A Study On Legal Delay Before Divorce Program in Korea

이혼숙려제도 활성화를 위한 기초연구 - 자발적으로 이혼관련상담기관을 내방한 기혼남녀를 중심으로 -

The purposes of this study were (a) to examine perceptions of the Legal Delay Before Divorce Program (LDBDP) in Korea among individuals, (b)to predict the need for the LDBDP, and (c) to predict the needs for psychological counseling with predicting variables. Two hundred questionnaires were completed by the clients of a legal aid center in Seoul. The majority of participants knew about and expressed their need for the LDBDP. Participants agreed to the LDBDP because it could prevent impulsive divorce, provide time to prepare for post-divorce life, provide support with counseling, and protect the children in families of divorce. Participants disagreed to the LDBDP because it only delayed the time to divorce, prolonged emotional suffering, and intruded on personal privacy. In the model test, the need for the LDBDP was significantly predicted by marital instability scale, age, education, occupation, the period of living apart, and the status of voluntary divorce. The need for psychological counseling was significantly predicted by age, having at least one child, having at least one minor child, marital period, and need for family life counseling in the suggested model.