DIVORCE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS AMONG CHINESE WOMEN PETITIONERS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The divorce decision-making process is the least developed of the areas in regard to divorce. This study has been done in the hope of exploring the intricate process of divorce decision-making among Chinese women as petitioners, aged between 30-40 years old, and ways in which Social Workers can facilitate the process. The first research question examined how these women weighed and eventually decided on divorce, while the second explored what was helpful and what was not in the decisional process. 6 women participated in this qualitative-driven study. Findings indicated that the divorce decisional process was stormed with intense emotions and was largely determined by the values the women held at time of divorce, the symbolism of the precipitating event - a totalling of negative emotions and experiences, and the sharpening of an awareness of values - and their ages respectively. Often, it was the intense negative emotions that tipped the scale over as the women decided on divorce; it is also the most painful and trying phase in the process. Their perceptions and valuations also exuded strong gendered expectations of their ex-husbands and their roles in the family as father and husband. In the weighing process, the dilemmas of the participants were weighted accordingly, reflecting their values in the course of divorce decision-making. Most, if not all participants, found listening ears of friends as most useful in the decision-making. They found their family as not useful.