Children of Divorced Parents
Marissa White
What happens to the children of the family with two parents get divorced? As a child of a divorced home, I had often wondered about the long-term effects that divorce has on the offspring. To analyze the impact of divorce, we must first define divorce itself as the “act of legally ending a marriage” and its prevalence in the modern world. (Sangster) According to Margaret Sangster, the United States has the leading rate of divorce in the world today. (Sangster) Statistics also show that, as of 2015, 6.083 million children live in a home with one of their divorced parents. (Gale) While researching the effects of divorce on children, it became evident to me that the stance of most academics is that
…show more content…
Although I agree with the main argument of supporters of divorce to protect children from seeing a dysfunctional family, my personal stance would have to be with the opposition. I believe that divorce has long-term effects on children that parents don’t often consider when initially making the decision to separate. Personally, I have experienced depression as a direct result of the mayhem caused by my parents’ divorce and the every-other-weekend lifestyle that I had to adapt to. This is referred to as the “difficult transition that occurs only after couples separate--the emotional upset, fall in income, diminished parenting, continued conflict, and so.” (Cherlin) This could potentially create a chain of divorce in my family because studies show that “parents with psychological impairments are reportedly more prone to divorce and their children are more likely to experience developmental difficulties.” (Cherlin) This would become important when I am married with children and have to battle my own past and the resulting psychological …show more content…
Ed. K. Lee Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 49-52. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.
"Just Whom Is This Divorce 'Good For?'." Family in Society: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 74-78. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.
Cherlin, Andrew J., et al. "Longitudinal studies on effects of divorce on children in Great Britain and the United States." Science252.5011 (1991): 1386+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.
"Living Arrangements of US Children Under 18 Years Old in 2015." Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2016. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 8 May
Every year more than half of all marriages between a male and female end in divorce (Weaver & Schofield, 2015), and data from the 1990 census states that over one million children experienced parental divorce (Amato, Sep. 2001). Compared to the 1960s 90 percent of children in the US grew up with two biological parents. Today that figure is only 40 percent (Bryner, 2001). Clearly, the prevalence of divorce should be a concern for the adults who live and work with the children who are affected by this phenomenon.
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.
WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF DIVORCE ON CHILDREN? Annotated Bibliography Children of divorce. (1994, Spring). Mothering, (70), 25+.
Divorce, a very controversial issue in today’s society, has glaring effects on society as well as individuals. Approximately half of all marriages will end in divorce, resulting in close to one million children per year struggling to deal with the aftermath (Fischer 2007). Parental divorce has been proven to have long-term negative effects on adult mental health (Chase-Lansdale, Cherlin Kiernan 1995). Divorce was at its highest rate in the early 1980s. The first group of children to be affected by these very high divorce rates entered adulthood in the 1990s allowing sociological research to begin on the adverse affects associated with divorce over the span of different ages. Until this time, a lot of research focused on short-term effects surrounding
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.
Janet Shansky of Iona college wrote this intellectual article about some major theories within divorced families. These theories have the potential to explain the connection between parental divorce and negative outcomes for the children. These include, but are not limited to, the "marital disruption" theory, the "reduced resources" theory, and the "parental conflict" theory. Shansky takes a deep look at all of the research that went into these theories and how they explain the adverse effects of divorce on children. Another aspect of her article is how these significant theories can be put to use in intervening future students and children from having such a hard time with this major change in their life.
The impact of divorce on children has been associated with lower academic scores, behavioral difficulties, and depression. Therefore, it is important to make compromises that benefit the
The scholarly article “The Long-Term Effects of Divorce on Children: A Review,” by Judith S. Wallerstein, explores various studies conducted by psychologists over a twenty year span, about the long term social and psychosocial difficulties experienced by children of divorce. The majority of the research for this particular topic discusses how the problems for these children began long before the actual separation of the parents, a theory that had not been previously researched in full until these studies. After reading the article, it is evident, that often the divorce itself is the last resort of the quarrelling parents. By waiting several years before finally breaking off the failed marriage the parents are unintentionally
The statistics for divorce in the 1990's suggest that nearly sixty percent of marriages end in divorce. Given this startling figure, the assumption can be made that many children will experience some effects caused by the life-changing event called divorce. What is it exactly about divorce that causes negative consequences for these children? In what ways will these children be effected? Will these effects show outwardly? I will attempt to uncover some of the complexities surrounding these psychological questions in the following text. The unsettling fact is: young children of divorced parents face great psychological challenges due to the environmental conditions and changes associated with divorce (Wolchik and Karoly 45).
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.
With the large and growing number of divorce rates, research is now discussing the effects it has on the children of divorced parents. Now divorce does not just impact the individuals going through it, but their children as well. Not only do children have to live with one or the other parent, have shared custody, or various other living arrangements that may change, but their entire life that they knew changes. Research is
Fagan, Patrick F. and Robert Rector. "The Effects of Divorce on America." World & I, vol. 15, no. 10, Oct. 2000, p. 56. EBSCOhost, fortwayne.libproxy.ivytech.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.fortwayne.libproxy.ivytech.edu.allstate.libproxy.ivytech.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=3628746&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 24 March 2017. Fagan and Rector discuss the many issues divorce can have on a child. They argue that when it comes to divorce, there are primarily negative outcomes for the child involved. Children who are victims of a divorced family have an increased chance to abuse drugs and become involved in crime. These children also have a higher rate of living in poverty, being undereducated, and becoming psychologically
Among industrialized countries, the highest divorce rate is in the United States, where about half of all first marriages end in divorce and more than a million children experience their parents’ divorce each year. During the '80s and '90s numerous examinations in different fields researched the inquiry whether there is a negative impact of this procedure on kids. Albeit most investigations demonstrated that separation has negative effect on kids, there are a wide range of elucidations about the outcomes of this circumstance on kids, particularly about the force of the impact, regardless of whether the negative effect is emerging from the separation itself or from the procedure, and whether this procedure can entirely be useful for the children in a few circumstances. Notwithstanding the negative impacts of the separation itself on youngsters, we ought to consider additionally the negative consequences for kids coming about because of the contention between the guardians, which is every now and again terrible and unpleasant. There is presumably that extensive losses of this battle are simply the
Each and every day a child somewhere in the world is experiencing major changes within their family. One of those major changes is divorce or separation of parents. Divorce is “the action or an instance of legally dissolving a marriage”(Webster, 2011 p1). Today’s reality shows that couples only have one in two odds of remaining together. “ The U.S. Census bureau – involved in research about counseling children of divorce- estimating that approximately 50% of all American children born in 1982 lived in a single-parent homes sometime during their first 18 years. Mostly are due to divorce”(Children of Divorce, 2008 p.1). The rapid increase in divorce rates is a factor that has contributed to the large decline of the typical family. “Over 1
Does the divorce of parents harm their children? Sadly this is a subject that is studied more and more due to the fact that so many marriages today are till divorce do us part instead of till death do us part. To truly understand and determine the effect of divorce on children one must look at the evidence of both sides and with an open mind. On one side we have Judith S. Wallerstein, Julia Lewis, and Sandra Blakeslee say “yes” to the stated question. On the other side we have E. Mavis Hetherington and John Kelly who say “no.”