Divorce and the Family Life Cycle Divorce is becoming all too popular in our society today. When a couple goes through difficult times or fights too much, they automatically think about divorce. Despite its prevalence, couples are not prepared for its long, arduous and painful process. Divorce not only harms the people involved, but also greatly affects the children. While many people don't think divorce is a bad thing. Hollywood makes divorce look nice and easy. When in all reality, it's disruptive. Some people would say that divorce is a lazy way out of a marriage; the cowardly thing to do when a situation arises. Divorce is not the only answer to marital problems in most cases. Incarceration: Family Life Cycle The family life cycle is made up of developmental steps and tasks that attempt to illustrate the phases a family goes through over time. The stages of the family life cycle are: leaving home as a young single adult; The union of families through marriage: the new couple; Families with small children; Families with teenagers; Throw the kids and move on; and older families. Each of these stages is crucial in the developmental process, but a parent's incarceration can significantly hinder that process. Divorce divides families and usually causes great disruption in child support and financial responsibilities. Experience of the family of origin. During this stage of the family life cycle, the main tasks are to maintain relationships with parents, siblings and peers. The family is also developing the foundations of a family life model. However, the task proved difficult because divorce represents a serious crisis in the fabric of the family life cycle,...... middle of the document......em solving, (b) anger control, (c ) impulse control, (d) communication, and (e) relaxation. Many sessions within the CSG are divided into two sections: the first section of the session includes a discussion of a theme (e.g., reconciliation fantasies, self-blame) that is accomplished through the use of cartoons and pictorial stimuli, writing newspaper articles and playing games. The second part of several sessions focuses on skill development through teaching and modeling methods. Skill-building activities include testing skills such as labeling feelings, problem solving, self-control, communication, relaxation techniques, and anger control. For those families where parents participate in the affiliated community-based parenting group, Single Parents' Support Group, a skills transfer component is included in the CSG (Connolly et al, 2009, p.. 16- 17).