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This paper aims to review major historical trends in US divorce rates and the origin of divorce law in the USA, as well as several of the leading explanations for the increased rates of divorce in the 20th century and the impact of these trends on remarriage rates.

Using a historical review, the paper discusses the origins of regional differences, the factors contributing to trends in divorce and remarriage, and the transition in persons pursuing divorce and remarriage throughout the history of the USA.

The paper notes how the advent of industrialization transformed the family and contributed to rising divorce rates and examines common explanations for the dramatic increase in divorce throughout the 20th century. In particular, this review highlights how the feminist movement along with numerous legislative and demographic changes brought about the increased labor force participation of women and female economic independence, which allowed both men and women greater freedom to divorce. As divorce has become a more common event, the number of people eligible for remarriage has increased and the majority of those entering second marriages have shifted from widows and widowers to divorcees.

Once scholars better understand the historical background for trends in divorce and remarriage, they can more readily recognize and address the implications for marriage in the present day.

It is extremely likely that present trends towards mass divorce and remarriage will lead to some changes in the fertility behaviour of those affected. As remarriages come to represent an increasing proportion of all marriages, it is apparent that childbearing and childrearing practices are diversifying and that our conventional assumptions about parenthood and childhood are going to require fairly continuous revision. In the light of this it is useful to consider some of the more obvious connections between remarriage and fertility and to look at the sort of implications which these might have for relationships between parents and children. Does divorce reduce fertility? Does remarriage increase it? How might divorce and remarriage alter the duration and tempo of the childbearing years and what are the likely family arrangements which might ensue? Such questions raise a number of difficulties when looked at within the established categories of fertility research and I therefore hope to suggest some ways in which data of various kinds may be pieced together in order to provide a reasonably comprehensive picture of the problem.

This research paper from Israel examines damaging family reactions to later‐life remarriage. It describes a study based on qualitative data from interviews with 17 children of elderly parents who had remarried and later reported their adult children to the social service agencies as abusers. An analysis of the interviews shows that the main cause of the abuse was financial and involved matters of inheritance, wills and the distribution of assets. The dynamics which lay behind this pattern of family behaviour are explored.

It is estimated that more than a quarter of British marriages are likely to end in divorce and that about two thirds of these couples will have children living with them. Thus the experience of a parental divorce is commonplace for large numbers of children. For this reason and because of the widespread belief that divorce and marital separation are the cause of many social, psychological and medical problems, it is of some importance that we understand how children are affected. However, though much is written about divorce and children, there is a great lack of evidence derived from scientific study. Most of what is said in public discussions either comes from the experience of a few who may or may not be typical or are the expression of beliefs which may have more to do with the hopes and fears of the community in general than the experiences of those who go through a divorce.

Artificial insemination by donor semen is a relatively new practice: the first occasion was in 1884 in the U.S.A., and this was not reported until 1909 when an article appeared in Medical World. As in most cases the husband was azoospermic, i.e. sterile. Today, whilst this appears to be the most common reason for AID, there are others. Thus a genetically transmitted disease like Huntington's Chorea may be avoided by AID. But increasingly there are cases of men having had irreversible vasectomies, usually after having had a family, and following divorce and remarriage wish to have a child by the second wife. The numbers of couples having AID cannot be ascertained but in the U.K. it is supposed that there are over two thousand AID babies born annually, and the waiting lists at some clinics suggest strongly that numbers are increasing considerably.

Investigates the effects on the family and society when an American business owner hides his wealth from creditors and family members, based on a case study where a non‐custodial father moved funds into highly secret jurisdictions to evade US tax, disappeared, and left his wife left liable for debts. Discusses the ethics of responsibility as they apply to this case of failure to act responsibly, comparing deontological and consequentialist approaches. Outlines the legal remedies for preserving assets: equitable remedy of a preliminary injunction, pre‐judgment attachment, garnishment of wages, transference of property titles, shifting tax burdens, recapturing property, invalidation of obligations, criminalisation of bankruptcy fraud, awarding attorneys’ fees, and contempt rulings. Moves on to the wife’s tax obligations and tax relief, including trust fund taxes and offers in compromise, and then to wider social and behavioural aspects of such cases like childrearing, divorce and remarriage, labour supply, and the feminisation of poverty.

During my early years as a junior high school librarian, I was frequently beseiged with requests for heart‐throbbing love stories and mysteries. However, as the years passed and the divorce rate increased, I began to encounter students who specifically asked for books about “mean stepparents” or “families where there are problems.” I initially wondered whether these new entreaties emanated from a small minority or from a more substantial cross‐section of the school population. Several well‐received book talks concerning the impact of divorce and a few discreet inquiries regarding the number of single‐parent families at my school convinced me that a general need existed.

This research paper aims to understand how givers characterise and manage their gift giving networks by drawing on attachment theory (AT). This responds to the need to illuminate the givers–receivers’ networks beyond traditional role-based taxonomies and explore their changing dynamics.

A multi-method, qualitative approach was used involving 158 gift experiences captured in online diaries and 27 follow-up interviews.

Results show that givers organise receivers into gifting networks that are grounded in a contextual understanding of their relationships. The identification of direct, surrogate and mediated bonds reflects three different dimensions that inform gift-giving networks of support, care or belongingness rooted in AT. The relative position of gift receivers in this network influences the nature of support, the type of social influences and relationship stability in the network.

This study illustrates the complexity of relationships based on the data collected over two specific periods of time; thus, there might be further types of receivers within a giver’s network that the data did not capture. This limitation was minimised by asking about other possible receivers in interviews.

The findings set a foundation for gift retailers to assist gift givers in finding gifts that match their perceived relations to the receivers by adapting communication messages and offering advice aligned with specific relationship contexts.

This study illuminates gift-giving networks by proposing a taxonomy of gifting networks underpinned by AT that can be applied to study different relationship contexts from the perspective of the giver. This conceptualisation captures different levels of emotional support, social influences and relationship stability, which have an impact on the receivers’ roles within the giver’s network. Importantly, results reveal that the gift receiver is not always the target of gift-giving. The target can be someone whom the giver wants to please or an acquaintance they share with the receiver with whom they wish to reinforce bonds.

The purpose of this monograph is to present the first English translation of a unique French colonial report on women living under colonial rule in West Africa.

The issue begins with a discussion of the contribution this report makes to the history of social development policy in Africa, and how it serves the on‐going critique of colonisation. This is followed by the English translation of the original report held in the National Archives of Senegal. The translation is accompanied by explanatory notes, translator’s comments, a glossary of African and technical terms, and a bibliography.

The discussion highlights contemporary social development policies and practices which featured in identical or similar forms in French colonial social policy.

As the report demonstrates, access to basic education and improving maternal/infant health care have dominated the social development agenda for women in sub‐Saharan Africa for over a century, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future in the Millennium Development Goals which define the international community’s agenda for social development to 2015. The parallels between colonial and post‐colonial social policies in Africa raise questions about the philosophical and cultural foundations of contemporary social development policy in Africa and the direction policy is following in the 21st century.

Though the discussion adopts a consciously postcolonial perspective, the report that follows presents a consciously colonial view of the “Other”. Given the parallels identified here between contemporary and colonial policy‐making, this can only add to the value of the document in exploring the values that underpin contemporary social development practice.

June 18, 1969 Damages — Evidence — Fresh Evidence — Appeal on quantum — Assessment — Change of circumstances after judgment — Fresh evidence admitted — Amount increased.