Introduction
“Family Portrait” by Pink portrays a social problem that is unfortunately rampant in American society today; divorce. I chose this song because I am an adult child of divorce and this song helped me a lot during my parents' initial separation and subsequent divorce years later. I feel that this song gives a voice to children everywhere who are dealing with parental divorce and expressing thoughts and emotions that many children cannot express to their parents. Nowadays it is not uncommon to know one or even several people whose parents are divorced or whose own marriages have ended in divorce. Divorce has far reaching effects; not only for the couple but among the entire family.
Summary
“Family Portrait” is a song about a girl whose parents are going through a difficult divorce. This emotional song is sung from the point of view of young Pink and describes a lot of the thoughts and emotions that a child goes through when his or her parents are going through separation and divorce. In the song, Pink is singing to her mother and father; asking them to stop fighting because she doesn't want her father to leave. She begs her mother to stop crying because her mother’s emotional pain is taking a toll on her. She describes hearing yelling and breaking glasses during her parent’s fights. Her parents fight over financial problems and their children. This leads her to blame herself for her parent’s problems. She even offers to change her own behavior, such as not spilling her milk and going to bed on time, if her parents stay together. Young Pink runs away from the fighting, which she refers to as “WWIII”, but knows that she has to return home. She expresses that she “doesn’t know what love could be” and that she doesn’t...
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...nication between the couple, teach them how to handle challenges in the relationship, and teach them how to maintain intimacy and trust (Polomeno 23-4). Properly preparing married couples for the struggles of parenthood can prevent a lot of conflict and feelings of isolation or emotional abandonment; thus preventing the dissolution of a family.
Works Cited
Chyi, Catherine R. "Lessons from China?: Keeping Divorce Rates Low in the Modern Era." Pacific McGeorge Global Business & Development Law Journal (2011): 285-313.
P!nk. "Family Portrait." Prod. S Storch. Burbank: Arista Records Inc, 2001. CD.
Polomeno, V. " Divorce Prevention And Perinatal Education ." International Journal Of Childbirth Education 23.4 (2008): 21-25.
Shansky, Janet. "Negative Effects Of Divorce On Child And Adolescent Psychosocial, Adjustment." Journal Of Pastoral Counseling (2002): 73-87.
When artists go through an emotional down fall in there career’s you see some stars fall and other’s reflect to back when it all started to better themselves. As Katy Perry stated in her interview with U.S.A Today Prism is “less over-the-top and more “me””. I have come to realize that when artist put out an album, it isn’t just to see how many copies they can sell but it’s about making music with feelings, getting into there inner self and reaching out to those who admire them, the social text of the music is the heart of every song and the album altogether. A lot of the time artist will write about their emotions but never really behind the sense of what occurred. Here I will take two artists and break down there trails and show how they made them into triumphs through the context of there music. I will describe how these artist were able to create pieces of music that took over a particular emotion and were able to get it’s point across to the listener. These artists will be Katy Perry, and Britney Spears.
The main issue in this poem, divorce is a common problem that damages everyone involved in its circumstances. However, in the very first line, the narrator declares, without shame, that he or she was glad when his or her parents got divorced. This strange feeling is not often associated with kids when their parents split; the feeling is usually one of remorse and sadness. This strange feeling is made reasonable as it is indicated that her mother “took it and took it in silence”—a rather dark selection of words which suggest that the father is the source of the family’s difficulties (1-2). The father’s departure is even compared to the departure of one arguably the most hated president in the history of America revealing that the children and mother had no desire for him to stay. Furthermore, the speaker elaborates on the father’s problems after
Divorce, Chinese style; the cases that come before Shanghai's family court offer intimate glimpses of a changing society. Tamara K. Hareven.
There is a special bond between parents and children, but there is always uncertainty, whether it’s with the parents having to let go or the children, now adults, reminiscing on the times they had with their parents. The poem “To a Daughter Leaving Home” by Linda Pastan is a very emotional poem about what you can assume: a daughter leaving home. Then the poem “Alzheimer 's" by Kelly Cherry is about the poet’s father, a former professional musician who develops the disease. These are only two examples that show the ambivalence between the parents and the children.
Lach, Jennifer. “The Consequences Of Divorce.” American Demographics 21.10 (1999): 14. MAS Ultra – School Edition.Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Shansky, Janet. 2002. "NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF DIVORCE ON CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT." Journal of Pastoral Counseling 37, 73. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 8, 2011).
Kelly, J. B., & Emery, R. E. (2003). Children's adjustment following divorce: Risk and resilience perspectives. Family Relations, 52(4), 352-362.
The author uses imagery, contrasting diction, tones, and symbols in the poem to show two very different sides of the parent-child relationship. The poem’s theme is that even though parents and teenagers may have their disagreements, there is still an underlying love that binds the family together and helps them bridge their gap that is between them.
Marano, Hara Estroff. "Children of Divorce: 25 Years Later." USA Weekend. Sept. 15-17 2000: 16-17. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 04 May. 2014.
Sociological Analysis of Divorce as a Social Problem and Proposed Solutions Every year approximately 2.4 million marriages occur. Out of those,2.1 millionwill file for divorce in the United States. These marriage and divorce rates have significantly increased since the years past(Coltrane and Adams, 364).According to Schoen, in the 1950’s, 15 out of 1,000 marriages ended in divorce. In the 1970’s, the rates of divorcedoubled,increasing to 40 per 1,000 marriages. Currently, the rate of marriages resulting in divorce remains the same.
Graham Blaine Jr. who is the Chief of Psychiatry at Harvard University health services writes a chapter in the book Explaining Divorce to Children. This chapter is entitled “The Effect of Divorce upon the Personality Development of Children and Youth.” He addresses this chapter to parents who are considering getting a divorce or are in the middle of the divorce process. The author uses a combination of Ethos and Pathos to support his theory on divorce. Blaine uses these strategies to highlight the mixed emotions a child may endure while going through such a confusing stage of their early lives. This then gives the audience a better understanding of the certain personalities children may gain while coping with sad situation of split parents. He also draws on his experience as a psychiatrist to give statistics as well as true stories to back up his reasoning.
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.
Kelly, J.B. (2000). Children's adjustment in conflicted marriage and divorce: A decade review of research. Journal of American Academy of Child & Adolescent. Psychiatry, 39, 963-973.
Considering that over 45 percent of marriages today end in divorce, it is crucial to understand recent research regarding the positive and negative effects of divorce on children’s mental health. Studies have shown that although children of broken homes generally have more adjustment difficulties than children of intact families, the distinction between these two groups appears to be much less significant than previously assumed (1). In the case of parental separation, studies suggest that children undergo a decline in the standard of living, exhibit poorer academic performance, engage in increased alcohol/ substance abuse, as well as experience diminishing rates of employment. However, underlying factors must be taken into consideration when assessing the long-term consequence of divorce on children, which happens to be resiliency rather than dysfunction (1). These key contextual factors that influence post-divorce adjustment include parenting styles, custody arrangements, age of the child, financial stability, and most importantly, the nature and magnitude of parental conflict. Persistent, unsettled conflict or violence is linked to greater emotional anxiety and psychological maladjustment in children, whereas negative symptoms like fear and insecurity are reduced when parents resolve their conflicts through compromise and negotiation. Although divorce unveils many risk factors involving a child’s health, it may be more beneficial rather than detrimental to children living in highly discorded families, in which children are able to acquire externalizing and internalizing behaviors (1). The development of coping skills and living in a supportive and empathetic environment are two crucial components for children to manage their ne...
Divorce has become a phenomenon of the modern world and is grabbing attention of numerous nations as well as the media. Divorce rates are escalating in a global perspective however the increase is not as rapid as it used to be a few decades ago. Developed countries, such as the US, England and Wales are experiencing a gradual decrease in divorce rates and marriage rates since 1980 and is showing no sign of increasing. Divorce affects a wide population especially because of the development of