Assignment
The divorce rate in the United States quadrupled over the twentieth century, from less than 1 per 1,000 people in 1900 to 4 per 1,000 in 2000. Although declining in recent decades, the rate today is still 3 times higher than it was in 1900.
Explain this dramatic change in social arrangements over the 20th century in the view of each of the three sociological perspectives: Functionalist Theory, Conflict Theory, and Symbolic Interactionism.
Include in your answers some elements, concepts, or themes emphasized by each perspective.
How do the explanations from these theoretical perspectives, rather than one developed from our own experiences, relate to the idea of the sociological imagination?
In the coming decades, do you think the divorce rate will continue to fall, flatten out, or rise again, and why?
Keep in mind that decisions to divorce are embedded in the social, cultural, historical, and economic arrangements of a given time period (WW2 is an extreme example of this principle).
Write at least three paragraphs for your answer.
