Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren

2272 Words5 Pages

Grandparents raising their grandchild/ren are slowly becoming a raising epidemic in today’s society. This new trend of grandparents raising their grandchildren has become the focus of many researchers. Researchers are exploring the health perspective and the emotional perspective, but there is little research on the policies that must change to accommodate neither this new family structure nor the social issues surrounding it. This paper will take information from ten sources and two interviews to give a clear perspective of this growing population in social work practice. The information will address thought-provoking facts, the micro, mezzo, and macro levels of social work practice, and the experiential component which includes two documented conversations an lastly my thoughts on the subject. Population Information The Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons or AARP research shows that the United States has close to 5.7 million children living in grandparents’ homes. These families are often called “grand families.” Grandparents providing sole care and custody for grandchildren populations are slowly becoming a trend, but have been part of families’ structure since the 1940s (Goodman & Silverstein, 2006). According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 5.8 million grandparents are living with their grandchildren under the age of 18 and 42% of these grandparents have primary responsibility for their grandchildren (Grinstead, L.N., Leder, S., & Torres, E., 2007). The U.S. Census Bureau reported that in 1970, 2.2 million or 3.2 percent of children in the United States lived in a household maintained by a grandparent. However by 1997, this number had risen to 5.5 percent or 3.9 million, a 76 percent increase over 27 ye... ... middle of paper ... ... reports: marital status and living arrangements (March, 1990). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office (Series P-20, No. 168). Vacha-Hasse, T., Ness, R., Dannison, L. & Smith, A. (manuscript submitted for publication). The Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2005). New incarceration figures: Thirty-three consecutive years of growth. Retrieved July 10, 2013, from http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_stateratesofincbyraceandethnicity.pdf Dannison, L., & Nieuwenhuis, A. (Eds.). (1996). Second time around - grandparents raising grandchildren. Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University Press. De Toledo, S., & Brown, D. (1995). Grandparents as parents: A survival guide for raising a second family. New York: The Guilford Press. Griffen, M. & Waller, M. (1985). Group therapy for the elderly: one approach to coping. Clinical Social Work Journal, 261-271.

Open Document