Dr. Marian C. Fritzemeier, Ed.D. © 2013
Author, Speaker, Educator
Twenty five years ago, the general population
was told that children and teens adjust to divorce within five years after
their parent's divorce. The controversial, New York Times Bestselling book, The Unexpected
Legacy of Divorce: The 25 Year Landmark Study, came along in 2000 and tells a different
story. A story that is difficult to process and challenges American society's
beliefs about divorce.
The Study
Wallerstein
studied children of divorce since 1971, when she began observing some 131
children of divorced families in affluent Marin County, California. The original "children of divorce"
study was funded by the Zellerbach Family Fund. Subsequent studies were done
with the same children that ultimately led to The 25 Year Landmark Study.
The Book
The
five-part, twenty-two chapter book presents a long-term perspective of children
of divorce after they reach adulthood. "...when children of divorce become
adults, they are badly frightened that their relationships will fail, just like
the most important relationship in their parents' lives failed," (p.
xiii).
College Students' Responses
I used an article based on this book in my college Child
Growth & Development course for small group discussions. The topic stirs up
intense emotions alongside powerful opinions based on students' personal
experiences. The vast majority of students from divorced families agree with
the authors' long-lasting effects of divorce.
Interesting Chapters
Some interesting chapters
include: Growing Up Is Harder; The Wages of Violence; Our Failure to Intervene;
Undoing the Past; and Growing Up Lonely. Since divorce is so prevalent in our
society, this is a well researched and documented book on the effects of
divorce that should be read by anyone touched by divorce.
Book Information: The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: The 25 Year Landmark Study by
Judith S. Wallerstein, Julia M. Lewis, & Sandra Blakeslee, New York:
Hyperion, 2000. Available from Amazon.com hardcover $17.56; paperback $11.62;
audio cassette $5.48; and Kindle $9.99.
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