Narratives of divorce

Abstract

Divorce is usually traumatic, and the processes involved are almost certainly more complex than current images allow. In this paper, I explore some of the complexities and ambiguities of divorce. These are illustrated with reference to the personal accounts of three divorcing women, produced during in-depth, unstructured interviews, and subjected to narrative analysis. The discussion suggests that we need to look more comprehensively at services for divorcing people and that mediation, as currently envisaged within the provisions of the Family Law Act (1996), pays insufficient attention to the needs of people to make sense of the past. It is suggested that some degree of conflict and polarization may serve a positive psychological function, in enabling a divorcing person to move forward autonomously into the future. Recognition of the emotional content of divorce, however, should be achieved without ‘pathologizing’ either the experience, the individual or the emotions.

Key Words:

• divorce
• narrative
• litigation
• mediation
• psychology
• adjustment