Is Divorce Hurting Children

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

Landsford talked about multiple aspects of how a divorce affects a child. Throughout the article Landsford mentions the importance of not having much conflict amongst the parents because it impacts the child the most. Not only does conflict cause issues with the child, but so does many other things like income and love from the parents. When there is consistent negativity the outcome could be a result of a child being disobedient and rebellion. Landsford’s conclusion about divorce overall suggest that divorce can be difficult for the child to get use to doesn’t usually impact the child in a positive manor. Many children have struggles in school, friendships, and even relationships with the parents (Landsford 2009). Children at a young age may

Through out this discussion the reader has seen the effects of divorce on children. These effects are primarily shown in three areas of the childrens lives. These three areas are emotionally, physically, and

According to the Encyclopedia of Psychology, one half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce. With these one million children are affected each year. Eighty five percent of these children live in single parent households, with the mother being the head of the house. The father is usually distant or does not speak to the children at all. These children are highly affected and experience a great deal of emotional and academic problems. Especially when you compare them to children with non-divorced parents. During adolescence, these children have twice as high as a rate of dropping out of high school, having teenage pregnancy, and experiencing deliquiate behavior. I am not a child of divorce, but a child dear to me is. I have seen firsthand the emotional tear that it can play into a child’s life, and the way it affects a family. Divorce may cause children to grow up anxious and scared. Children may even ask themselves “why me?”, “what can I do?”, and “where should I go from here?”.

The occurrence on divorce in our society today has left children emotionally and mentally hurt by this. More and more studies have been done on to see if divorce has an effect on children. I personally have had no effect of divorce, but I have had several friends who have been affected. I had little knowledge about how impactful divorce can have an affect on someone until I started doing research on this topic. Divorce is very hard on people who have to deal with this. The articles I have found to do research on all have something new and exciting to bring to the table. Of the ones I have found, I believe they will help me to understand more of the struggles young children have to cope with during such a difficult time. I also found an interesting article about the fathers’ perspectives on divorce. It talked about how they still want to be apart of their children’s lives and how hard it is to keep a strong relationship with their children. I felt like it would be good to include this article into my paper because it will help me to learn from the fathers’ side how they handle the situation. Throughout this paper, I disused the different effects divorce has on children, the various programs and coping strategies for the children, and fathers’ perspectives and mother-child relationships. All of these topics are very important to divorce and the articles from the researchers did a great job of talking about these topics.

Divorce is a topic that most commonly involves feelings of anger, conflict, anxiety, sadness or depression for all parties involved in the process of divorce (American Psychological Association, 2012). Research suggests that the divorce is not the direct cause of children’s problems, but rather miscommunication that can happen along side the divorce (Afifi, Granger, Joseph, Denes, & Aldeis, 2015; Stallman & Sanders, 2014). The risks of problems do increase when children are drawn into their parent’s conflict (Stallman & Sanders, 2014). Risks include the loss of contact with a parent, experience of significant environmental changes, or strain on parent-child relationship.

In most cases, children whose parents result in divorce often times have difficulty adjusting back to reality. It usually takes them a little bit longer to veer back onto the right track they were on before the hit of the hardships they had to deal with. Children’s parents who get divorced usually do not realize the overall effect it has on the rest of the household and every other soul living inside it. Now; we have to find a solution to help those kids whose parents have been divorced to be guided to do well in school, have better relationships and have successful lives and marriages.

In today’s world many things affect children way more than it will adults. Children, while younger, are more vulnerable than adults are, and they have more potential to become “corrupted”. Divorce is one of the many occurrences that definitely affects children way more than adults. Divorce affects the adults with money issues, loss of a partner, and the lifestyle of the adult and with over “fifty percent of marriages” (Corcoran 1997) ending in divorce many of the children in the U.S. are becoming effected too. Divorce affects children by giving them stress that they are too young to deal with, relationship issues in the future, and it can affect one’s self-esteem.

Divorce in and of itself does not harm children; it is the intensity and duration of the conflict between parents that negatively impacts a children adjustment. After a divorce or separation, it isn’t uncommon for children to display some behavioral issues. A child acting out shouldn’t come as a complete surprise because after all, a divorce is a challenging obstacle for the entire family to go through. Behavioral issues in children of divorce can range from mild acting out to destructive behavior. Feelings of anger, confusion, frustration and sadness are all part of the roller coaster of emotions that a child may experience as a result of the events happening in their life. A child’s grades might begin to fall after a divorce. While this change is more common in older children and in boys than girls, it is a statistical probability. However, each child may handle their parent’s divorce a certain way than other children depending on many factors, especially age.

In this paper, I will focus on the different ways in which divorce can affect children both socially and mentally. I will discuss how divorce is a process as well as an alternative developmental path that can lead to different outcomes for different children. The questions I will attempt to answer using methods such as focus groups and surveys are: How does divorce affect children overall? What are the factors that contribute to the well-being of children after divorce?

“Children have the strong belief that there is only one right family relationship, and that is Mom and Dad being together. Any other relationship configuration presents a conflict or betrayal of their basic understanding of life. In divorce children tend to resent both the custodial and absent parent” (Desai, 2006). Younger children struggle with seeing one of the parents bring in someone new to their family. They realize that it is not their real (biological) parent and they sometimes have less respect for them.

In research for her book, Valerie DeLoach, gathered data from numerous separated parents about the most common conflicts in co-parenting. In an online article, DeLoach states, “It seems the number one topic that is brought up is communication. Not just communication between the parents, but communication with the kids. It has been proven that kids need their parents to remain involved. Good communication regarding the kids should be of the highest priority, but even more important is encouraging the relationship between your kids and the other parent.” In an interview with Robert Hughes, an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at Ohio State University, he explains the importance of mothers and fathers in a child’s life. Parents provide emotional support and practical assistance, as well as serve as role models for their children. Hughes describes the many factors that influence how well a child copes with divorce such as age and gender. He also points to two important factors: the amount of conflict between parents and the support available from friends and family (Patten). Parents can help adolescents make adjustments and deal with divorce by talking about feelings and emotions that arise during a stressful time. Children that aren’t able to express their feelings often carry issues into relationships with friends, peers, and even other siblings. Research proves that that kids “may seek to hide the fact of divorce from other children and this can result in very constrained relationships with peers and limit their interaction with others for fear that the secret with be discovered” (Kelly and Berg). It is important for parents to communicate the truth, in an age appropriate manner, and reassure children that they had no part in the divorce. For a child, a feeling of security comes with knowing that they can openly talk

On one hand, the struggles of divorce cause stress in children's’ lives, and leave them to form mature, adult relationships without a strong marriage to look to for advice. Children must not be treated as though they are the cause of a separation because that kind of psychological damage is extremely intolerable On the other hand, the end of relationships is part of the natural progression in life, and children can potentially benefit from learning that truth early on. Children of divorce may also become more resilient than their peers, making them stronger students and employees later on in life. Undoubtedly, people who happily get married do not dream of divorce, however it is an unfortunate reality of many families. Furthermore, in these families all have different experiences, so it is extremely difficult to draw one conclusion for all these children. This issue focuses on whether or not divorce is harmful to children, and whether it causes irreversible psychological damage. Parents do their best to prevent separations from happening, however life moves quickly and sometimes people grow apart. Regardless, divorce is an extremely prevalent social issue in the United States, and it is important to impress upon children that no matter how divorce may affect them, it is under no circumstances ever their

Separation or divorce is a process, not just a single event (Clark 6). Divorce is, in more times than not, the sum of an on-going conflict. This atmosphere is toxic for the children who, whether they want to be or not, are right in the middle of the separation as if it were a burden of their own. This leaves the children in a mental battle that they have no power to control. This group of adolescents start to question how and why their parents can’t make it work and then, rightfully so, are left with the question of whether or not they are the problem. These children

Children have to face many things during their parents divorce like conflict between their parents, the transition of being in two homes, and dealing with the changes that happen during their parent’s divorce. Many children will react differently to their new situation and many factors can affect how they transition through the divorce. Parent’s divorce can leave kids feeling alone and like they cannot trust or rely on their parents anymore. Kids will react at different times with different emotions some will act out and others might avoid people and being social. Parents need to understand that their children are also grieving as