The Impact of the Legal System on Adjustment to Marital Separation

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of divorced persons in the United States during the last decade, resulting in a need for close examination qf the factors associated with the adjustment to marital separation. This paper reports the efft'ct qf the legal process in one state-Pennsylvania--on adjustment to marital separation. Two hundred and five individuals separated no longer than 26 months completed indepth, face-to-face interviews about their marriages, the jailure of their marriages, and the qftermath of marital separation. Over half of the respondents indicated dissatisfaction with the legal process and 84 percent desired a change in the present Pennsylvania law. Descriptive analyses indicate a wide range of problems with the legal system experienced by persons during their separation. Cross-tabular and multivariate analyses examined the degree to which such experiences influenced reported subsequent adjustment. No significant relationships were f-bund between any of the identified problems of the adversary legal system and adjustment. The data suggest that, although the majority qf respondents fbund fiault or encountered difficulty with the legal system, these problems did not necessarily result in reported poorer adjustment fbllowing the separation.