Nika Kalili

Unveiling Iranian Women's Beliefs and Attitudes Towards Divorce: Understanding the Unique Belief Systems of Iranian American Women Regarding Divorce in Main Stream America Nika Kalili

What will they think? What will happen to my reputation? what will my close friends and family think if I divorce? Why do I care how others react to my decision? These were some of the questions that often consumed me when I had made the decision to divorce. As an American Iranian woman I was conflicted between some of the Iranian traditional values where ones sense of identity was closely woven into the family or marriage that one belongs to as opposed to that of the U. S. where ones sense of identity is uniquely atonoumus and seperate from that of the family or marriage. In individualistic cultures such the United States the question as to whether age, length of residency in the U. S., religiosity and level of acculturation affect attitudes and beliefs of American Iranian women on the topic of divorce. This book shares my interviews with other American Iranians and how they feel about divorce which is so commonly practiced and accepted here in the U. S.