Children Hurting from Parental Seperation and Divorce

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Marriage has always been, and remains, one of Canada's most important social structures. Yet more and more marriages are ending in divorce. Canada's divorce rate is currently about fifty percent. Half of all children will witness the break up of their parents' marriage. Of these children, another half will witness the break up of a parents' second marriage, as well. (Furstenberg, Nord).

As a family, divorce is a difficult matter to deal with, but divorce always takes the largest toll on the children involved. ?Many studies have shown that the children of divorce are anywhere from two to three times more likely to end up with serious, long-term damage. Problems like addiction, delinquency, school failure and mental illness are common among children of divorce.? (Good Divorce?). It is inarguable, divorce and separation cause negative effects on the children that are involved. The negative effects can be categorized into three groups: psychological effects, emotional effects and physical effects. The difference between psychological and emotional effects is that psychological refers to the way that the individual thinks about themselves and their past, current or future situations because of the divorce, and emotional refers to the way that the individual feels about others and social situations because of the divorce. Physical effects are the ways that the individual?s body reacts after the individual chooses to do something that was triggered by the divorce.

Divorce can cause many changes in an individual. People very often become very depressed, and depression changes the way the mind works. ?Depression can strike anyone at any time. Those who have recently experienced a traumatic event, such as a divorce, may be at higher...

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...ester, T., ?Parental Divorce and Interpersonal Trust in Adult Offspring,? Journal of Marriage and Family. Vol. 54 (3). Pages 642 - 656. 2002.

Linaman, Todd E., ?The Effects of Divorce on Children and Families?, Family Life Facts.

Manlove, Moore, Liechty, Ikramullah and Cottingham. ? Sex Between Young Teens and Older Individuals: A Demographic Portrait.? Child Trends Research Brief, Publication #2005 - 07. September 2005.

Marquardt, Elizabeth. ?A ?Good Divorce?? No?. Chicago Tribune. November 6 2005.

www.divorcereform.org

Moody, Lloyd. ?Child of Divorce.? Personal Interview. November 17 2006.

Pettigrew, Brian. Class Presentation, South Carleton High School. November 20 2006.

Wallerstein, Judith. ?The Long Term Effect of Divorce on Children: A Review? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Pages 352 - 358. May 1991.

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