How Divorce Affects A Child 's Development Essay

Divorce is one of the most common happenings in the world experienced by children. Most children go through different adjustments to become comfortable with the fact that their parents are not together anymore. Children of divorced parents are prone to lifelong effects. Seventy-five to eighty percent of children have divorced parents and twenty-five percent of those children have serious social, emotional, or psychological problems for the rest of their life. Most adults think that it is best for parents to stay together for the sake of their child because having two parents in different households can become difficult for the child socially and academically.

Divorce creates less contact with the father which is received as poor compared to the

Divorce is one of many controversial subjects in family and human development research. What inspired me to critically analyze the article “Does Divorce Create Long-Term Negative Effects for Children?” is the challenge it would be for me to put my bias aside considering I am from a divorced home. After reading the article and analyzing it over and over, I can’t help but think that the writer answering “YES” to this controversial question overlooked many variables and over generalized his findings and research. With Zinsmeister overgeneralizing his research, not considering enough alternate explanations for long-term negative effects divorce, and his lack of relevant information needed to assess reliability and validity are why I find this article to be insightful but not accurate and hope to show why.

The first three years of a child 's life are the most significant for growth and development, both mentally and physically. Young children perceive situations and events that occur in their environment differently depending on their developmental stage. Urie Bronfenbrenner is a psychologist that came up with the Ecological Systems Theory which is a modern theory of development. The Ecological Systems Theory was created into a model that has multiple system levels. The first level that directly impacts a child the most is called the microsystem and this system consists of family, peers, school, and health services. Divorce is being seen more often in society today and is happening earlier. Divorce can be very traumatic to a child even if the divorce was mutual and as peaceful as possible; imagine if it was a bad divorce? This puts stress and anxiety on young children and can affect their development. More and more studies are being conducted in the last thirty years showing the negative effects divorce has on young children. The more we find out exactly how and why it affects children so greatly we can come up with recommendations and strategies to help deal with it in a way that will not hinder the child 's development. This paper will connect the modern day developmental perspective with studies that have shown

This paper looks at the effects of divorce on children based on the application of various psychological developmental theories. More specifically, children within the age groups of 4 to 6 and 7 to 11 will be taken into account. The theories explored and applied will include Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, Erikson’s psychosocial tasks, Bowlby’s attachment theory, Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory, Bandura’s social learning theory and Vygotsky’s, and later Bronfenbrenner’s, ecological or developmental systems approach.

Children react differently yet similarly in divorce. Every child caught up in the distress of divorce has a hard time coping with it and imagining their life without a parent. Their

Divorce is a very common word in today's society. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, "divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage or a complete or radical severance of closely connected things"(Pickett, 2000). This dissolution of marriage has increased very rapidly in the past fifty years. In 1950 the ratio of divorce to marriage was one in every four; in 1977 that statistic became one in two. Currently one in every two first marriages results in divorce. In second marriages that figure is considerably higher, with a 67% average (National Vital Statistics Report, 2001). One critical aspect of divorce is often not taken into consideration: How it affects children. Every year 1.1 million children are affected by divorce

Divorce is a heavy concept that has many implications for those involved. The situation becomes even more consequential when children are considered. As divorce has become more commonplace in society, millions of children are affected by the separation of the nuclear family. How far-reaching are these effects? And is there a time when divorce is beneficial to the lives of the children? This paper will examine some of the major research and several different perspectives regarding the outcomes of divorce for the children involved, and whether it can actually be in the best interest of the kids.

Divorce causes many problems for children and has many implications. Psychological implications include mental health problems and behavioral problems. Social roles are turned inside out and upside down. Children are often pulled in many directions. In the United States divorce is very common and often leaves children confused and without options. Many turn toward violence, crime, drugs, and isolation. Studies show how adults can reduce the tension for these children. Other

Divorce not only affects the parents, but it also affects the child/children. The child whom is now part of a divorced family has to face a change in their life. It can undermine their child’s sense of security and stability, because the two people whom the child was the most dependent on are now being split up and are no longer living with one another and thus leading to separation of time spent with the child from each parent, regardless of the custody settlement that is reached. The foundation of the child’s world is damaged and changed. The best thing for a child who has divorced parents would be for the parents to not be hostile with one another and for both parents to spend shared and equal amount of time with the child. Also that both parents stay active in the child’s day-to-day life and routine. This means that there has to be good communication amongst the parents. If the child is raised in these conditions, then a divorce will not have a heavy effect on them and it can increase the potential for the child to develop a strong relationship with both parents. However, these conditions are extremely hard to meet if one of the parents decides to relocate. Relocation can be seen as a distance between the noncustodial/nonresidential parent and the custodial parent and child. When a divorced parent relocates, it makes it a lot harder for the non-relocating parent to see the child, if the child moves with the relocating parent. Not only does moving effect the

Divorce or the parent separation is a major life change for the children and can

The dissolution of a marriage, or ‘divorce’ as it is known, was once an infrequent occurrence and often considered the failure of a wife to maintain a happy marriage (Lewis, 2013). Following a change in legislation in the 1960s that allowed partners to end their marriage without having to provide justification, in conjunction with the sexual liberation movement, the incidence of divorce more than doubled (Wilcox, 2009). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2012), the number of marriages ending in divorce has continued to rise, however, despite an increase in social acceptance, the negative impact divorce has on children has remained prevalent (Kelly & Emery, 2004). It is imperative for researchers to assess the repercussions

This paper explains how children of all ages have different effects due to the divorce of their parents. Divorce has many effects according to the age of children, the gender, and temperament of children. According to (Lucas, 2014, 54) “Exposure to parental conflict may also explain poor child mental health after parental separation”. Children who get caught up in their parent’s divorce are likely to suffer more stresses than those children who aren’t involved. Children of parents who get a divorce endure more suffering than the parents. Children become less social, less interested in school/activates, and have greater chances of becoming depressed. This paper shows the many effects divorce has on children no matter what the age.

Depression is another concern for children who have experienced divorce. Children are more likely to suffer from depression if their parents are split than if they are still together (Fox 2001). Depression affects the way a child acts in daily life. Children from divorced houses are more likely to suffer from some form of depression or another than those from married families (Doherty et al. 1989, as cited in Fox 2001). Fox 2001 studies the effect divorce has on children by a survey given to 118 students ranging in ages 18-25. The survey includes True of False questions on their ?attitudes, opinions, interests, and other characteristics regarding the divorce that affected them (Fox 2001).? This study found that 26% of the students surveyed needed some kind of counseling regarding depression post divorce (Fox 2001). Separation of parents can have extremely harmful and lasting affects involving depression. Divorce negatively affects a child?s psyche and makes them more depressed.

Divorce is a plague that is destroying numerous families across the United States of America. Sadly, when husbands and wives divorce, the children are often caught directly in the middle. Throughout the years divorce has been becoming more and more common. In the 1920's it was a rare find to know a person whom had been divorced, today it is a rarity not to know of one who has been, or will be divorced. Divorce has numerous effects on the structures of families, and many devastating effects on the children that must experience it, although sometimes necessary, divorce radically changes the lives of adolescents and adults alike.