Middle Tennessee State University Divorce Discussion

a. Of all the dimensions of divorce-emotional, legal, economic, co-parenting, community, and psychic-which do you think are most challenging for adults and why? Which are the most challenging for children and why? Are these the same or different?

b. In your personal experience, how would this information help you, your family, and your community grow a stronger family and increase community bonds?

and replay for this student

a. Of all the dimensions of divorce, I would think the legal and economic dimensions would be the most challenging for adults to deal with. I believe this because when you talk about divorce from an adult perspective the main topics of conversation are about all the legal actions that are required to be made as well as the legal documents that need to be filled out. Included in this process are the economic conversations and how money is going to be split and handled. I would say the economic dimensions are the hardest for adults because they’ve most likely become used to all their funds being pooled together and now they have to go through the separation of that. For children, I would say community would be the most challenging because these kids are faced with many new changes such as one or both of the parents moving and most likely having to go between two homes now. There are a lot of new changes children have to process and go through when their parents get a divorce. I think they are different because there are two different perspectives. Adults are the ones making the decisions and looking at the picture as a whole whereas the kids are only focused on their family and the relationships within it. They don’t understand everything going on usually and don’t have to worry about decisions such as financial decisions.
b. I think learning information like this allows everyone to create a better understanding of the challenges faced by families going through a divorce. Whether that’s from the adult’s perspective or the children’s perspective, they face different obstacles in getting through the divorce. Creating this understanding will allow people in the community to be more compassionate toward those going through these struggles and help them to feel like they have support through the whole process.