Running head: Marriage and Family 1

Challenging Questions that Affect Marriage and Family

Naresa A Peart Robinson
Courtship & Marriage
Tania Johnson
International College of the Cayman Islands

Author Note
P.O. Box 1981, Grand Cayman Ky1-1505, Cayman Islands

Marriage and Family 2

Abstract
A survey was conducted using SurveyMonkey on twelve individuals ages 30-40. This age group
makes up over forty-two percent (42%) of the Cayman Islands population. There were seven
women and five men who undertook the survey. The purpose of the study was to obtain the
individuals opinion on areas such as love, marriage, courtship, family planning. The results were
used to develop the research paper. One hundred percent (100%) of the women and men in the
30-40 age group that took the survey believed that the discussion of family planning is
paramount during courtship and marriage. The responses varied in regards to the other questions
asked in the survey.

Marriage and Family 3

Challenging Questions that Affect Marriage and Family
Marriages and families have more challenges today than ever before. Some challenges
face by marriage and families are social media views of what a modern family should be, peer
pressure for youths to have sexual relations with peers or adults, crisis management, extended
family issues, poverty and unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, adultery within married
couples and family violence. These challenges within the marriage and family unit make it tough
for families to maintain intimate relationships. Intimate relationships are the experience of
intense and intellectual, emotional, and, when appropriate, physical and emotional communion
with another human being (Cox & Demmitt, 2014). With the increase in awareness, social media
and its portrayal of what a family unit should look like, parents are forced to readdress their
structure of raising their children; marriage couples are discussing challenging questions, such
as, gender roles and re-accessing areas that challenge their marriage commitment. Young people
are forced to rethinking how they date and what topics are important during courtship, marriage
or co-habitation. It is because of these issues and challenges a research was conducted for the 3040 age group to investigate the challenging questions that plague today's singles, parents, and
married couples.
According to the Cayman Islands 2010 Census, 23,347 of the individuals living in the
Cayman Islands are within the 30-40 age group (The Cayman Islands' 2010 Census Report,
2010). Eight out of the twelve participants used in the research are married or have a family. The
U.S. Census Bureau defines family to include a householder and one or more people living in the
same household who are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption (Census 2000
Profiles of General Demographic Characteristics, 2001). The research is relevant because todays
society and culture continue to redefine family. Before 1960s a family consist of a father and

Marriage and Family 4

mother and their children; today families consist of extended families, step-parents, single
parents and the list goes on. The family structural form and strength, however, vary widely
across cultures and time (Cox & Demmitt, 2014). To comprehend the challenges, the 30-40 age
group are currently experiencing a survey is required to see the problems now affecting the
individuals in the Cayman Islands.
The text, Human Intimacy by Frank D. Cox and Kevin Demmitt looks at a family from
the perspective of providing sexual interaction, which often leads to reproduction and raising of
offspring. Most individuals in the 30-40 age group that currently live in the Cayman Islands are
parents who are affected by the issues surrounding the care of their children. The children 0-14
years make up 11,372 of the Cayman Islands population (The Cayman Islands' 2010 Census
Report, 2010). One of the issues facing the family of the Cayman Islands is the crisis
surrounding the care of children experience within families, which includes the Department of
Children and Family Services (DCFS) failure to protect children and the countrys neglect of its
children.
According to Deanna Lookloy, the Department of Children and Family Services Director,
during the year 2008, staff dealt with 3,024 cases, serving a total of 6,647 people on matters of
child protection; financial and medical aid; adoption; adult abuse; elderly care; counseling;
Juvenile Court work; and school support programs (Social Services Assessment, 2009). The
Department of Children and Family Services statistics indicate that the department is
overwhelmed to offer full services to the departments clients. Therefore, the children who are
abuse or children that require assessments for custody hearings for divorce proceedings by the
Department of Children and Family Services denied the proper evaluation. Evidence of this is
supported by an article, presented in the Cayman News Services about the Department of

Marriage and Family 5

Children and Family Services West Bay Office which consist of three employees whose primary
responsibilities includes child protection matters, juvenile delinquency to the care and wellbeing
of the elderly (DCFS West Bay Office Closes, 2015). Three employees are insufficient staff to
caring for the needs of the West Bay population.
The increase divorce rate has affected many children. The overall divorce rate among the
entire Cayman Islands population is 7.7 percent while the rates of legal separation and
widowhood are at 1.9 and 2.7 percent, respectively (The Cayman Islands' 2010 Census Report,
2010). The Department of Children and Family Services on most occasions recommend that the
contact time between the parents seeking custody of their children to be equal between the
parents. Although most men desire that both parents should share equal contact time, they are
unable to provide the nurture and care that mothers tend to provide their children. The lack of
time given to children by fathers have forced the 30-40 age group mothers even to consider
stopping divorce proceeding to ensure that they are available and with their children to protect
them from any possibility of harm and neglect. While many mothers consider this option in the
case where their spouses abuse women, the reconciliation is highly not recommended.
Mary Ann Lamanna and Anges Riemann wrote a book called, Marriages, Families &
Relationships" in 2015. The book defines family as any sexual expressive or parent-child or
other kin relationship in which people usually related by ancestry, marriage or adoption form an
economic unit of care for any young (Lamanna & Anges, 2012, p. 4). A national opinion poll in
America supports Lamanna and Riemann statement of the definition of family by providing a
99% vote in support that a family consist of married couples with children (Cox & Demmitt,
2014, p. 29). The results of the poll indicate that although society has transcended the

Marriage and Family 6

fundamental belief of the family, directly components such as the family purpose is to have
offspring and raise the children to be assets to society remains the same.
The purpose of the research paper is to obtain the opinion of individuals in the 30-40 age
group in areas of love, gender roles, communication, sex, finances, money, and relationships.
The aim of the investigation of the 30-40 age group is to find out the challenges affecting this
group in the areas of courtship, marriage, cohabitation and parenting. The 30-40 age group
makes up 23,347 people who are 42% of the Cayman Islands Population and some of the parents
of the 11,372 children ages 0-14 years residing in the Cayman Islands (The Cayman Islands'
2010 Census Report, 2010). The group used for this study, consist of working professional in the
areas of banking, fine arts, and accounts, who can be classified are middle class working
professionals. The method to obtain the results of the study is discussed in methodology.

Methodology
A survey was conducted with the use of Survey Monkey to research the views of twelve
individuals opinion on the most daring questions affecting the family today. The survey was
sent to over twenty people by email to investigate the individuals views on challenging issues
affecting families and marriages in the Cayman Islands. The responses were sent to the
SurveyMonkey account where the study was created. Please see Appendix 1 for the survey
questions. The first twelve responses were collected and used as the data poll for this research
paper. Seven women and five men responded and their responses were used and discussed in
further detail in the result section of this paper.

Marriage and Family 7

Results.
For question one, which focused on the livelihood for people to fall in love. Fifty
percent (50%) of the poll believed it was likely to occur, over forty percent (40%) found it was
very likely, and below ten percent (10%) thought it was unlikely to fall in love. Question two
focused on gender roles assigned to the mother and father in the household, over fifty-eight
percent (58%) believed that the roles should not be assigned, thirty-eight percent (38%) think the
roles should be assigned and below nine percent (9%) finds that maybe tasks should be assigned.
Questions three from the questionnaire focus on areas such as sex, money, finances. One
hundred percent (100%) of the responders believed that sex, money, and finances were crucial in
a marriage. Question four researched the areas which gave the greatest challenges among
married couples. In regards to question four, fifty-five percent (55%) of the responders believed
that the biggest problem within a marriage is infidelity and forty-five percent (45%) of the
individuals believed that money problems were the greatest challenges among married couples.
For questions five, over sixty-six percent (66%) of the poll felt that strong family prepare
for change, twenty-five percent (25%) of the responders had no idea and over eight percent (8%)
of the responders didnt believe that strong families prepare for change. Question six focus on
whether single parents are at an advantage to raising children over the married couple. Sixtythree percent (63%) of the responders believe that this was not the case, over eighteen percent
(18%) responded maybe, over nine percent (9%) responded yes and nine percent (9%) responded
no.
Question seven which focus on whether a spouse would remain with their partner if the
partner had an extramarital affair. Over forty-one percent (41%) of the individuals taking the poll
believed that depending on the circumstances of the affair. More than thirty-three percent (33%)

Marriage and Family 8

responders may consider remaining with a spouse who had an affair, and over sixteen percent
(16%) responded no and over eight percent (8%) responded yes. For question eight which focus
on family planning and children, one hundred percent (100%) of the responders believed that
discussing family planning was important during courtship and marriage.
In regards to question nine on whether children enhance the marriage experience over
eighty percent (80%) of the responders thinks that children improve the marriage experience and
only twenty percent (20%) did not believe that children made a difference. In regards to question
ten on sexually transmitted disease, over fifty-four percent (54%) of the responders would
consider remaining with their spouses if they had contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Over
twenty percent (20%) responded no and over eighteen percent (18%) would stay in the
relationship only if their partner contacted the disease from the responders.

Discussion/ Conclusion
The results of the survey indicated that family planning is critical to individuals from
the 30-40 age group. There are many reasons which could contribute to this effect. Most women
are now having children between the ages of 25 and 34 (Cox & Demmitt, 2014, p. 245).
Therefore, they would like to plan when they could have children especially if they are career
women. Men in this age group are focusing on developing their field of expertise; therefore, the
plan is also important to them.
The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) surveillance reported in the 2016 report that
nearly 20 million new sexually transmitted infections occur every year in this country, half of
young people aged 1524, and account for almost $16 billion in health care costs (Reported
STDs in the United States, 2016). It is surprising that many responders would consider remaining

Marriage and Family 9

with a partner that had an extramarital affair and sexually transmitted disease once they could
justify the cause of the affair and especially if the disease was obtained from the responders. The
increase of medicine to prolong the life of someone with the sexually transmitted disease and
many individuals underestimate the risk of the disease being transferred to the other partner may
contribute to the responses given in the study. However, from the CDC 2016 report these
infections have significant threat to the individuals immediate and long-term health and wellbeing; in addition to increasing a persons risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV infection, STDs
can lead to chronic pain and severe reproductive health complications, such as infertility and
ectopic pregnancy (Reported STDs in the United States, 2016). Maybe the responders lack the
full knowledge of STDs and the impact of remaining with a spouse with STD.
Money, sex, and finances must play a huge role in the 30-40 age group since one hundred
(100) of the responders believed that these areas were critical during the marriage. The authors,
Cox and Demmitt of Human Intimacy indicates that for marriage to be fulfilled sectors such as
sexual, material, psychological needs require sustainability (Cox & Demmitt, 2014). Dr. William
Doherty in his article, How common is divorce and what are the reasons? explained that there
are many factors which contribute to married couples having a higher risk for divorce. They are
marrying at a very early age, less education and income, living together before marriage, a
premarital pregnancy, no religious affiliation, coming from a divorced family, and feelings of
insecurity (Doherty, n.d.). Unawareness of these factors contribution to divorce and the failure of
a couple to come up with a plan to deal with these challenges can result in a divorce for the
married couple. Through discussion and strategic planning to address these challenging areas,
couples will have a better opportunity to extend the longevity of their marriage.

Marriage and Family 10

One individual taking the survey responded that communication should have been
included as one of the biggest challenges that married couples face in question four of the
questionnaire. The Respondent also indicates that if communication was one of the options, this
answer might have been selected by many of the individuals taking the survey. Communication
is vital to strong families. Rod Flood in his 2015 article entitled 5 Communication Tools That
Saved My Marriage elaborate on the importance of communication in marriage.
Communication is not simple, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it, and our
communication would reflect God's image and glorify Him (Flood, 2015). Both appreciation and
good communication require family members to be empathetic and trustworthy (Cox &
Demmitt, 2014). Looking at Flood, Cox and Demmitt points regarding the importance of
communication indicates that communication would have been a good option to have in question
four survey question.
In conclusion, the purpose of the research paper is to obtain the individuals opinion on
areas of love, gender roles, communication, sex, finances, money, and relationships. The poll
consists of twelve middle-class working professionals in the ages of 30-40 years representing
forty-two percent of the Cayman Islands population. The results show that even in the Cayman
Islands, the 30-40 age group experience challenges with parenting and with their relationships.
Over fifty-four percent (54%) of the responders think they may remain with their partners if the
partners contracted an STD. The Centre for Disease and Control report explains the risk of
contraction of STDs, and the health problems face by an individual with the disease. Having this
knowledge may change the spouse's opinion to consider remaining in the marriage if one partner
has contracted an STD. Married couples need sexual, material, psychological needs for them to
enjoy and stay in the marriage. Some of the challenges which cause conflicts in marriage are

Marriage and Family 11

finances, sex, and money. Through communication and strategic planning couples can tackle
these issues in a preventative measure.

Marriage and Family 12

References
Bellows, A. (2016, March ). How Remarriage Affects Children. Retrieved from
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/mixing-bowl/2016/03/the-affect-of-remarriage-on-children/
Cox, F. D., & Demmitt, K. (2014). Human intimacy: Marriage, the family and its meaning (11e
ed.). Cengage Learning.
Crisis Centre urges neighbours to act in abuse cases. (2016, July 3). Retrieved from Cayman
News Service: https://caymannewsservice.com/2016/03/crisis-centre-urges-neighboursto-act-in-abuse-cases/
DCFS West Bay Office Closes. (2015, March 2o). Retrieved from Radio Cayman:
http://www.radiocayman.gov.ky/dcfs-west-bay-office-closes
Depalma, T. (1991, June 24). Teamwork. Retrieved from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/199106-24/news/9102250804_1_mr-holtzman-cogent-jerome-holtzman
Doherty, W. H. (n.d.). How common is divorce and what are the reasons? Retrieved from
http://www.divorce.usu.edu/files/uploads/lesson3.pdf
Domestic court idea backed by charity. (2015, September 8). Retrieved from Cayman News
Services : https://caymannewsservice.com/2015/09/domestic-court-idea-backed-bycharity/
Flood, R. (2015). 5 Communication Tools That Saved My Marriage. FamilyLife. Retrieved from
http://www.familylife.com/articles/topics/marriage/staying-married/communication/5communication-tools-that-saved-my-marriage
Geissbauer, R., Veds, J., & Schrauf, S. (2016, May 09). A Strategists Guide to Industry 4.0.
Strategy + Business, Issue 83. Retrieved from http://www.strategybusiness.com/article/A-Strategists-Guide-to-Industry-4.0

Marriage and Family 13

Jackson, V. P. (2009, June). Time Management: A Realistic Approach. Journal of the American
College of Radiology, 6(6), 434-436. Retrieved from http://www.jacr.org/article/S15461440(08)00581-4/fulltext
Johnson, M. D. (2016, May 9). Decades of Studies Show What Happens to Marriages After
Having Kids. Fortune Magazine. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2016/05/09/mothersmarriage-parenthood/
Lamanna, M. A., & Anges, R. (2012). Marriages, Families and Relationships- making choices in
a diverse society (11th ed.).
Mondal, P. (2013). 6 Main Characteristics of Family System | Family. Retrieved from
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/family/6-main-characteristics-of-family-systemfamily/6213/
Peart-Robinson, N. (2016, November). Courtship & Marriage Survey. Retrieved from
SurveyMonkey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/summary/SeVESc_2FfqJrnfEy1gWdTaid7HqsMijgUto7
rg2zJMAELT9Q3er5oGRnWTfrTzWtr
Reported STDs in the United States. (2016). Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/factsheets/stdtrends-508.pdf
Sbarra, D. (2012). Surviving Divorce: David Sbarra at TEDxTucson 2012. Tucson: Tedx.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg92QEL4w4I
Social Services Assessment. (2009, October). Retrieved from Government Information Services:
http://www.gov.ky/portal/page/portal/cighome/pressroom/archive/200907/socialservicesa
ssessment

Marriage and Family 14

(2010). The Cayman Islands' 2010 Census Report. The Cayman Islands Government. Retrieved
from http://www.eso.ky/UserFiles/File/1_1%20Total%20Population(5).pdf
(2011). The Cayman Islands Government: Location and Geography. Retrieved August 4, 2011,
from http://www.gov.ky/portal/page/portal/cighome/cayman/islands/locationgeography
World Population Review. (2014, October 19). Retrieved from
http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/cayman-islands-population/

Marriage and Family 15

Appendix 1
Courtship & Marriage Survey

Description: Survey individual ages 30-40 opinions on love, marriage and family.
1. How likely is it for individuals falling in love?
Unlikely
Likely
Very likely
Impossible
Other (please specify)

2. Should there be designated roles assigned in the home for mothers and fathers?
Yes
No
Maybe
No opinion
3. How important is communication, sex and finances in a marriage relationship?
Very important
Important
Not important
4. What is the greatest problem that you think occurs in marriage?
Infidelity
Money problems

Marriage and Family 16

In-laws
Addictions
5. Do you believe that strong family prepare for change?
No
Yes
No idea
6. Do you think that single parents are at an advantage to raising children when compared
to married couple parents?
Yes
No
Don't know
Maybe
7. If your married and your spouse has an extramarital affair, do you think you will remain
in the marriage?
Yes
No
Maybe
Depend on the circumstances causing the affair
8. Do you think discussing family planning is important during courtship and marriage?
Yes
No
Don't know
9. Do you think children enhance the marriage relationship?
Yes

Marriage and Family 17

No
Don't think so
Children have not effect on the marriage relationship
10. If your spouse or partner gets a sexual transmitted disease, would you remain in the
marriage or union?
Yes
No
Maybe
Only if I gave them the sexually transmitted disease

Marriage and Family 18

Appendix 2

Marriage and Family 19

Appendix 3

Please see PDF attachment