The pattern of divorce in Iranian society

Taghi Azadarmaki, University of Tehran
Mohammad Reza Alipour, University Of Tehran

The main object of the paper is to present the pattern of divorce in Iranian society. It is important topic, because the society during last several decades has changes socially and culturally. The situation of most of the people in Iran got better over time compare to the previous time. Their income has grown and the majority of them could support their family members in the education and social life. Hence, one of the main consequences is changing family form from extended to nuclear one. The majority of the people would like to have two children in their life, even they are the member of a big family in size (five or more members). As a direct consequences of the family changes is the high rate of divorce. To understanding the pattern and the result of the rate of the divorce in Iranian society, we are focusing on modernization theory and have used the data which we have gather over last ten years in Iran, particularly in Tehran as the major city. We have got some main points and results as follow: (1) for most of people in Iran, Tehran, divorce is the main issue and mostly worry on the future of it. (2) the rate of divorce in the family is high compare to its history over time in Iran. Because the last period of time less people get the divorce and mostly keep their family with all of the problems. (3) the rate of the divorce is different in terms of social class and family background. (4) the main causes of the divorce, as the people mentioned, is social and cultural matters than economic ones. Hence, the people who get divorced think that their couples do not understand their ideas and feelings.