The effects of separation on spouses

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on some of the problems spouses encounter after separation. For the purpose of this research twenty service providers (lawyers, family therapists, counsellors, social workers, a mediator and a psychiatrist) were chosen by purposive sampling and ten separated spouses were chosen by snowball sampling. The twenty service providers helped me acquire insight into the main problems separated spouses go through in Malta and Gozo while the ten separated spouses recounted their own particular experiences. The main problems that the separated spouses in this sample faced regarded child custody, property, maintenance and finance. Apart from these, the separated spouses also encountered problems regarding their possessions and status. Feelings also played an important part. Several suffered emotionally through and after separation. However, for others separation was a relief - the termination of some of the problems they had had to face during marriage.