Can Single-Parent Households Influence Adolescents To Become Abusers?

All across the globe, there are children growing up in single-parent households, and through some research

Thesis: To understand that there are many parents raising their children alone with no help at all. Many single parents have different circumstances that cause them to raise their children by themselves. Being a single parent is not easy there are good days and bad days and most single parents must make it through no matter what. Many single parents do not realize that their children are looking at them for the rest of their lives.

Families who have dealt with being a single parent typically see themselves being judged by other parents. For example, Jamie Rush a teen mom said "If he acts up, or if he falls over and bumps his head, I always think people are looking at me as if to say "It's because you're a teenager." (Rush 3). This shows that teen moms are trying their best and love their kids too. Schools are helping teenage single parents. Take the case of Jamie, after she gave birth to her son, she went to an alternative school with a built in daycare (Rush 1). This tells you that there is help for teens out there, but it's not always available to everyone. Socially speaking, one of the primary causes of single parents is because of one of the parent's death. Through research, we have found that the primary cause of single-parent households was because of parental death (Chamie 1). This proves that not all single-parent homes is because of teen pregnancies. As a result, there are many single parents struggling with being judged, or because of significant other's death. But there are schools, helping

These factors lead way for the continuum of abuse and neglect being passed on through family generations. Parents who were raised in an abusive household were commonly associated with abusing or neglecting their own children out of commonality and pattern related to what they knew as a child (Dixon, Browne, and Hamilton-Giachritsis 2005). “Straus (1980) not only found support for the hypothesis that ‘violence begets violence,’ but they also provide data which demonstrate that the grater the frequency of violence, the greater the chance that the victim will grow up to be a violent partner or parent” (Gelles 1980).

Abusive households often have common characteristics. The first of which is being unpredictable and full of uncertainty (Artime, 2017f). Herman (1992) writes that there are often everchanging petty rules enforced through violence and threats of it. Due to the unpredictable nature, it creates feelings of helplessness for the child (Herman, 1992) The child experiences the destruction of competing relationships through isolation, secrecy and betrayal. The child will often not be allowed to have outside relationships and is not allowed to talk about their home life due to threats and actual abuse. The abuser even isolates them from their own family preventing a sense of solace and comfort (Herman, 1992). The family still

It is concerning when children are exposed to domestic violence because of the potential disruptions in psychosocial development and the increased chances that they too will become perpetrators of violence. Litrownik, Newton, Hunter, English, and Everson (2013, p.60) concluded from their research findings "that while studying the relative exposure to community versus family violence, it was found that family violence was more likely to be associated with child problems."

When people first hear of children living in a single parent household, they automatically think of divorce, a widow, or an unmarried parent with children. Taking into account all the different factors resulting in a single parent household, divorce is the most common. Sadly, about 30 to 40 percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce. Although many people come to the conclusion that living in a single parent household creates negative effects for the children, I believe from personal experience that there are perhaps many beneficial factors for the children. Of course, divorce isn't easy for any of the parties involved. It creates conflict but in the full picture, it happens to create a healthier life for the children and parents. Every situation and story is different. Some single parenting circumstances aren't the best and never seem to get better. Then, there are other instances that turn out to eventually work well for the family.

It is expected for a child that the impact of abuse would be most serious if it is inflicted by their own parents in situations of what can be called "domestic violence" (Jouriles et al, 2008:221). Seriousness of the domestic abuse experience stems from the tragic fact the child is abused by the very persons he/she turns to for satisfying the needs of love and protection. Studying the causes and consequences of

Domestic abuse and child abuse are emotionally costing to families widespread. Family violence affects every person involved in the family. The effects of aggression on progeny lives looks to be significantly more impacted than on adult lives. In many scenarios of family violence the family has followed an arrangement in which the connection of family violence began through generations. This connection should be broken before more children mature and live in a household that remedies to viciousness. Also there are kids who are in affectionate families who don’t fall to violence and as the kids develop, they start routing to violence to help resolve their problems. Studies show that physical penalty could cause hostility in children, while other

The importance of bringing a child into the world is to provide the child with a loving home and a loving family. Unfortunately, many children today are born to teenage parents, or parents struggling with their own personal life. The structure of the family children are born into can be a major factor influencing child abuse. Individuals deal with a large amount of stress on a daily basis which can alter how they respond to situations. Marital status, the support of the family, community, and financial problems can all add more stress to a person (Arbetter 23). Melissa L. Sturge-Apple, Michael A. Skibo, and Patrick T. Davies describe in “Impact of Parental Conflict and Emotional Abuse on Children and Families,” individuals who were dealing

Children raised by a single parent rather than children that are raised by two parents differ from each other in many ways. The most common way being the way in which the parents interact with their children and the structure of the household. When you have two parents living with you, it is usually both of them who decide together how the house will be run. On the contrast, when you are only living with one parent, you have to adjust to doing everything on your own which is hard not only on you but on the kids as well. Children who live with two parents will create a more stable family because each parent will be taking part in his or her duty to fulfill what it takes to be a supportive and loving parent to help the child to develop and grow giving him or her strength to be a stronger person under all conditions. The way in which a parent raises a child is a main factor in determining a child’s prosperity as well as a child’s emotional being. There are many single parents that find it difficult, and almost impossible to serve as a supportive mother or father to his or her child. In comparing single- parent families to married families, children often lack support from their parents, and end up facing more problems and challenges as they grow. With two custodial parents, the child will be better off because both parents will be able to provide a healthier, steady atmosphere for their

as different. Being raised by only one parent seems impossible to many yet over the decades it has become more prevalent. In today’s society many children have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or two parents to show them the rocky path that life bestows upon all human beings. The problem lies in the difference of children raised by single parents versus children raised by both a mother and a father. Does a child need both parents? Does a young boy need a father figure around? Does the government provide help for single parents? What role do step-parents and step-siblings play? With much speculation, this topic has become a very intriguing argument. What people must understand is that properly raising a child does not rely on the structure of a family but should be more focused on the process or values that are taught to these children as they learn to mature. Children of single parents can be just as progressive with emotional, social and behavioral skills as those with two parents.

There are various factors that will increase the probability that a parent or caregiver will abuse a child. These factors are associated with the financial state of the family and the status or age of the parent when they became a parent, “children living with single parents are more likely to live in poverty with fewer social supports, which may contribute to stress and increase risks of maltreatment” (American Psychological Association, 2016), this is also an indicator for perpetrators to skillfully maneuver their caring ways into the child’s life to abuse them. “Infants and young children are also at risk with parents with strained financial statuses, because they are small and need constant care, and are more likely to experience certain forms of maltreatment such as being shaken by parents or caregivers frustrated or overwhelmed by persistent crying. Teenagers, on the other hand, are at greater risk for sexual abuse” (APA, 2016). Dr. Langberg states that 20 to 40 percent of the females, typically beginning at age 6 and 20 percent of males, beginning at the age of 10 who are at risk, will be sexually abused by the age 18 years old (Langberg, 2003). Children in violent homes may be victims of physical or they may be neglected by their parents or caregivers who may be focusing on their partners, which causes an unresponsiveness to the children, ultimately causing forms of neglect. If these children have any physical, emotional or cognitive

Married couples make up 68% of all families with children under 18, compared to 93% in 1950 (US 2015 Census). This demonstrates that more and more children are living in households with single parents. Single parents have to deal with jobs and other sources of stress making it difficult to give their children the attention they need. Additionally, single parents are the only ones that are providing for the family so they have a lot on their plate. This can provide stress on the child because they can feel unloved or even hated. As the rate of single parents go up, so does the amount of children that are not receiving enough

“In a single parent life, they will be no parent conflict, which easy happenss in the dual parents. It can make cause tension and stress for both the parents and the child. Their child can fell safeful in their house if in your family do not have argument or conflicts . Being a single parent, who can break the rules. “For example, I can look you straight in the eyes and say: Yes, after diner, I bathe them and dress them in their sweats for the next day and put them to bed. When they get up, all I have to do is put shoes and socks on them. You got a problem with that?” By Mary Mohler (parents magazine,n.d).