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In academe, people are focusing on the Hetherington-Wallerstein debate--a battle of superstars. Both women earned degrees from Berkeley (Wallerstein is also a senior lecturer emeritus there). Hetherington is 75, Wallerstein 79; both are in marriages that have lasted 40-plus years. But their methods vary sharply. Hetherington amassed data on thousands of kids; Wallerstein intimately interviewed about 60. One tactic is broad but shallow, the other deep but narrow.
"Dr. Hetherington never interviewed any child," Wallerstein says. "I've talked to children for thousands of hours. I was interested in what they think, what they wish for. And as adults, these young people were frightened of failure, frightened of commitment, afraid they were going to follow in their parents' footsteps. She doesn't have that. I don't think her study adds to our understanding of children and adults of divorce, and I'm sorry that it doesn't."
The real difference may be not in their methods (the statistician vs. the shrink) but in their temperaments (hopeful vs. fretful). Says Hetherington: "Wallerstein is fond of saying it's whether the cup is half empty or half full, but it's not. It's whether the cup is 20% to 25% empty or 75% to 80% full." She adds with a laugh, "That's a big difference."
There's a difference too between this debate and the anguish millions of parents endure, and put their kids through, while trying to decide whether to live together or apart. Compared with that, a scholarly family feud may seem a mere tempest in a teacup.
--Reported by Lisa McLaughlin/New York