Exploring Divorce Reasons in Love and Arranged Marriages: A Phenomenological Study in West Bengal

Sunandita Das , International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai

The rising divorce rate is a significant contemporary trend, reflecting evolving dynamics in marriages and companionships. It underscores the need for discussions on relationship challenges and highlights the legal, financial, and social implications of divorce. Using Interpretative Phenomenological study analysis, this study has tried to shed light on the major reasons for divorce in both arranged and love marriages, particularly focused on West Bengal, India. We conducted in-depth interviews (IDI) with 15 divorcees (each interview lasting between 25-45 minutes). The uniqueness of this paper is that it includes both men and women as study participants. Findings suggested that in love marriages, common reasons for divorce were adjustment issues, behavioral issues, in-law interference, financial issues, torture, and extramarital affairs. In arranged marriages, often stated reasons were in-law interference, false pre-marriage information, dowry, torture, and extra-marital affairs. It’s worth noting that in arranged marriages, there was more evidence of excessive in-laws’ interference, brutality, and extramarital affairs compared to love marriages. Arranged and love marriages both have their own sets of merits and demerits. The goal is to raise awareness so that couples can address these issues early on. In both types of marriages, it's crucial to really understand the partner before the marriage and also create an open space where one can talk about anything and everything with them. Keywords: Divorce, Marriage, India, Phenomenological Study

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 Presented in Session 15. Union Dissolution