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Each year, over 1 million American children suffer the divorce of their parents, moreover, half of the children born this year to parents who are married will see their parents divorced before they turn 18. Maintaining evidence in social science journals demonstrates that the devastating physical, emotional, and financial effects that divorce is having on these children will last into adulthood and affect future generations. Our society places a higher value on romantic love than most other societies. In societies where marriages are selected by parents, being in love generally has no role in mate selection. In our society, however, romantic love is a key factor in forming a marriage. Children in this country are socialized from an early age to believe in the glories of romantic love. Magazines, films, T.V. programs, and books portray “happy-ending” romantic adventures. All of these romantic stories suggest that every normal person falls in love with that one special someone, gets married, and lives happily ever after. This happily-ever-after ideal rarely happens. About one of two marriages ends in divorce (Kornblum & Julian, 2001). This high rate has gradually been increasing, but before World War I divorce was comparatively rare. Divorce usually leads to a number of difficulties for those involved. First, those who are divorcing face emotional concerns, such as a feeling that they have failed, concerned over whether they are able to give and receive love, a sense of loneliness, concern over the stigma attached to divorce, concerned about the reactions of friends and relatives, concern over their doing the right thing by parting, and concerned over whether they will be able to make it on their own.
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