Divorce and Its Effect on Children

Divorce and its Effect on Children Sociology 120 Wednesday December 7, 2011 My research paper is focusing on how break up p atomic number 18nts sham infantren. I am focusing closely on how the fry is affected behavior exclusivelyy, emotionally, and academically. I chose this topic not because my p arnts argon dissociate, but because I forget be getting married at the end of this month and I thought this would be interesting. I believe that in galore(postnominal) cases, carve up is not needed and that the p bents should hammer a slender harder and ritual killing to have fail relationships with each other and their minorren.The question I compliments to answer is if children atomic number 18 affected by the divide of their p arnts, and if so, how much. My hypothesis is that children of disassociate parents are negatively affected behaviorally, emotionally, and academically. I felt like it was break out to focus specifically on these trey areas so I could better mea current what it is to be negatively affected by decouple. After I first chose this topic to research and use for my paper, I started off with the everyday question in mind of does separate affect children. I use the LCC library resources online to start gathering information.It was after I spent a opus gathering information that I discovered that my topic was alike broad and that to to a greater extent than effectively answer the question I was seeking, I needed to narrow down my topic. I looked at the research I had collected from online, newspaper phrases, and academic journals, and found a few reoccurring themes. These themes of children of disjointd parents being affected emotionally, behaviorally, and academically are the ones I would like to overcompensate in my paper. Divorce has pass a very common instalment in todays society.When to a greater extent than than half of all divorcements command children under the age of 18, divorce does not only(prenominal) af fect the married man and wife, but now more than ever their children get mixed up in the fewtimes ugly process of divorce. constantlyy year more than one million children experience the divorce of their parents, and overall close to 40% of all children volition experience parental divorce before they acetify 18(Amato). Emotional damage is most potential the hardest effect to identify and stopvas with children of divorced parents because it can be hard to measure and is not something that can easily be see.An article in American Journal of Family integrity entitled The Psychological Impact of Divorce on Children What is a Family lawyer to do? discusses a submit that surveyed 1,000 teenagers between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. The study preserve their opinions on divorce and measured thoughts, feelings, and attitudes on the subject. Dr. Robert Gordon conducted the poll and named it the GordonPoll Youth Survey. The teenagers were asked rough their parents arguing and 50% of the teens said it is terrible. When asked what the arguing consisted of, 26% said that their parents arguments include criticizing the other parent. Another 35% said that their parents arguing included screaming, hitting, and throwing squash (Jolivet). Dr. Robert Gordon stated after the results of the poll were collected and analyzed that, Clearly, children are more deeply bothered by parent conflict than most adults mobilise. objet dart very few adults would scream, hit or throw things at their spouses, most married couples would admit that they at least occasionally disagree and pick apart each other in frontoftheir children.Id like to think that these survey results would make them think twice approximately that (Jolivet). Whether the parents are still together and fighting, or divorced and fighting, it is neat that the children who are caught in the middle of the parents feud are the ones who suffer the most. This same article discuses a list of particularors that researchers have compiled together to help identify a high-conflict divorce that could have a more significant impact on a child.The factors that have been identified include criminal convictions, involvementof child welfare agencies in the dispute, several or ghost changes in lawyers, frequent court hearings, the overall lengthoftime it takes for the case to settle, and a invoiceofcontact or timesharing denial (Jolivet). The effects on children emotionally and behaviorally are roughly doubled when they are a part of a high-conflict divorce. These high-conflict situations should be avoided at all costs to ensure the emotional impact on the child is minimal.Studies have shown that children who are a part of these high-conflict divorces experience correctly negative emotions including, chronic mental strain, insecurity, and agitation shame, self-blame, and guilt a chronic geniusofhelplessness fears for their own physical safety a senseofrejection, neglect, unresponsiveness, and missofinterest in the well being (Jolivet). Luckily, most divorces would not be classified as a high conflict, but that does not miserly the emotional impact on children of divorce is nonexistent. At the very least, straining is a major problem that divorce has on a child.Robert Emery, Ph. D. is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Children, Families, and the Law at the University of Virginia. Emery has create verbally numerous books on the subject of divorce and family relationships. An article he has create verbally displays the results of a study he did on college students and the lasting impact divorce has had in their lives. Of the 99 students polled in this study, 73% admit that they would be a different person today if their parents had not divorced. Close to half overly say that their parents divorce still causes struggles in their lives (Emery).Emery to a fault says that besides stress being a major impact on children of divorce, the risk that the y will have other affects is substantial. He says, Divorce clearly increases theriskthat children will suffer from psychological and behavioral problems. Troubled children are particularly likely to develop problems with anger, disobedience, and rule violations. School achievement also can suffer. opposite children become sad for prolonged periods of time. They may become depressed, anxious, or become perhaps overly responsible kids who end up sympathize with for their parents rather of getting cared for by them (Emery).The article The Psychological Impact of Divorce on Children What is a Family Lawyer to do? states a number of behavioral problems that are brought out in children who experience a high-conflict divorce. Some of the behavioral problems are defined as, a groupofbehaviors which can be described as lower commitment to coupling, infidelity, problems with anger management, feelingsofinsecurity, neediness, demandingness, denial and blame, contempt, and poor conflict h eroism skills, higher(prenominal) levelsofdepression, and more problems with peers (Jolivet). In comparison, Dr. capital of Minnesota R.Amato of Pennsylvania State University compared the results of these studies to like ones of children who have grown up in stable, two-parent families. The children of the stable families have a higher standard of living, receive more effective parenting, experience more cooperative co-parenting, are emotionally closer to both parents, and are subjected to few stressful events and circumstances (Jolivet). Another study performed by Dr. Amato and Dr. Danelle D. DeBoer has shown that adults who have see the divorce of their own parents as children prove to have higher range of divorce themselves. During the 17 ear study, 2,000 married individuals and 335 of their children who also got married were observed. The study revealed that divorces were seen more often among the adults that had parents of their own who had divorced. Dr. Amato commented on his studies with the theory that parents who had seen their own parents divorce saw divorce as a reasonable solution to an upset marriage. Dr. Amato does add that adults with divorced parents are not necessarily going to be doomed to divorce themselves, but that they may need to work a little harder to keep their own marriages from following the same path to divorce (Jolivet).Psychologist Judith Wallerstein, founder of the Judith Wallerstein Center for the Family in Transition, has conducted numerous interviews with children of divorce and to this day is sacred to her qualitative method stating it is more personal and intimate. Wallerstein began her interviews back in 1971, straight after the no-fault divorce was passed in California. Divorce rates began rising as parents took advantage of this new law not taking into account the affect it would have. Wallerstein decided to start talking to the children about how the divorce affected them.Of the sea captain 131 children she had when she started her project, she has continued contact with 93 of them. The children are now adults themselves and through her interviews she has set(p) that, the major impact of divorce does not occur during childhood or adolescence, rather, it rises in adulthood as serious romantic relationships movement focalize stage. When it comes time to choose a life mate . . . the effects of divorce crescendo (Peterson). Wallerstein found that of the 93 adult children of divorce she has interviewed, only 40% have married.She says that the adult children of divorce expect to fail at marriage and that they fear loss, conflict, betrayal and loneliness. She also states, That she is amazed that the children of divorce tell her divorce is with them every day of their lives and how much their parents divorce shaped their adult years. (Peterson). Its plain to see that based on the results of these numerous studies, that divorce sure does play an important role in the lives of children of divo rce both while they are still young and as they grow into adulthood.It not only affects their life as a child, but also their future. An article in the The Miami Times entitled How divorce affects a childs education, Fran Newman, author of Children in Crisis explains some of the shipway a childs education is affected by divorce. She states that it can be very difficult to detect the way divorce affects a child, but one of the more noticeable changes is in a childs education. Whether the child begins acting out in class, or their grades drop, it is something that needs to be addressed. Newman encourages strong communication between home and naturalise.She also adds that, in recognizing that theres something wrong at home, teachers look for two things. One is a child who is normally energetic and outgoing withdraws. The other is the stable child who all of a sudden begins to act up and get into all sorts of problems (Education). Are the differences in school because of the arguing t hat occurs at home, or the fact that the parents devote most of their time to the divorce, new spouse, or themselves instead of their children? Sara McLanahan, a sociologist at Princeton University, has done several studies measuring the academic effect divorce has on children.In one such study, McLanahan discovered that children of divorce are more likely to drop out of high school compared to children whose parents stay together. In her studies, she found that the middle-class is affected the most and that, They are roughly three times as likely to drop out of high school if their parents split up. She also found some interesting results that show how the children are affected as they grow into adulthood. In girls, she discovered that they are more likely to have a premarital birth, and boys have a higher chance of being unemployed (Divorce).Kathleen Kiernan of the Family Policy Studies Centre and Martin Richards of Cambridge University have also done research of the lasting impa ct divorce has on children as they grow older. Their research however was focused on families in heavy(p) Britain where there are more records, some dating back to the 1950s, of how divorce impacts children as they grow into their 20s. These records confirm much of what McLanahan has shown in her studies of children as they move out of their teens. The studies done by Kiernan and Richards have confirmed that children of divorce are more likely to drop out of school and even leave their homes early.This leads to higher rates of early cohabitation and premarital birth. Kiernans and Richards work also suggests that children of divorced parents are less likely to attend a university (Divorce). Writer Diana Mahoney best described divorce when she said, Nodivorceis a gooddivorce, but when it comes to the kids, somedivorcesare clearly better than others (Jolivet). It is clear that not all children of divorce are impacted the same ways as others, or as profoundly. Parents have the huge res ponsibility of caring for their children and many parents take this matter too lightly.Many steps should be interpreted before divorce is even an option, and too many parents see divorce as the only step when a relationship becomes a little shaky. If a divorce is absolutely necessary, it is the parents great responsibility to make sure the child always comes first no matter what. Works Cited Amato, Paul R. The Consequences of Divorce for Adults and Children. Journal of Marriage and Family62. 4 (2000) 1269-87. ProQuest Central. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. Divorce and Children They spoil You Up. The EconomistMar 20 1993 33-. ProQuest Central. Web. 6 Dec. 2011. Emery, Robert E. How Divorce Affects Children. The Truth about Children and Divorce. 2011. 05 Dec. 2011 http//www. emeryondivorce. com/ how_divorce_affects_children. php. How Divorce Affects a Childs Education. Miami Times 15B. Ethnic NewsWatch. 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. Jolivet, Kendra Randall. The Psychological Impact of Divorce on Chil dren What is a Family Lawyer to do? American Journal of Family Law25. 4 (2012) 175-83. ProQuest Central. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. Peterson, Karen S. Unhappily Ever After Children of Divorce Grow into Bleak Legacy. USA TODAY 01. D. ProQuest Central. kinfolk 05 2000. Web. 6 Dec. 2011.