saw themselves as the injured party were particularly likely to have joined the study; and there was some evidence that this was the case (Burns, 1980). The Questionnaire The questionnaire comprised five sections: background material, causes and timing of the breakdown, experiences with the courts and with counseling agencies, reaction of children, current life situation and attitudes. In the present analysis, only the section on causes and a selection of variables from other sections is included. To assess causes respondents were offered a checklist of 18 reasons, based on Goode's list (1956) and asked to check all items that were relevant in their own cases. The checklist was followed by an open-response item. Treatment of Data Open responses were coded into the data, and all causes were coded as dichotomous variables (yes = 1, no = 2). Perceived onset of breakdown was collapsed for the main analysis into a 4-point scale (within the first year of marriage, 2-5 years, 6-10 years, and 11 years or later). Duration of 552 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY August 1984 This content downloaded from 211.80.94.134 on Mon, 19 Dec 2016 05:27:55 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms