The Moral and Spiritual Lives of Children of Divorce:
A Research, Publication, and Outreach Project to the Churches
Elizabeth Marquardt, project leader and author

Beginning in the late 1960's and 70's, each year this country saw a growing increase in the number of marriages ending in divorce.  The number of divorces per year stabilized in the early 1980's at its present rate of almost one in two marriages.  Perhaps as many as half of the people in their twenties and thirties today — those who are often referred to as ``Generation X" — have experienced the divorce of their parents.  Yet, with the exception of Judith Wallerstein's pioneering work, very few researchers have demonstrated an interest in the inner lives of children of divorce.  More specifically, despite the predominance of divorce in family life today, no one has asked significant questions about the moral or spiritual experience of children of divorce, especially as it develops over a lifetime.

There are at least two reasons why we must inquire about the moral and spiritual experience of children of divorce.  First, due to the high divorce rate (and the rising rate of children born outside of marriage) it is now more common to grow up without an intact family than with one.  Second, the experience of children of divorce is often quite different from that of children in intact families.  There are substantial bodies of literature on moral and spiritual development in children and how these factors influence the kinds of adults they become.  Yet, this literature almost universally assumes an intact family experience — that a child grew up in a single home with a married mother and father with whom the child had some kind of daily interaction. However, removing a father or mother from a child's daily experience changes the way a child interacts with his or her parents, extended family, and the wider world.  There is something different about how that child experiences childhood yet, so far, few people have thought to ask.

This project will explore deep and consequential questions about the moral and spiritual experience of children of divorce.  In the first phase of the project, sixty qualitative interviews will be conducted with adults, half of whom grew up in divorced families and half of whom grew up in intact families.  These interviews will be followed up with a nationally representative survey of 1,000 persons.  The insights and information gained a result of the interviews will be presented in a book titled The Moral and Spiritual Lives of Children of Divorce.  The book will be organized around several metaphors that help to shed light on the complexities of these children's experiences.

In the second phase of the project, the project findings will be disseminated and made useful for leaders in the church.  The centerpiece of the second phase will be eight regional workshops for clergy and lay leaders, held at different locations around the country, titled ``The Task of Religious Interpretation for Children of Divorce." Today, many church leaders are asking how they can attract and welcome young adults into the full life of the church. The phenomenon of divorce directly affects as many as half of the young adults in the population and it deeply impacts all young adults as they wonder whether they will be able to form stable, lasting families of their own. If the churches can recognize and speak to this experience, many of these young people will respond favorably.  In addition, if the churches can adequately minister to the young children among them who are affected by divorce, these children will be much more likely to grow in the faith and consider the church their spiritual home for a lifetime.

This project began in January 2001 and is funded with a grant from the Lilly Endowment. Co-Sponsored by the Institute for American Values and the Religion, Culture, and Family Project at the University of Chicago Divinity School. For more information about the project, please contact Elizabeth Marquardt at or call or write to her at the Institute for American Values. 

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