Iranian Women's Divorce Style: A Qualitative Study.

Divorce has received scant attention in Iran, despite the problems that arise for individuals and families and in social life. The present study aimed to find the divorce process of the Iranian couples among whom the woman was the divorce initiator. For this purpose, interviews were conducted, using the grounded theory method, with 34 Iranian divorcing men and women (women initiating a divorce and their spouses) to investigate their divorce experience. The results revealed that the psychological, communication, cultural, and social factors involved in the divorce phenomenon were observed in five stages: (1) emergence of thinking about divorce, (2) hesitation on stay, (3) difficult decision-making, (4) separation, and (5) legal action. Despite more restrictive laws and more complicated social conditions for women initiating divorce than men, the number of women initiating the divorce is increasing in the changing cultural context of Iran. Therefore, we hope that our results on the divorce process help couples, families, and especially professionals plan preventive measures and develop clinical interventions targeting marriage and marital relationships.