African American Women's Unique Divorce Experiences

Abstract

The qualitative study explored African American working women's pre-divorce, divorce and postdivorce experiences. A total of thirty divorced women were interviewed face-to-face by a social worker in a Member's Assistance Program where the women had received free legal and social work services. The findings demonstrate that the women face emotional and financial problems as a result of low salaries, lack of child support and lack of alimony. The consequences of divorce are usually compounded by problems of discrimination. Cultural factors, such as their strong belief in God, close family relationships, strong work ethic and strong achievement orientation (50% returned to college), helped them adjust very well to the divorce.