Editorial

• Author: Kay Pasley
• Date: 01 October 2003
• Published date: 01 October 2003
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2003.00313.x

2003, Vol. 52, No. 4 313

Editorial

As a consumer of the scholarship and a researcher whose

primary interest is marital transitions, I have eagerly

awaited this Special Collection. When it was f‌irst pro-

posed by Drs. Braver and Cookston, I saw this as an opportunity

to bring together the work of some of the most outstanding

scholars nationally and internationally. In fact, if I were to iden-

tify those whose work has been well cited and inf‌luential over

time, many are included here.

My hope was to sponsor an effort that would highlight the

work of those respected and well-established researchers who

have studied the effects of divorce over time so as to examine

the nature of ‘‘the legacy of divorce,’’ a term coined by Dr.

Judith Wallerstein. The goal was to explore potentially opposing

viewpoints among divorce researchers, views that range along

the continuum from pessimistic to optimistic. My other hope was

to glean from this collection those areas of common ground

among ‘‘the best of the best’’ and have them raise key issues for

future research and practice.

I believe that both hopes are realized here. However, the

goal of exploring potentially opposing viewpoints was less suc-

cessful. Of four early researchers whose longitudinal studies of

families of divorce span decades, three chose to participate in

this project: Drs. E. Mavis Hetherington, Constance Ahrons, and

Joan B. Kelly (her early collaboration was with Wallerstein; see

Wallerstein & Kelly, 1980). Missing is the inf‌luential voice of

Wallerstein. She graciously accepted the invitation to prepare

both an introductory paper derived from her 2000 presentation

at the annual meeting of the National Council on Family Rela-

tions. She also agreed to prepare a f‌inal paper which originally

was proposed as a summation and commentary, given her stature

in the f‌ield, on the points raised by the other authors, but which

evolved into a paper that would compare and contrast the value

of clinical interviews with more traditionally quantitative meth-

ods. However, after reviewing earlier drafts of the other manu-

scripts included here, she withdrew from the project.

As you read the contents of the Special Collection, remem-

ber that many of the scholars began their original studies of

families of divorce in the 1970s, using somewhat different meth-

ods and samples, and arriving at some unique but also many

common conclusions about the long-term effects of divorce on

children and families. What I see as an important common theme

ref‌lected in both the early and the later work of these scholars,

as well as the work of the other scholars participating in this

project, is recognition that the majority of children of divorce

grow up to be contributing and healthy adults. Ref‌lected in their

work is the recognition of a risk and resilience approach to

studying these families. In fact, Hetherington heralded this

change, advocating leaving behind the def‌icit perspective and

noting that children of divorce were ‘‘winners, losers, and sur-

vivors’’ (the title of her 1987 presidential address at the annual

meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development in

Baltimore). Like many others, she recognized that most children,

perhaps in spite of their divorce experiences, were not inevitably

damaged by the divorce experience, and she went on to discuss

the characteristics associated with greater or lesser risk for neg-

ative outcomes in children.

Although the topic of resilience gained attention, a message

of resilience is not universal among divorce researchers. Most

noticeably absent from the resilience message was the work of

Wallerstein (Wallerstein & Blakeslee, 1988; Wallerstein, Lewis,

& Blakeslee, 2000). However, writing from the perspective of

an experienced therapist working with families of divorce, Wall-

erstein’s recent publication with Blakeslee (What about the kids?

Raising your children before, during and after divorce [2003])

offers a more balanced portrayal of children’s experience with

divorce, emphasizing greater recognition of the diversity of ex-

periences than is evident in her earlier writing. In fact, I was

pleased to see Wallerstein mention resilience and offer encour-

aging words to divorcing parents, helpful suggestions for com-

municating effectively with children, and support for alternative

methods of problem resolution (e.g., mediation, collaborative

law approach). A richness derived from her clinical experiences

is communicated in the pages of her new book and resonates

with many of the suggestions made earlier by others—some as

early as 1975 (e.g., Ahrons’ The good divorce [1994]; Ahrons

& Rodgers’ Divorced families [1987]; Emery’s Renegotiating

family relationships: Divorce, child custody, and mediation

[1994]; Hetherington & Kelly’s For better or worse [2002]; and

Weiss’ Marital separation [1975] and Going it alone [1979]).

I am delighted with the commitment to excellence on the part

of the outstanding scholars whose writing appears in the pages

that follow. Their willingness to look critically at their own efforts,

those of others, and the broader context in which this work occurs

can only increase the chances that research f‌indings are effectively

communicated rather than misinterpreted.

K

AY

P

ASLEY

,E

D

.D., E

DITOR

References

Ahrons, C. S. (1994). The good divorce: Keeping your family together when

your marriage comes apart. New York: HarperCollins.

Ahrons, C. S., & Rodgers, R. H. (1987). Divorced families: A multidisciplinary

developmental view. New York: Norton.

Emery, R. E. (1994). Renegotiating family relationships: Divorce, custody, and

mediation. New York: Guilford Press.

Hetherington, E. M., & Kelly, J. (2002). For better or worse: Divorce reconsid-

ered. New York: Norton.

Wallerstein, J. S., & Blakeslee, S. (1989). Second chances: Men, women and

children a decade after divorce. New York: Ticknor & Fields.

Wallerstein, J. S., & Blakeslee, S. (2003). What about the kids? Raising your

children before, during and after divorce. New York: Hyperion.

Wallerstein, J. S., & Kelly, J. B. (1980). Surviving the breakup: How children

and parents cope with divorce. New York: Basic Books.

Wallerstein, J. S., Lewis, J. M., & Blakeslee, S. (2000). The unexpected legacy

of divorce: A 25 year landmark study. New York: Hyperion.

Weiss, R. (1975). Marital separation. New York: Basic Books.

Weiss, R. (1979). Going it alone. New York: Basic Books.