Causes of Divorce

In today's society, divorce is more the norm than ever before although nobody marries with expectation of failure. Married couples never contemplate that the person they once loved could later seem to be a stranger and perhaps even an enemy. The last decades have shown a rise in the rate of divorce. The United States has the highest divorce rate in the western world. Divorce rates among marriages have rose from 479 in 1965 to 1,187 in 1993. What has caused such an increase in divorce among marriages? Possible solutions to this question would be infidelity, drinking and/or drug abuse, and lack of communication.

According to Amato and Previti, infidelity is "cheating on a spouse, leaving spouse for another partner" (612). Infidelity is one of the top reasons of what causes divorce among marriages. Some men and womens intentions for cheating on their spouse might be due to the loss of love or attraction toward there spouse. Men or women just cheat on there spouse and don't communicate to there husband or wife about there liking for someone else because they don't want to loose their spouse if their attraction for someone else fails. Another reason why someone might have the desire to leave their spouse for another partner is that they suspect there spouse of infidelity. Some people think that there husband or wife might be having an affair so they think it is ok to do the same thing. In reality, two wrongs don't make it right. One other cause that leads to infidelity is the husband or wife is not sexually satisfied by there spouse. Having little satisfaction and romance could cause a spouse to cheat on there husband or wife. Many couples are unhappy in their marriage and cheat to seek a certain type of fulfillment that they feel their spouse may not be providing for them. In the end, one spouse might find out about their unfaithful spouse and decide to end the marriage. All these factors contribute to infidelity which is a cause of divorce.

Along with infidelity, alcohol and/or drug abuse is another reason why a marriage could end with a divorce. One way that drug or alcohol abuse could lead to divorce is the spending of large amounts of money. Someone who is addicted to alcohol consumes a lot on a day to day basis which adds up to buying over time adds up to be a lot of money. Along with being an alcoholic, someone who abuses drugs spends lots of money. Alcohol and drug abuse can lead to a lot of financial problems which could cause a spouse to want a divorce. Couples not having enough money can cause a major friction on any marriage. Another reason why alcohol and/or drug abuse could lead to divorce is that the abuser shows more attention to there addiction than to there spouse. Behavioral changes and consequences of alcohol and/or drug abuse may include changes in overall personality and loss of interest in family and friends. If a person feels like there spouse is showing more love or desire towards alcohol and/or drugs, a person might be led to wanting a divorce. Any person that is involved with alcohol and/or drug abuse will bring major problems to a marriage.

Another cause that contributes to divorce is lack of communication between couples. "One cause of divorce that has not changed: "The inability of married partners to communicate with each other" (Gofen 8). Since we are not physically attached to one another, the only true way couples have to relate what is going on with one another is through talking to them. Communicating helps reduce the risk of one another getting angry. Having a spouse get angry because of something the other one does, doesn't help a marriage thrive. Some things that contribute to good communication is couples need to focus on solving the problem instead of one trying to win the argument, respect each others opinions, and spend time discussing problems and issues they think are important. If one does something that hurts the other and does not let the other know that what they are doing is hurting them, then that first one is likely to keep doing it, not out of spite, but out of ignorance. The only way for a marriage to continually grow in all aspects of the spouse's lives, is through sharing all that is going on with one another. By communicating with one another it allows a marriage to grow stronger and let each one another know what is bothering them along with what makes them happy. So couples must share their thoughts and feelings or they risk losing touch with what is important in their marriage. Not practicing good communication could lead a couples marriage to divorce.

Overall, marriages that end with divorce is contributed to by many causes. The majority of divorces today tend to end due to infidelity, alcohol and/or drug abuse, and lack of communication. A spouse could cheat on their husband or wife because their fulfillment is not being met. People that are addicted to alcohol and/ or drugs tend to show more attention to their addiction than to their spouse which may lead to the other wanting to escape from that marriage. Along with infidelity and alcohol and drug abuse, a lack of communication leads to divorce because one another isn't informed on what is going on or how one feels about something. All these causes is what contributes to the increase in number of divorces each year.