Taking Sides Paper
Brianna Miller
Brigham Young University
SFL 210, Section #001
19-425-0539
Taking Sides: Divorce Centuries ago, divorce was illegal as well as rarely discussed, but now it is viewed as a common life event for children. In the article “Divorce’s Toll on Children”, author Karl Zinsmeister uses a variety of sources to explain his reasoning that divorce has negative and lasting effects on children. The purpose of this paper is to summarize Zinsmeister’s article, to analyze the research methodology by identifying three weaknesses and one strength in the critical thinking that the author uses, and to provide an opinion on the topic of divorce.
Summary
Zinmeister’s article focuses on the impact of divorce on the millions
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Every time the author began to write a new claim, he made sure to include statistics, quotes by professionals, quotes directly from children who had experienced a divorce, and examples of studies that were related to the point he was making. Zinmeister never made a claim without having data to support it in some way, and this made most of his points convincing are at least logical. For example, when writing about children’s view of divorce, the author says their opinions are “unambiguous: it’s a disaster” (Zinmeister, 1996, p. 151). Then Zinmeister immediately goes on to cite a survey conducted by a professor where hundreds of students in middle school rated divorce as the second most stressful event in their life. The claim he made was supported by sufficient evidence that proved it to be accurate, and this made for a strong paragraph in his article. Another example was when he claimed that parents tend to underestimate how upset their children will be about a divorce. He cited a study that surveyed parents and children and discovered that the children were more upset by their parents’ divorce than the parents had thought they would be (Zinmeister, 1996, p. 152). His use of data to support his claim resulted in the readers being able to come to a conclusion that the claim was true, or at least believable. This helped the readers …show more content…
I think that there are ways to save a marriage, but too often, married couples divorce because it is the easy way out of an unhappy situation. In this case, both parents put their desire for happiness before the needs of their family as a whole. I believe that other solutions are both possible and effective. One of my main reasons for believing this is because of my religion. I believe that when a man and woman marry, it is for time and all eternity. Families have the potential to be together forever, which is a wonderful blessing, and to disrupt that eternal relationship has profound consequences. Another reason behind my opinion is that I have witnessed the negative effects of divorce on people that I know. Childhood should be a time of happiness, learning, and growing. Instead, I have watched as children must put all of that on hold while their parents go through a divorce. The short-term impact of divorce is terrible and miserable for everyone involved. While people can find success and happiness after divorce, there still is that weight of sadness hanging over memories of their
Council on Families in America. "Divorce Harms Society." Marriage and Divorce. Eds. Tamara L. Roleff and Mary E. Williams. Current Controversies Series. Greenhaven Press, 1997. Excerpted from “Marriage in America: A Report to the Nation by the Council on Families in America,” March 1995. Rpt. by permission of the Institute for Family Values. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Thompson Gale. 15 June 2005
Divorce is prevalent in many parts of the developed world, it has been estimated that roughly 50% of marriages in America up until the 1980’s ended in divorce (Rutter). Divorce is arguably a personal hardship for both partners and their children, in that the stress of the divorce places both men and women at varying risks of psychological and physical health problems (Hetherington, Stanley-Hagan and Anderson 1989). However, using C. Wright mills’ definition of the “Sociological Imagination” we begin to view divorce as not just a personal problem of a particular man or woman, but as a societal concern that affects a wider category of people at a personal level. Therefore this essay will examine the societal structures which contribute to divorce
Divorce has grown conventional in today's society. First marriages stand a 50% chance of breaking up and second marriages stand a 67% chance of doing the same thing (issue 8 pg 146). It seems as if instead of working out problems and believing in love, people are giving up and throwing away all they worked on together for so long, thinking that their next marriage will be much different. By doing this they are hurting not only themselves but also their children and could cause them to have negative side effects later on into their adult lives according to clinical psychologist Judith S. Wallerstein. Erikson's theory of personality development can help calculate which and how stages are affected when parents get divorce. Stages 3, 4, 5 and 6 seem to be the most affected by the divorce because the main conflicts the child is confronting at the time are necessary to go through them calmly for a healthy development.
“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.
Lach, Jennifer. “The Consequences Of Divorce.” American Demographics 21.10 (1999): 14. MAS Ultra – School Edition.Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Divorce is becoming a worldwide phenomenon, significantly affecting children’s well-being. It radically changes their future, causing detrimental effects. According to (Julio Cáceres-Delpiano and Eugenio Giolito, 2008) nearly 50% of marriages end with divorce. 90% of children who lived in the USA in the 1960s stayed with their own biological parents, whereas today it makes up only 40% (Hetherington, E. Mavis, and Margaret Stanley-Hagan, 1999). Such an unfavorable problem has been increasing, because in 1969, the California State Legislature changed the divorce laws, where spouses could leave without providing cause (Child Study Center, 2001).
Wallerstein, J. S., & Lewis, J. M. (2004). The unexpected legacy of divorce: Report of a 25-year study. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 21(3), 353-370.
Divorce should be harder to obtain due to the effect that it has on children the main effect it has on the children is depression. “ In the short term divorce is always troublesome for children Mavis Hetherington videotaped and scrutinized the workings of 1400 divorced families since the early 1970’s. Hetherington pinpoints a crisis period of about two years in the immediate aftermath of separation when the adults, preoccupied with their own lives, typically takes their eye off parenting just when their children are reeling from loss and feeling bewildered” (Hethrington 2). This article states that the short term effect of divorce affects the kid deep because they feel that they lost one forever and in those 1400 many of the kids felt the effect of the divorce. “Wallerstein has told us that divorce abruptly ends kids’ childhood, filling it with loneliness and worry about their parents, and hurting them prematurely and recklessly into adolescence. (Wallerstein 2).” This later affects the kids life because they try to think of happy memories they had but really all they can think about is the parent that they loss due to the divorce. “Contrary to the popular perceptions, the alternative to most divorces is not life in a war zone. Though more than 50 percent of all marriages currently end in divorce, experts tell us that only about 15 percent of all unions involve high levels of conflict. In the vast number of divorces, then, there is no gross strife or violence that could warp a youngster’s childhood. The majority of marital break-ups are driven by a quest for greener grass—and in these cases the children will almost always be worse off. (Zinsmeister 2)” this proves to me that when people get a divorce they most of the time don’t ...
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
Amato, P. R. (2000). The consequences of divorce for adults and children. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 1269-1287.
Historically saying, divorce has always been known as a deviance of society and people who are involved in divorce were being looked down on. However, as the world slowly evolves, people’s sense of individualism also amplified; this created the
Divorce has a negative effect on the psychological and social aspects of our children, which may appear instantly or not come to the surface for years. This is why I think that divorce should only be a last resort and not rushed into even by couples with the most troubled marriages. The only acceptable reason for someone rushing into divorce is if they or their children are in danger. I believe that marriage is a commitment not to be taken lightly and disregarded at the first bump in the road especially when there are children involved. Far too many people do not want to take responsibility for their actions and choices; for example, people use abortion as birth control and couples’ jumping in and out of marriages like it’s a trial and error institution. Marriage is no longer taken seriously; commitment and monogamy are no longer an essential ingredient. For most couples today, it’s not even considered as a part of marriage. The negative effects that divorce has on children should be the number one consideration when a couple hits that hard time in their relationship.
...d be up to people if they want to stay in a marriage or not. A complicated divorce will make it harder for people to make the right decision and be happy, it will also make the process harder for their children.
A divorce is defined as “a judicial declaration dissolving a marriage in whole or part, especially on that releases the marriage partners from all matrimonial obligations” as stated by www.dictionary.com/browse/divorce. In current society divorces has been a well-known phenomenon and is quite common t everyone. Couples are getting divorced die to many reasons. Some of them are, but not limited to other love affairs, loss of romantic feelings, infidelity, getting married to young or even conflicts in the home between the two spouses. It is a heavy concept that impacts child(ren) and family one way or the other, both advantageous and negatively.