Family Transformation, Gender Relations, and Marital Dissolution: A Qualitative Sociological Study of Divorce in the Dhaka Region of Bangladesh

Divorce has become an increasingly important indicator of social change, reflecting transformations in family life, gender relations, and marital expectations. Although divorce has attracted growing scholarly attention, research in Bangladesh has largely focused on demographic patterns, legal issues, and socio-economic determinants, with comparatively limited qualitative evidence on how people experience and interpret marital dissolution. This study examines how family transformation and changing gender relations shape divorce in the Dhaka Region of Bangladesh from a qualitative sociological perspective. A qualitative case study design drew on twelve cases involving divorced men, divorced women, family lawyers, and professional counsellors. Reflexive thematic analysis identified recurring patterns across lived experiences and professional perspectives. The findings indicate that divorce develops through the interaction of changing marital expectations, communication breakdown, gendered power relations, economic pressures, and continuing family involvement. Gendered outcomes were not uniform; they were conditioned by access to income, education, family support, and other social resources. Marital dissolution also extended beyond legal separation to encompass identity reconstruction, psychological adjustment, social stigma, and institutional support needs. By integrating four stakeholder perspectives, the study offers a contextually grounded account of divorce as a multidimensional social process. It contributes qualitative evidence to scholarship on family change in Bangladesh and identifies priorities for coordinated legal, psychosocial, community, religious, and workplace support. Because the cases are urban and cross-sectional, the findings are analytically transferable rather than statistically representative.

Divorce; Marital Dissolution; Family Transformation; Gender Relations; Bangladesh; Qualitative Research.

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