Remarriage as Family Reorganization For Divorced Persons — A Canadian Study

Abstract

Remarriage is a social institution; that is, it is an established pattern of operating which serves both public and private interests in an orderly, accepted, enduring way. A remarriage contains a valuable combination: the reality of a disruption of some kind and degree, and an attempt at reorganization. In short, as on of several solutions to family breakdown, it warrants examination per se. To date, little attention has been paid to this topic on the part of North American Sociologists. The paper examines first phenomenon of remarriage, which constitutes 13 per cent per annum of all marriages in Canada. The trends are analyzed. Secondly, a report of selected findings of an exploratory study of remarried subjects, which included 90 previously divorced persons, in Metropolitan Toronto, are presented. The findings relate to attitudes about the divorce, qualities sought in a second mate, reasons for remarriage, advice to those planning a second marriage, sexual adjustment, expectations in a second union, and and satisfaction found in a second marriage. A review of the existing literature is included in the paper.