The Ties That Bind: Marriages Not All Alike

Bowling Green, Ohio, Mar. 17--(AScribe Newswire) Residents of Louisiana, Arizona and Arkansas have a second option when it comes to marriage vows. They can choose a covenant marriage. Instituted in Louisiana in 1997, the covenant marriage is quite different in some aspects from traditional marriage, according to Dr. Laura Sanchez, an associate professor of sociology at Bowling Green State University, who has been tracking the progress of the social experiment in that state since its inception.

"It's really rare for there to be a social experiment of this massive proportion," she said, so when the bill was passed by the Louisiana legislature, Sanchez, then teaching at Tulane University and specializing in family demography and public policy on marriage and family issues, jumped at the opportunity to explore it.

In their "Marriage Matters" study, Sanchez and her co-researchers, James Wright of Central Florida University and Steven Nock of the University of Virginia, have completed two rounds of interviews with couples who have chosen covenant marriage. They will conduct the third and last round of interviews this summer. Their work is supported by $750,000 in grants from the National Science Foundation and the Smith Richardson Foundation.

"Politically, it's very interesting," Sanchez said. "It raises several questions such as if the state will acknowledge that there can be other contracts for marriage beside the traditional one, does that open the door to other forms as well, such as gay marriage? And will states uphold covenant marriage if it is not a recognized form there?"

Already the sociologists have found some striking differences between couples in covenant marriages and those in traditional marriages, Sanchez said.

Covenant marriage seeks to strengthen the commitment of couples, create stability for children and reduce divorce rates through various requirements. Couples must undergo pre-marital counseling and promise to seek further counseling should they encounter trouble in their relationship. They must also fully disclose to one another their sexual and financial histories as well as any other pertinent family matters.

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