Divorce and Remarriage brings together for the first time a unique collection of international studies focusing on many aspects of divorce particular to individual cultures. It looks at the implications of divorce on the personal level, as well as on the broader social level, in several different countries. On the personal level, it discusses smoking and alcohol use as stress factors in marriage and the effects of divorce on children, and, on the social level, it discusses a country's level of development and urbanization and its impact on marriage patterns and divorce rates. With divorce rates soaring, it is more important than ever to understand why people worldwide are failing to adopt sounder mate selection and marriage timing practices. To give readers a glimpse of the divorce experience from a global perspective, the authors of Divorce and Remarriage contrast divorce processes and issues in their countries with other experiences worldwide. The book explores consensual partnering and its relation to patterns of marriage and divorce, the differences between fathers without custody and mothers with custody, and fathers'and children's ethical and legal rights and the importance of their emotional and social relationships. It also discusses the importance of determining the connection between maternal attitudes and the development of children, as well as the relationship between parental separation/divorce and adolescent values. Other topics discussed at length in this important book are: