divorce rate in the societies

SAINT AUGUSTINE UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA

FACUTLY OF EDUCATION

CASE STUDY: NYAMAGANA DISTRICT

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

An assessment of factors contributing to the increase of diversion in Sukuma society

KARIBULE ANYELWISYE.

REG: BAED 43188.

SUPERVISED BY; FR. NJIKU.

NO; 0763-853299

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1: 0.Introduction

This chapter consists of background, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, limitation and delimitation, conceptual flame work and definitions of the key terms.

2:1.Background                                                                                                                               Alberto Alesina. (2007), the introduction of unilateral divorce has been one of the most significant changes in the structure of the American family of the last thirty years. Unilateral divorce laws allowed one Spouse to obtain dissolution of marriage without the consent of the other: divorce became easier.

Two are the possible effects of an easier divorce on fertility and marriage. First, if the Value of marriage goes down, since it is “cheaper” to dissolve it, people marry less and marital Fertility decreases because an easier divorce law lowers the propensity to invest in children (Becker, 1981; Becker, Landes and Michael, 1977). Since people marry less, they may also choose to have children out of wed lock. Let’s label this argument in short a “dilution” effect.But there is another effect vastly ignored by the literature. With unilateral divorce the cost in terms of commitment of entering the “wrong” marriage is lower, because the exit option is easier. Let’s label this a “commitment” effect.

The two effects may coexist, but the second one has not been directly explored to the best of our knowledge. We do so in this paper and we find considerable support for it. Probably the strongest piece of evidence is the following. If the dilution effect dominated, marriage rates and in wedlock fertility should go down and out of wedlock fertility would stay constant or go up. Instead we find the opposite: out of wedlock fertility declines significantly after the introduction of unilateral divorce, while in wedlock fertility remains basically unaffected. Our interpretation is that a woman contemplating parenthood, or already pregnant, may choose to enter marriage more easily with unilateral laws because of the commitment effect; as a result, out of wedlock fertility goes down. Obviously this does not imply that couples stay married longer on average with unilateral divorce; on the contrary, some of these matches may be indeed“wrong” and end up in divorce.We present additional supportive evidence for this story. First, contrary to previous findings, we do not find that marriage rates go down after the introduction of unilateral divorce2.If anything they go up. Second, the number of never married women goes down with unilateral. Third, fertility rates for newly wedded couples (in the first two years of marriage) go up with the adoption of unilateral laws.We use the legislative history of divorce liberalization across states in the US to identify the effects of this reform on fertility and marriage rates. Using births data from the Nativity Files of the Vital Statistics of the US between the years 1968-1999, four decades of Census data and the Current Population Survey, we fully exploit cross state and year variation in the timing of adoption of unilateral divorce to identify the causal effect of a change in divorce laws on our outcomes of interest. Others have also analyzed the effects of divorce laws on various variables. Many authors have studied the effects of these laws on divorce rates.

The divorce rate in East Java is the highest in the country, with the province accounting for 47 percent of all national divorces. Hasniah, a marriage and family consultant, said on Wednesday that the province had had the highest rate for the past five years.East Java deputy governor Saifullah Yusuf said he predicted the province would reach 100,000 divorce cases by the end of this year, which would represent a sharp rise from the 81,672 divorces for the whole of 2014."Most divorces in East Java happen among teachers. There are many factors involved, including economic issues and un harmonious marriages," he said as quoted by Antara. It was reported that based on Religious Affairs Ministry data, divorce rates in Indonesia rose continuously from 2010 to 2014. The data showed that the divorces settled in religious courts last year totaled 382,231, 100,000 cases more than the 251,208 in 2010, when roughly 2 million people got married.

Head of research and development at the ministry Muharam Marzuki said 70 percent of divorces are proposed by the wife. As well as money and harmony issues, Muharam cited unpreparedness for marriage, lack of responsibility and third party involvement as causes of divorce. Hasniah suggested that there were two ways to make a marriage last – keeping the marriage focused on its religious meaning and being faithful with the marriage promises."The purpose of being married is to seek God's blessing,” she said as quoted by Antara. She added that couples must be well prepared before tying the knot so that they know the roles and consequences ahead of them.

Dr. William H. Doherty (1999) says in the United States, researcher’s estimate that 40%–50% of all first marriages, and 60% of second marriages, will end in divorce. There are some well-known factors that put people at higher risk for divorce: marrying at a very early age, less education and income, living together before marriage, a premarital pregnancy, no religious affiliation, coming from a divorced family, and feelings of insecurity. The most common reasons people give for their divorce are lack of commitment, too much arguing, infidelity, marrying too young, unrealistic expectations, lack of equality in the relationship, lack of preparation for marriage, and abuse. Some of these problems can be fixed and divorce prevented. Commitment is having a long-term view of the marriage that helps us not get overwhelmed by the problems and challenges day to day. When there is high commitment in a relationship, we feel safer and are willing to give more for the relationship to succeed. Commitment is clearly a factor in why some couples stay together and others divorce. Divorce is necessary at times, and it may even help to preserve the moral boundaries of marriage. But parents have a responsibility to do all that they reasonably can to preserve and repair a marriage, especially when the reasons for divorce are not the most serious ones. Barriers to leaving a marriage, such as financial worries, can keep marriages together in the short run. However, unless there is improvement in the relationship, eventually the barriers are usually not enough to keep a marriage together in the long run.                                                                          

Researchers have identified the most common reasons people give for their divorces. A recent national survey79 found that the most common reason given for divorce was “lack of commitment” (73% said this was a major reason). Other significant reasons included too much arguing (56%), infidelity (55%), marrying too young (46%), unrealistic expectations (45%), lack of equality in the relationship (44%), lack of preparation for marriage (41%), and abuse (29%). (People often give more than one reason, so the percentages add up to more than 100 %.) A recent survey of Utah adults found results similar to this national survey.80 looking at this list, some believe that it is possible to fix many of these problems and prevent some divorces. Couples can learn how to avoid destructive arguments and solve their differences better; they can create more realistic expectations for their marriage; and they can create more equal partnerships. Even such damaging problems as infidelity (affairs) sometimes can be overcome, especially with professional and/or religious help.

Daniel Kendal (2001), Divorce is a legal process of dissolving a marriage that allows former spouses to remarry if they so choose. Most divorce today are granted on the ground of irreconcilable differences, meaning that there has been a breakdown of the marital relationship for neither partner is specifically blamed. Prior to the passage of more-lenient divorce laws , many states required that the partner seeking the divorce prove misconduct on the part of the other spouse under no-fault divorce laws however proof of “blameworthiness is general no longer necessary”. (Over the past 100 years, the USA divorce rate number of divorce per 1,000 population) has varied from a low of 0.7 in 1900 to all-time of 5.3 in 1981, by 1995, it had stabilized at 4.4 (USA Bureau of census 1998). Although many people believe that marriage should last for a life-time others believe that marriage is a commitment that many change over time. Statistics might initially appear to bear out this statement. Approximately 2.4 million marriages take place each year in United State, and about 1.2 million divorces are granted. However, comparing the number of marriage with the number of divorce from years to years can be misleading. TIC couples who are divorced in any given years are very in addition in years when the group that that married that year.

In addition in year when the economy is in a recession, people may delay getting marriage but not divorced. More people may also go through several marriages and divorces, thus skewing the divorces rate. The likelihood of divorces goes up with each subsequent in several Monogamy pattern.

According to Härkönen  (2013), divorce rates have increased throughout the Western countries and beyond during the last decades and these trends are considered key components of family change. Yet these developments have been uneven and occurred at different times in different countries; furthermore, in many countries divorce rates have stabilized and even decreased in more recent years. Divorce has become a part of the family institution and a realistic possibility which spouses need to take into consideration when marrying. Though less stigmatized than previously, divorce, can still cause major distress and disruption to the adults and children who experience it. The possibility of experiencing divorce, and contact with people who have, can in themselves shape behaviors and experiences. What will the future look like? As discussed above, the initial increases in divorce rates took many social scientists by surprise, as have the recent trends towards marital stability in some countries. Therefore, it is clearly difficult to foresee in which countries divorce rates will continue to increase and in which marriages will become more stable. The increases in unmarried cohabitation pose another challenge, as divorce rates have become an ever weaker indicator of couple relationship instability. Despite some indications that the retreat from marriage may have stalled in some of the countries where it started first, it seems unlikely that marriage will recover the same centrality in family life as it had in the previous decades.

Overall, there are considerable uncertainties in attempts to predict future rates of divorce and couple relationship instability. To the extent that the increases in divorce and instability reflected incompatibilities between prevailing family institutions and changing society, it is possible that divorce rates will stabilize and decline if social practices and institutions adapt to the changing circumstances. Such declines in divorce have occurred before. As briefly mentioned above, divorce in Japan was more common at the beginning of the twentieth century than some decades later, which was interpreted as reflecting adaptation of family life to broader societal changes. In the Western countries, an important candidate for change is gender roles. The changes in gender roles were to a large extent driven by changes in women‘s roles and activities, whereas men have been much slower in taking up previously female tasks. An increase in men‘s willingness to do their share in the household may thus lead to increased family stability as this would fit better the increasingly prevailing egalitarian ideals of partnerships and marriage as a union of two equals with their individual needs. However, even if rates of divorce and family instability were to decline, it is likely that the previous era of stable marriages and nuclear families will not return in the near future.

Can policies affect family instability and help adults and children who experience it adjust to it better? Above, I pointed out that many of the findings regarding the effects of divorce legislation on divorce rates do not suggest that such laws have major long-term effects on divorce rates. Thus, a shift towards stricter regulation of marriages may not have the desired effect, especially since much of modern family life occurs outside the institution of marriage. How effective can policies be in helping adults and children adjust successfully to the divorce experience? Many traditional social policies, such as income transfers and policies aimed at helping (single) mothers find and keep employment can be effective in combating the financial consequences of divorce, which are generally reduced in the generous welfare states such as the Nordic countries. This can itself be an important policy goal and help divorcees and their children adjust by decreasing the importance of one of the stress or which often follow divorce. However, they may not be enough as many of the influences of divorce function through psychological stress or and their effects on parenting and other social relationships. To target these factors, counseling programs aimed at easing such stress or and helping with parenting can be effective.

PJ Lehohla (2012), the 2011 data on divorces reported in this statistical release covers data from 43 courts as highlighted in Section 1(Introduction), based exclusively on divorces from civil marriages. From these courts, a total of 20 980 divorces from civil marriages were processed. This indicates a decrease of 1 956 (8,5%) divorces from the 22 936 cases processed in 2010, which may largely be explained by some 2011 divorce forms that did not reach Statistics South Africa before this publication (see Table10). The table shows that the total number of divorces generally fluctuated over the period 2002–2011, with the highest number observed in 2005 (32 484) and the lowest in 2011 (20 980). Table 10 also provides data on divorces classified by year the divorce was granted and population group. Couples from the white population group dominated the number of divorces between 2002 and 2007, after which the black African couples had the highest number of divorces up to 2011. In 2002, 45. 2% of the divorcees were from the white population group whereas 22.5% came from the black African group. By 2011, 35. 8% of the divorces were from the black African population group and 32.1% from the white population group. The proportions of the divorcees from the coloured and the Indian/Asian population groups were quite invariable during the ten-year period. However, there was a notable increase in the proportions of divorcees from the coloured population group (from 13,9% in 2010 to 16,6% in 2011). The median ages at divorce in 2011 were 42 years for males and 38 years for females, indicating that males generally divorced at older ages than females, with a difference of about four years. The median age for males was up from 41 years in 2010 while it remained the same for females for 2010 and 2011. The pattern of median age’s in2011 by population group shows that black African males had the highest median age (43 years) at the time of divorce while females from the mixed group had the lowest median age (34 years). The age difference at the time of divorce was highest for black African couples (five years) and was between two and three years for other couples.

Groups divorced, the age patterns are quite similar. The data reveal that there were fewer divorces among the Younger (less than 25 years old) and the older (55 years and older) divorcees. For male divorcees, the peak age group at divorce was 35–39 for Indian/Asian and colored population groups while the peak for the black African and white population groups was 40–44. In the case of females, the peak age group was generally atAge group 35–39 for all population groups.

People’s Daily Online (2009), the number of divorce cases in Tanzania has increased in the past two years after a decline between 2005 and 2006, a local newspaper reported on Sunday quoting statistics from the Tanzanian Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency.
English broadsheet Daily News reported in its Sunday News edition that the Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency had recorded 43 divorce cases for 2007 and 2008, whereas the divorce cases registered with the same agency between 2006 and 2007 were 37.
The newspaper quoted the agency data as saying that the period between 2005 and 2006 had witnessed the lowest divorce rate in the country since its inception of recording divorce cases in 1994.
The 2005/2006 period posted 28 divorces while the period between 2001 and 2002 saw the highest number of divorce cases with 54.
Tanzania has registered 405 divorces in the past decade but statisticians doubt that most divorces might have gone unregistered.

Jamii Forums (2009), there has been resurgence in the registered divorces in the country in the past two years after declining between 2005 and2006. According to a survey by daily news newspaper, supported by statistics collected in ten years by the registration, insolvency and trusteeship agency (RITA) registered divorces rose to 43 in 2007 / 2008 years compared to 37 in the previous years.

Data collected from 1994/1995 to 2007/2008 show that lowest number of registered divorces with only 28 divorces, which is a 34 percent decline compared to the previous years. On the other hand, 2001/2002 had the highest number of divorce, with 50 divorces recorded in the same period, a 45 percent increase from the previous year’s 37 divorces. Committing on the issue, the General Overseer of SWAPO Mission International Revered Sylvester Gamanywa, said that the growing number of divorces was causes by moral decay in the societies and that most couples rushed to marriage life unprepared “marriage is a contract between two people, but because of moral decay and unpreparedness on the part of couples, marriage end up in the rock. Most couples agree to marriage without fully understand the terms of the contract leading to divorce,” explained REV Gamanywa. However, the number of registered divorces, totaling 405 in 10 years, is said to be small compared to the real situation on the ground as most divorces go unregistered. “If you go through court document only, there are many divorces granted in the court. But most of them are not registered here and there are also those which are not granted in court.”  Explained RITA’s Marriage and divorces manager Ms. Julian Mafuru. Ms.Mafuru further explained that the divorces certificate was the only document that would certify a termination of marriage, adding that failure to obtain on could still be considered married. “One cannot remarry if she/he does not possess divorces certificated and he or she considered marriage according to our law. So we register divorce and issue divorces certificate to validate to divorces.”Another they were still married because they divorce certificate to finalize the divorces procedures was not applied.”Ms. Mafuru warned.

She pointed out that failure to register marriages at RITA meant lack of accurate data on the issue which may hinder different development activities. The RITA official attributed non-registration of divorces to lack of awareness among member of public. RITA acting chief executive officer, Mr. Philip Saliboko , said that the agency plan to use different means to raise people awareness , including using the media, initiate training programmes and workshops for district administrative officers in different zones all over the country. “We will soon incorporate marriage and divorce in our birth and death registration campaigns which has been very successful almost all over the county.” Mr. saliboko assured.

1:2.Statement of the problem

Divorce is the problem, which is alarming almost all over the world. Previous research and theories of divorce suggests that, divorce initiators may perceive favorable prospects for marriage or may be better prepared emotionally to remarry than non-initiators. Results suggest that initiators do tend to tend to enter subsequent unions more quickly than non-initiators although this differential diminish considerably years after separation. This is also evidence that, predictor of marriage and union entry among relatively older women than younger women may be likely to delay ending and unsatisfying for forming another relationship.

Therefore this study will intend to investigate the factors which lead to the increase of divorce rates in nyamagana district.

1:3.Research Objectives.

1:3:1.Main Objective.

The main objective of the study or research will be an assessment of the factors contributing to the increase of diversion among sukuma society.

1:3:2.Specific objectives.

        i.            To examine the role of low income towards divorce.

      ii.            To find out the influence of relatives towards divorce.

    iii.            To explore the contribution of social network towards divorces.

1:4.Research questions.

        i.            What are role of low income towards divorce?

      ii.            To what extent do relatives like Mother, Aunts and Father Influences divorces?

    iii.            What are contributions of social network like Facebook, whatsApp, towards divorces?

1:5.Significance of the study.

The study output will aim to offer knowledge to the public on the major factors contribute towards divorces.

To the government the study will aim to understand on how to reduce the rate of divorces cases by suggesting ways to curb the problem which has become very common in Nyamagana district by giving fully the procedure to follow when the problem arises in the area.

1:6.Limitation and delimitation.

The study will recommend reasonable budget of money which will enable the researcher to afford on transport, food and stationary which were little obtained. Also the time given for research will not be enough since the researcher is a student.

The study will aim to deal with the factors that contribute to the increase of divorce rate among Sukuma societies with the case study in Nyamagana district.

1:7.Conceptual flame work.

Divorce in Sukuma Society		Factors for  Divorce in the Sukuma Society		Impacts of Divorce in the Society
		·         Low income ·         Influence of relatives ·         Influence of social networks		·         Family separation ·         Street children ·         Spread of diseases

1:8.Definition of the key terms.

Divorce; is the termination of a marriage or marital union, the canceling and/or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage thus dissolving the bond of matrimony between a marriage couple under the rule and law of the particular country or state.

Spouse: A husband or wife.

Partner: A person that you are married to or having sexual relationship with.

Couple: Two people who are in relation either sexually or romantically.

Marriage: Is a socially or ritually recognized union or legal contract between spouses that establishes rights and obligations between them, between them and their children, and between them and their in-laws.