Another way in which the community may affect the popular conception of marriage is in the administration of civil marriage.  Lack of care in enforcing the laws and lack of gravity in performing the ceremonies may have a decided reaction on respect for those laws and for the institution itself.  Similarly, the administration of divorce laws may affect the popular conception of marriage.  One entire neighborhood condoned the situation in which a deserted wife immediately went to live with another man, on the ground that “if they had been rich, they could have got a divorce.”

4.  Lack of Proper Recreation.—­This may seem a subject to be discussed under personal factors; but proper recreation, after all, depends in large measure upon what the community provides or makes available.  The American tendency for the man to get his recreation apart from his family, in saloons and social clubs, is responsible for many family maladjustments.  Any change in family habits of recreation which means that the man and wife enjoy fewer things together is a danger signal the seriousness of which is not always appreciated.  Social workers are inclined to undervalue not only the influence of faulty recreation as a factor in family breakdown, but also the possibilities of good recreation as an aid in family reconstruction.

5.  Influence of Companions.—­As a factor in desertion this is closely connected with the two just discussed.  Neighborhood standards, as they affect individuals, are apt to be transmitted through the small group that stands nearest, and a man’s companions have the freest opportunity to influence him during their common periods of recreation.  The influence of companions is not often met as a force deliberately exerted to bring about desertion; but, on the other hand, a man’s own mental contrast between his condition and that of his unmarried companions often plays a definite part in his decision to desert, if he has begun to yearn for freedom.  The influence of companions is particularly connected with the “wanderlust” type of desertion.

6.  Expectation of Charitable Relief.—­It used to be held that many men who would otherwise remain at home and support, might be encouraged to desert if they had reason to believe that their wives and families would be cared for in their absence.  This was no doubt often the case before social workers had learned to discriminate in treatment between deserted wives and widows, or to press with vigor the search for deserting men.  At present, it is the experience of social workers that few men deliberately reckon upon transferring the burden of their family’s support to others, or are induced by these considerations to leave.[14]

* * * * *