People Usually Measured Someone’S Socioeconomic Status

Children of divorce are numerous, the effects of their biological parents separation and subsequent divorce has lasting effects on their behavior, academics, and their emotions. No one seems to care about the prevalence of divorce in society today; it is no longer considered taboo.

As we stated earlier, age is not a safeguard to the effects of divorce (Oppawsky 2). While adults may be more able to understand their feelings and seek the support they need, they are still subjected to the emotional and mental consequences of their parents’ divorce. In Wallerstein and Lewis’ study on the “Legacy of Divorce” many of the adult children recalled their own feelings of shock and unhappiness at the time of the separation and it’s aftermath. Almost all remembered feelings of loneliness, bewilderment, and anger at their parents. Many cried as they recounted their history and their childhood fears that would be forgotten by their preoccupied parents. Some even claimed that their childhood ended when their parents separated. When these children reached young adulthood and when love, sexual intimacy, commitment, and marriage took center stage, many of them were haunted by the ghosts of their parents’ divorce and were frightened that the same fate awaited them. They feared their own commitment (Wallerstein and Lewis 359-360). In fact, children of divorced homes are more likely to experience marital instability and a slight elevation in their own divorce rates. Many of the parental divorced children also found that their parent’s actions were actually causing problems amongst their own children. They often felt lost

Several factors play a role into individual mental health following a divorce. Age, gender, and socioeconomic status are three of the key demographics that determine the consequences associated with parental divorce (Fischer 2007). Research demonstrates that divorce can affect the mental health of adolescents, but the divorce itself is not specifically the trigger of issues but rather to consequences following a divorce (Chase-Lansdale, Cherlin Kiernan 1995). Some common effects known to shape the mental state of adolescents from broken homes includes: less time with parents, relocation and economic issues (Strohschein 2005). My study will look at how a change in economic status following a divorce shapes the individual mental health of those involved in the divorce process. While there is a lot of research that suggests those with low socioeconomic status are more susceptible to divorce (Fischer 2007), there are not many conclusions on the effects a change in socioeconomic status has following a divorce. Typically, the better a family’s financial situation, the more likely parents are able to minimize the impact of divorce (Fischer 2007). The presence of economic resources likely ensures that an adolescent will be able to maintain their daily life schedule. More importantly, families with high levels of resources face a significantly decreased chance of falling below the poverty line following a divorce (Fischer 2007). Conversely, adolescents coming from low socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to fall below the poverty line. Economic status plays a pivotal role into how divorce effects all

and their world. He or she may be uprooted to a new school, city or

Families, as units, are extremely complex and vary drastically from one another. A person might be under the impression that his or her own family is nothing special, especially if they are accustomed to their family’s routines. After analyzing my own family through the sociological lenses of an assortment of scholars, it is now clear that it is not as simple as it seems. Sociologically analyzing my family through the divorces that have occurred in my life makes it clear that divorce can have an impact on a variety of family dynamics, such as my parents and their jobs and domestic duties, the amount of involvement they have with their friends and family, as well as my financial dependence on my parents.

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).

The economic factors are also a problem with divorced families which in turn has a direct effect on the ability of the children to succeed financially. The majority of divorces that occur result in the household income being reduced by as much as half. This can have a much greater effect on children growing up in a family that is financially secure before the divorce. The adjustment and change that must occur financially is often devastating to the children especially in their formative years. (Fagan & Rector, 2000)

All the subjects were middle-class, suburban families, and the children, by and large, were happy, health youngsters. Wallerstein and Kelly made this selection deliberately to eliminate the effects of poverty, urban living, and preexisting emotional disturbance on families, thus highlighting the impact of divorce. The researcher found that divorce hit almost all children like a bolt

Divorce is comparable to an epidemic since it has been filtering through many societies at an increasingly alarming rate. According to the most current statistic, there are more than 2.1 million marriages in the United States (“Children of Divorced Parents”). Out of those, almost half end in divorce. Divorce nowadays is extremely common. In fact, in America there is one divorce every thirty-six seconds (National Marriage and Divorce Rate Trends”). Each year over a million American children suffer from the divorce of their parents (Amato 24-26). Even though it might be shown to benefit some individuals in their own personal case, for the majority it causes a decrease in an individual’s life and puts many people “on a downward trajectory from which they might never fully recover” (Amato). Over long term, the United States divorce rate has been on a rise since 1980, which means more children being affected (Macionis). These children that are affected are faced by emotions of anger, confusion and even fear. These emotions affect their academic performance, social interactions, behavior, self-esteem and other negative effects. This literature review is important in calling attention on the current research studying impacts of divorce on children. The topic of divorce is a wide-ranging topic. However, this particular literature review focuses only on the effects that divorce has on children. The data presented in this paper is collected from

According to the Sociology text, over four thousand persons aged 15 and over were reported a century ago where many had regarded divorce as a mark of personal failure. Also, the marks on the chart are determined by the divorce rate rose during World War II, when many couples were separated for long periods of time. By the 1950s rates had dropped below three thousand divorces and rose by 1985. These rates are notified to be tripled over the past century.

This article talks about divorce-stress-adjustment perspective. The article review draws on research that goes all the way back to the 1990s and it basically answers the following questions: What factors mediate the effects of divorce on individual adjustment? Are these differences due to divorce or to selection? How do individuals from married and divorced families differ in well-being? Do these differences reflect a temporary crisis to which most people gradually adapt or stable life strains that persist more or less indefinitely?

It examined the ways in which cohesion may impact children’s adjustment to parental divorce, and its effect on their future romantic relationships. This research ultimately dispels the myth that all divorces cause the generational transmission effect. The generational transmission effect is concluded to universally exist, but there are definitely many other factors that come into play when it comes to divorce. It was concluded that just because a couple divorces, it does not mean their children are certain to get a divorce, but they do face a higher chance. The idea that divorce is passed from generation to generation, ultimately depends on levels of conflict and cohesion. All five articles I had chosen concern the children of divorced parents and their future romantic relationships. They are all fairly recent sociological articles, with studies done by sociologists. Some studies from the articles I have chosen argue that divorce makes a strong impact on children’s future relationships, whereas others say there is little to no impact. Through my studying and research I have come to find that in each article there is one common factor in their findings: the outcome of the children’s relationship depended on how the divorce went, as well as how the children were able to cope with the divorce. Levels of conflict and cohesion were predominant

Divorce can effect many things that happened in a person’s life. Many of the research done today focuses on the effect of divorce on work and finances; things that effect a person’s wellbeing for their future. However, not many research done on divorce discusses what happens to the family system in a family as a result of divorce, including the effect it has on the many relationships that make up the family. After researching the affects of divorce on relationships, it has become clear that relationships in the family decline in each relationship that makes up the family. What has not been prominent until now is that these relationships continue to decline as the children of divorced families become adults. The five articles reviewed in this

Kelly (2003) is critical of some early literature by Wallerstein and Blakeslee (1989), arguing that these were biased and influenced public perception, with a ‘persistent emphasis on pathology’ (Kelly 2003, p 240). Other studies on divorce are more robust and ‘challenged the belief that divorce alone was the cause of children’s poor well being’ Kelly (2003 p.240) citing Cherlin et al (1991). This may account for the greater acceptance of the variety of modern families. Because divorce is so common, children no longer wish to be typecast as ‘children of divorce’ (Flowerdew & Neale, 2003, p. 158). It is these stigmas that could have negative connotations for the child as well as the parent; these stigmas in themselves may prevent children from adjusting if they feel that they are being judged.