Divorce in the Context of Being African American

There is a growing body of research that examines marital stability and quality in the United States. Over the past several decades, this research has been concerned primarily with (a) who is most likely to divorce or the demographic or life course variables that affect the risk of divorce (e.g., age at marriage, social class), (b) factors that affect marital stability and quality over time (Amato & Rodgers, 1997; Gottman, 1994; Karney & Bradbury, 1995; Orbuch, Veroff, Hassan, & Horrocks, 2002), and (c) stories from individuals that account or tell the story of divorce (Kitson, 1992; Weiss, 1975).