The contemporary gay rights movement has given an increasing number of lesbian and gay males the support to declare their sexual and affectional orientation. Wife battering, child abuse, abuse of the elderly and other forms of domestic violence are an ugly reality of family life in the United States. In a sense, domestic violence begins even before marriage in the form of violent behavior within dating and courtship relationships. It is difficult to measure precisely the prevalence of domestic violence, since many people are reluctant to call the police or bring charges against family members. Viewed from a conflict perspective, domestic violence is one means by which men reinforce their power over women and adults reinforce their power over children.
Divorce is a complex and difficult experience for all family members.
Anthropologist Paul Bohannan has identified six overlapping experiences which arise from divorce and which vary in intensity depending on the couple. The answer appears to be in the affirmative, but the reasons are complex. Sociologist Paul Amato analyzed longitudinal data to determine the extent of intergenerational transmission of divorce. Data came from the Study of Marriage Over the Life Course, which consisted of telephone interviews with a national sample of 2033 married persons who were 55 years old or younger in 1980. Based on these data, parental divorce is associated with increased risk of offspring divorce, especially when the wives or both spouses have experienced the dissolution of their own parents' marriage.