In our current society, children are experiencing negative effects of parental conflicts among married couples. The conflicts are either direct or indirect however, they result in several inefficiencies in cognitive development, behavior, and overall performance in the involved children. Nevertheless, research can possible prove that there is a incisive percentage of individuals who have derived from prior conflicting homes, and now exemplify the ideal successful lifestyle. It is in my interest and the interest of some other researchers that these individuals reach out to the younger portion of their connected counterparts in understanding/empathizing, mentoring and giving them direction to a better well-being.
Purpose of the Study
To assess if marital conflicts between parents has a direct dramatic negative affect on the outcome of their children. If there is an indirect negative affect on children, what are the causes of the indirect or displaced behavior of parents towards the child/children.
Literature Review
Researchers have conducted studies on how marital conflict is a significant source of environmental stress for children. There has been evidence of its indirect affects and direct affects. Witnessing such conflict may harm their stress response systems, affecting their mental and intellectual development. Research findings suggest that stress from marital conflict can hinder children’s development of cognitive ability.
The theme of the research includes finding supporting evidence that marital conflicts among parents does negatively impact child cognitive development. This particular literature was published on March 28, 2013. Due to this study being so vastly tested it is not the most current research done o...
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...dding stress to their lives. Additionally, they don’t learn good relationship skills from their parents because they seldom see them resolving their problems in an amicable way.” (How do marriage problems affect children?) My ultimate purpose is to advocate a positive impact on the lives of children that reside in conflicted homes as the result of former conflicted homes children’s appeals.
Works Cited
How do marriage problems affect children?. Retrieved from http://www.couples-counseling-now.com/marriage_problems.html
Social change and the family. Retrieved from http://archive.unu.edu/unpress/unupbooks/uu13se02.htm
Society for Research in Child Development. (2013, March 28). Marital conflict causes stress in children, may affect cognitive development. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 6, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130328080225.htm
For a positive future, it is only common sense that a generation of healthy children must be raised. A stable family unit and personal attention seem logical ways to rear successful young people. Yet statistics show that in 2003, approximately 37,000 marriages and 21,000 divorces occurred in Kentucky; other states showed very similar ratios, such as Ohio, with about 73,000 marriages and 40,000 divorces (NVSR, Pg. 6). Clearly, many students already have “broken homes” as obstacles, but the homogenous
Thornton A. 1991. Influence of the marital history of parents on the marital and cohabitation experiences of children. Am. J. Sociol. 96:868 94
“At current rates, about 40% of U.S. children will witness the breakup of their parents’ marriages before they reach 18” (Cherlin). This started as a prediction that was thought up almost forty years ago, in 1984. Today, this is more or less an everyday occurrence; not every divorce is the same. Yet society tends to lean towards stereotypes of divorce, when it comes to the children and how they should be acting because of the divorce.
Having a family is no easy task, especially when you are faced with many challenges that are unforeseen. Sometimes one imagines or hopes for an ideal family. The ideal family would consist of a spouse, one or two kids and live happily with little to no conflicts. The reality is that even if one tries to avoid conflict by all possible means, conflict is inevitable. Stressors and strengths within a family can be seen in almost every situation. Although stressors tend to be more noticeable than the strengths. Some of which will be discussed later on, although it will be mainly focused on the strength and stressors faced after a divorce for children. But if one focuses on the stressors more than the strengths, one will only see stressors rather than solutions.
Sobolewski, Juliana M., and Paul R. Amato. 2007. "Parents' Discord and Divorce, Parent-Child Relationships and Subjective Well-Being in Early Adulthood: Is Feeling Close to Two Parents Always Better than Feeling Close to One?." Social Forces 85, no. 3: 1105-1124. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 8, 2011).
Sobolewski, J.M., & Amato, P.R. (2007). Parents’ discord and divorce, parent-child relationships and subjective well-being in early adulthood: is feeing close to two parents always better than feeling close to one? Social Forces, 85(3), 1105-1124.
The dramatic rise in the rate of divorce in the United States between 1960 and 1980 is well known, and even more so are the high divorce rates over the past twenty years. In 1970, twelve percent of American families with children under age eighteen were headed by single parents, and by 1984, one-fourth of American families and nearly sixty percent of black families were headed by single parents (Demo & Acock, 1988, p. 619). These high divorce rates have resulted in numerous changes in American family life. While predictions vary, the consensus is that most youth will spend some time prior to age eighteen in a single-parent household based on recent social and demographic trends. Individuals with divorced parents are at increased risk of experiencing psychological problems in adulthood (Amato & Sobolewski, 2001, p. 900). Growing up divorced has become an alternative developmental path for a substantial number of children in this country (Kalter, 1987, p. 587). These trends in family composition have major repercussions for the life course of children and their well-being. Studies have shown that adults with divorced parents, when compared with adults with continuously married parents, report to greater unhappiness, less satisfaction with life, a weaker sense of control, more symptoms of anxiety and depression, and a greater use of mental health services. Overall, most children of divorced parents have experienced dramatic declines in their economic circumstances, abandonment by one or both of their parents, the diminished capacity of both parents to attend meaningfully and constructively to their children’s needs, and diminished contact with many familiar or potential sources of psychological support.
Girgis, George, & Anderson (2011) define marriage as the union of a man and a woman who make a permanent and exclusive commitment to each other of the type that is naturally (inherently) fulfilled by bearing and rearing children together. These marriages are intended to last eternity and are partially accomplished by raising children together, yet four of every ten marriages lead to divorce and of these divorces, 35% involve children (Ambert, 2009). Children tend to blame themselves for the divorce and are usually caught in the crossfire. These divorces lead to both stress and depression for children and without a strong sense of family, children will have a huge disadvantage over children with a stable healthy family (Arreola, Hartounian, Kurges, Maultasch, & Retana, 2013). Without the ability to cope with the stress of a divorce, children can be effected in multiple ways including a change in mentality, unacceptable behavioural traits and both short and long term emotional factors that will ultimately lead to a critical issue in child development.
DeBord, K. (1997). Focus on kids: The effects of divorce on children. National Network for Child Care. Retrieved November 3, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.nncc.org/Child.Dev/effectsdivorce.html
...up to their parents as role models in their lives, would you want your child to partake in arguments with teachers or fellow students while in school? When it comes down to domestic violence within the parental relationship, the parents are to look at their argument from the child’s perspective and how detrimental it may be for the child in the long run. Children’s emotional effects from the arguments may include being anxious, nervous, depressed, confused, and embarrassed. These negative emotional states also could include nightmares about these arguments, distraught while at school, and social problems with friends. Lastly, how would a parent feel if the child believes the fighting is caused by the child? The amount of distress a child will endure if the child makes the fighting and arguments their own personal faults is damaging towards the child’s well-being.
Arkowitz, Hal, and Scott O. Lilienfeld. (2013). "Is Divorce Bad for Children?". Scientific American Mind. 24(1).
Hughes, Jr. R. Ph.D. (2009) The effects of divorce on children. University of Illinois at urbana-Champaign
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, multilevel issue. Things like identity confusion, depression, and anxiety are all areas of psychological concern this paper will address. Through this explanation, I will demonstrate the harmful effects divorce has on children.
As children, we depend greatly on our parents to satisfy our basic needs, for guidance, nurturance and for help in shaping our emotions, behaviors and relationships. For children, the family is a highly valued context for understanding and interpreting their development as individuals. As Bjorklund and Pelligrini (2001) have asserted, we are a “slow-developing, big-brained species”, the relatively large size of our brains demands a prolonged period of immaturity, therefore requiring a great deal of support and nurturance from parents (DeLoache, J., Eisenberg, N., Siegler, R. 2011). However, an adaptive consequence to this extended immaturity is our high level of neural plasticity and our ability to learn from experience. Growing up in a stable environment can undoubtedly reap successful development for children on many levels, just as living in an unstable environment will certainly allow for undesirable consequences. Despite great individual differences, research from psychologists such as Erik Erikson and Sigmund Freud, among others allows us to organize and understand the affects of long lasting parental conflict on child development and family. Research has allowed a strong shot at understanding child development, allowing parental conflict to be observed and connected with the development of children across many aspects. It is largely the differences between socioeconomic status, culture, race, gender and level of conflict, support and resiliency, which directly affect children and other relatives over time.
The first topic to investigate in the increase of violence in society is family dynamics; children are more likely than ever to face a distracted family. The divorce rate has climbed greatly in the last decade. According to Jennifer Baker of the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Missouri, “50% of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in divorce.” (Baker, 2009) This would suggest that many children and their parents are facing extreme stress. When parents divorce they often become preoccupied with the situation, this may leave children fending for themselves or with ...