Taking a Look at Divorce

Divorce is not only difficult for parents, but even more difficult for the children. It can hit hard and fast but can also be built up from long term damage and stress on the marriage. Children can view their parent’s divorce in multiple ways. They can visually see it, or they can hear it. Children may also not view the divorce at all. Divorce can be sudden, confusing, and hidden. It can be a quick and relieving process, or it could be slow and painful. The relationship could be fought for night after night with little progress being made. The marriage could be fought verbally or even physically. Hurtful words are thrown to bring an end to the relationship and caring words are thrown to keep the marriage alive.

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 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.

In today’s modern world things are easily obtainable, people prefer instant gratification. If a married couple is not happy, instead of working things out, they seek instant gratification and an end to their misery which is a divorce. I believe marriage vows are not taken as seriously today as they were in past generations. When children are involved with a divorce the stakes go much higher. A divorce is a life changer for children, their lives become less stable and more disruptive. Instead of sleeping in the same comfortable bed every night, they often find themselves torn between two homes and two people that have a great dislike for one another.

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 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.

Most researchers look at how children react and are effected when they experience parental divorce. Divorce is looked at as something “bad” for everyone who is effected by the situation. Divorce in the United States has the highest rate in the world. Over one million people a year get divorced and sixty percent of those divorces effect children (article 2). At the time of the divorce it seems like a horrible experience but, people never think about what would happen if the marriage stayed the way it was. Couples get divorced for many different reasons it could be because there was abuse, fighting, cheating and even if the couple was just no longer in love. “Children appear to be better off in cases in which the divorce substantially reduces

L., Feng, H., Kampen, R., & Schimmele, C. M. (2010) have a very strong statement on this issue. The results that concluded the article are very scientific but I believe there is much more that they need to look into when it comes to family stability. How much are the parents involved with the childs life, do both parents contribute equally in the childrens live. Whether the family is financially stable, it also depends on whether the children have a disability, whether it is ADD, ADHD, FAS, the author never considered these aspects of the children either. I do agree with some of the conclusions because most children are affected by divorce whether it is emotionally or

Marriage is a gourds approved mating arrangements, usually marked by some type of ritual. America tends to have a free spirit when it comes to marriages. People marry for love and occasionally money, but it is not an arranged or forced ritual. It is highly regarded and meant to be special. Anything as common as marriage though will have trends.

Critics often argue that children of divorce often can have a realistic outlook on life. Although people deserve a lifetime of happiness, but some people believe that divorce isn't the only avenue to happiness. For example, Dr. Neill’s article ‘Are You in an Unhappy Marriage Just for Your Children?’ adds “Parents didn’t unravel the family by separating. Rather, they separated because the family had already unraveled.” In other words, many families separate every year, divorce will unravel your family, if you rip up a piece of paper, you can never put it back the way it was, just like if spouces need to take a break, and they end up getting back together nothing will ever be the same. Another example of Dr. Neill’s article ‘Are You in an Unhappy Marriage Just for Your Children?’ states “If separating gives them space to cool down and co-parent with mutual respect, the children, as children, will be better off than when their parents were together.” Basically, what this means is that some time away from each other is a good thing sometimes, everyone needs a break once in awhile. Lastly, Palitz states in his article ‘Should I stay in my marriage for the kids?’ “The behaviors you display in your home will set the stage for how your children will behave as adults. They learn what it means to be married, how to be a husband or wife and how to effectively (or ineffectively) deal with conflict in a relationship.” What this means is that the behavior you set at home will sooner or later reflect off of your children, and how they act outside of

Divorce is becoming all too popular in our society today. When a couple experience tough times or have one too many arguments, they automatically think divorce. Despite its prevalence couples are not prepared for it’s long, drawn out, hurtful process. Divorce does not only hurt the individuals involved, it also affects the children tremendously. While many people don’t think divorce is a bad thing. Hollywood makes divorce look cool and uneventful. When in all reality, it is disruptive. Some people would say that divorce is a lazy way out of a marriage; the cowardly thing to do when a situation presents itself. Divorce is not the only answer to marital problems, in most cases.

The Act below is essential to the subject matter of the proposed dissertation as they show the current legislation and the reform of the legislation through the Centuries. The legislation gives the ground upon divorce is set out.

Divorce and its effects on children are common issues that are on the rise in the world today. Divorce affects more than just the married couple. Children often bear the brunt of divorce, which makes divorce a complicated decision for most parents. Understanding the effects divorce has on a child is important to know exactly why a child acts a certain way. A divorce can affect a child psychologically, intellectually, and even behaviorally. Children can suffer physiologically from things like depression, intellectually by having trouble in school and behaviorally by having trouble in social settings. Legally, a divorce is a single event, but from a psychological standpoint, it is a complicated,

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.