Divorce: We need a study, not an opinion

In my blog on timesofmalta.com and in this column I have more than once addressed the legalisation of th edivorce issue. I have repeatedly written that I am open to conviction about whether or not divorce legislation should be enacted in Malta.

The introduction of divorce implies a change in the marriage paradigm that characterises our society. We cannot effect such a radical change without basing our position on a clear and researched study about the state of marriage and the family in our country.

We are still faced with contradictory statistics on the health or otherwise of our families and on the stability or otherwise of marriage. Let me mention just one example. One day we were told in Parliament that the percentage of children born to unknown fathers in 2007 was 19.68 per cent. The next day we were told the correct figure was 9.09 per cent.

I am not the only person asking for research that gives us a clear picture of the state of marriage and the family. I remember one of Ranier Fsadni's weekly articles in The Times when he tackled this issue. He had proposed the setting up of a Human Development Index to get a realistic picture instead of the myriad assumptions that are bandied around by people who are in favour of or against the introduction of divorce legislation. I have not heard of any such study having been done locally.

Consequently, I was thrilled when I read in the May 16 edition of The Times that The Today Public Policy Institute had published a report about the subject. I was sent a copy of the report, entitled For Worse, For Better: Re-Marriage After Legal Separation, for which I thank its lead author, Martin Scicluna, director general of the institute.

As I always do when I receive reports of this kind, I immediately go to the page giving the bibliography and references. I was shocked. How could a report of such a prestigious institute include such an amateurish list of references?

The list refers, for example, to 'Emery: Inter-Personal Conflict And The Children Of Discord And Divorce'. What is this? Is this an article taken from the News Of The World tabloid, an academic paper, a book, an opinion piece downloaded from the internet, an entry in Wikipedia?

A look at the bibliography and the references used for the compilation of a report gives the reader a feel of the validity and the worth of the same report. A report is generally as good as its references. Browsing through them one gets to know whether or not the report is based on the most authoritative and recent studies on the subject.

The list in the report in question does not let us do that. Browsing through the report I noticed statements of utmost importance peppering different pages; but not one of them was supported by a reference to a source.

The report is a good and interesting opinion piece of similar (perhaps slightly higher) stature to the many opinion pieces that are regularly penned in various newspapers. But it does not provide us with the study or information we need to make an educated and mature decision about a subject of such relevance as the introduction or otherwise of divorce legislation.

The board of The Today Public Policy Institute considers the report "to be well-founded and worthy of consideration by government, senior policy-makers, the broader public community and civil society as a whole". I strongly beg to differ.