ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how and why the divorce rate has increased with industrialization and discusses the United States as a "post divorce" society. It identifies the variables associated with divorce and describes the stages of divorce. The chapter also discusses the potential effects of divorce on children and describes the characteristics of stepfamilies and the likelihood for remarriages to succeed or fail. It discusses the incidence and impact of remarriage and stepfamilies, and explains the overall influence of divorce on society. Divorce in comparative context involves: ending the marital union; modes of production and divorce; divorce in the United States; the divorce revolution; and the post-divorce society.
