I am a Senior Research Associate on the Nuffield Foundation-funded ‘Fair Shares’ project at the University of Bristol Law School. The project aims to find out more about the financial and property arrangements divorcing couples make, how they come to decisions about how they divide any assets, and how they cope after divorce. Very little is known about the financial arrangements couples make when they divorce, and the impact such arrangements have on lives post-divorce.
I am in the final stages of writing up my ESRC-funded PhD research at the University of Exeter which explored the experiences of military ex-wives. Adopting a socio-legal approach, I interviewed 28 civilian women who had previously been married to serving members of the British Armed Forces, to understand more about the legacy of military life for ex-wives. I was interested in understanding how military life influences and shapes negotiations, particularly around money and children. Within military families, as a consequence of the highly demanding nature of military service, wives are often required sacrifice their own ambitions, providing the majority of childcare and domestic labour. Such sacrifices, whilst benefiting the family whilst it remains intact, may significantly disadvantage women in their lives post-divorce.
Prior to my PhD, I completed an MRes in Socio-Legal Research at the University of Exeter, a Graduate Diploma in Law (conversion course) at DeMontfort University, and a BA (with Hons) in Psychology from BYU-Hawaii.
Email: donna.crowe-urbaniak@bristol.ac.uk
Twitter: @DonnaCroweUrb
Research Website: https://gtr.ukri.org/person/7448D837-8E8F-4736-881B-0C30D8FA21CC
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/law/fair-shares-project/