Traumas versus Strens

Abstract

The ubiquity of the definition of divorce as a traumatic crisis has tended to focus research on its deleterious effects, especially on the pathogenic consequences which may accrue to children. Antithetical to this model is the contention that divorce per se need not always be a trauma, but may also be a stren, a strengthening experience. Available research literature on the responses of married persons to divorce is reexamined in terms of an alternative query: under what conditions is divorce, a potentially traumatic experience, actually experienced as a stren, a personality enhancing or growth experience? Seventeen factors contributing to this outcome are discussed: the definition of divorce as a normal event; the personalities of the participants, including the ability to define experiences as strens; age and sex; marital life style; the quality and length of marriage; the length of termination of the marriage; the status of initiator or noninitiator; attachment and the ex-mate; income and education options; traditional or nontraditional gender roles; supportive networks; geographical mobility; the presence of peer support groups; and the role of a significant other. Suggestions are made for processes to facilitate the adjustment of divorced persons, and for future research.

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