Divorce

Divorce is the legal breakup of a marriage. The legal process of divorce may also involve issues of alimony (spousal support), child custody, child support, distribution of property, and division of debt.

Shame (isin)
Displaying feelings of deference, shame or unworthiness shame was defined and used in different ways by the state, and by male and female litigants. Shame was used by the state to restrict divorce. It was also used as a strategy by litigants to support their own claims (such as a wifes claims for property, or a husbands attempts to avoid their propertied obligations).

 the New Order constructed divorce as an inherently shameful act, state-produced documents must be read cautiously.

New Order Era

There are 3 social positioning of Javanese family by Clifford Geertz which impetus the divorce: abangan villagers (syncretic,non-orthodox Javanese Muslim peasantry) preferred divorce over the ever-present danger of sickness which is seen as a consequence of internal turmoil. Santri (orthodox Muslims, rural- and urbanbased) considered divorce morally wrong but still had a high divorce rate. In contrast, the priyayi (urban-based, bureaucratic and aristocratic class) had more prestige and property at stake and so exhibited lower divorce rates than abangan and santri. divorce being an act characteristic of the lower classes, who lacked self-control.