Dec 21 2011: This may not be what you intended but here goes...I think it does. I mean that it engenders an interesting and very real sense of obligation not only to the nuclear family but also to the community( the social circle within which you're integrated). The social circle is a part of your identity as a person and family. Teasing apart the person from the family unit is difficult, especially when you live within a community where divorce rate is low. Having recently divorced I've experienced the effects first hand. I know that one’s social circle changes as those around you, the people that make up the social fabric of your life, judge you.
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A comment on Conversation: Do you think marriage, as a social commitment device, still works? Or did it ever work?