Abstract

SOUZA, Maria Cecília Cortez Christiano de. Woman and divorce in São Paulo (Brazil) during the First Period of the Republic (1890-1930). Psicol. USP [online]. 1992, vol.3, n.1-2, pp.37-44. ISSN 1678-5177.

Based on civil divorce proceedings, this paper describes different patterns of family conflict within the city of São Paulo, between 1890 and 1930. Among elite families, whose wealth derived generally from the rise of coffee, the risk of dividing family fortunes led to an emphasis on extended-family patriarchal values. In spite of this, wives' witnesses in divorce proceedings, usually domestic servants or former slaves, often described domestic scenes in which wives played informal parts which contradicted these values. On the other extreme, within family groups of recently settled European immigrants, daily-life problems of material and cultural survival appear at the core of family conflict. These problems threatened the survival of husbands and wives' formal roles.

Keywords : Family [Brazil]; Women [Brazil]; Divorce [Brazil]; Family Relations; Social Process.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )