Accounting for Same-Sex Divorce: Relationship- Vs. Self-Focused Divorce Accounts and the Meanings of Marriage among Gays and Lesbians

Abstract

ABSTRACT To date, few empirical studies on same-sex divorce have been published. This paper presents a grounded theory analysis of in-depth interviews with a small convenience sample of six divorced gays and lesbians in order to address two related questions: how do gays and lesbians account for their divorce experiences? And what do these accounts suggest about the meanings they attach to marriage? Results suggest a distinction between what I term relationship-focused accounts, which explain the account-teller’s divorce by emphasizing that his or her marital bond had come undone, and self-focused accounts, which emphasize how the marriage created problems for the account-teller him- or herself. Furthermore, this paper shows how relationship-focused accounts draw upon the meanings embedded in the companionate model of marriage whereas self-focused accounts draw upon those embedded in the individualized model of marriage.