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Cause and effect of divorce on children
Cause and effect of divorce on children
How divorce affects child development
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It is a beautiful day outside as you are walking along a sidewalk. Suddenly you bump into the person of your dreams. A few weeks pass and you find yourself falling in love. Sooner than later, you decide that this is the one. So, you get married, you have children, you are happy and everything seems to be sailing along great. Although your marriage has its difficulties, you work through them and work toward a happy ending. All your children are well behaved and smart with promising futures. Then, all of a sudden, the “spark” extinguishes and your once perfect, happy home feels like a war zone. You and your spouse are continually disagreeing and fighting about insignificant things. The children are bewildered and sit back watching with despair. …show more content…
Children today are busy with friends, sports, and other circular activities. There are countless opportunities and dreams which most children only imagine accomplishing. What if one day, that was all to change. Suddenly, their life is a complete mess. Children and teens are not mentally prepared to withstand a divorce between the two people they think can get through anything. It is not fair for someone so innocent to have their world completely flipped upside down and their life changed forever. Divorce can change not only the child’s life, but also the way they talk, think, and behave. Focus on the Family points to a decline and a regression in a child’s behavior which includes drug use, crime, and sexual behavior because of divorce. Grades tend to drop and the likeliness of graduation is diminished. “Negative attitudes become apart of their life and fantasies begin to play a role” (2006-2007). According to the author Desia, in her article about how children are affected by divorce, she …show more content…
You don 't look fine!” “I said I’m fine! Leave me alone!” Relationships are the most important thing in a child’s life, but can be tremendously affected by divorce. Whether it be with a family member or a friend. Relationships can be challenging when put in front of a child from divorced parents. It causes trust issues for the child and it also affects the way they think and feel about their future relationships. A team of people from the cite of Marripedia (2008) say: Parental divorce often leads to low trust among children, and those who casually date exhibit the strongest effects of parental divorce, suggesting that the repercussions of parental divorce may be in place before the young adults form their own romantic relationships. The divorce of their parents makes dating and romance more difficult for children as they reach adulthood (pg. 1, para.
A significant portion of children in the United States are impacted by divorce. Empirical investigations verify that children of divorce are at a heightened risk for the development of psychological, social, behavioral and academic issues (Amato, 2000; Amato, 2001). Amato and Keith (1991) studied the welfare of children of divorce compared with that of children whose parents are still married to each other. Children from divorced families scored considerably lower on a range of outcomes and it was shown that these problems can persist into adulthood. Given the high rate of divorce and the negative effects it has on our youth, the implementation of effective prevention programs has great significance (Wolchik, West, Sandler, Tein, Coatsworth, & Lengua, 2000).
The argument over how divorce affects children is one that has been going on for a very long time. Some people believe when parents get a divorce the children are not affected at all, while others believe when parents get a divorce the children are affected by the impact of divorce more than anyone in the family. In some cases, married couples can be in such a terrible marriage that divorce can in no way be avoided, and these divorces are usually the ones that children benefit from and are affected in a positive way. Many times though, a couple will choose to get a divorce because their marriage is not exactly the way it used to be, and they want that aspect of life back; these are the divorces that negatively affect children. Even though in some cases divorce does not affect children negatively, many times when parents obtain a divorce, the children are negatively harmed in many different ways that will forever change their lives.
Parental divorce has led a major impact on children’s life. The life that follows after divorce is significantly changed from how life was before. It is observed that divorce have unlike affect on young child and adolescent. Young child are closely c...
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).
Divorce is a heavy concept that has many implications for those involved. The situation becomes even more consequential when children are considered. As divorce has become more commonplace in society, millions of children are affected by the separation of the nuclear family. How far-reaching are these effects? And is there a time when divorce is beneficial to the lives of the children? This paper will examine some of the major research and several different perspectives regarding the outcomes of divorce for the children involved, and whether it can actually be in the best interest of the kids.
Children of divorced parents may have a lower sense of psychological well-being than children who grew up with intact families the range of feelings that a child may encounter include: disbelief and denial, sadness, loss, loneliness, depression, anger, anxiety, fear, relief, and hope. Some children may experience long-lasting emotional effects into their adulthood that damage their ability to preserve relationships. The result of parental divorce shapes children emotionally and may impact self-esteem, future relationships, dating and marriage (Armando Loomis and Booth 895+)..
Most people, when thinking about divorce, worry about the impact that it has on the children that are involved. Even though children are most likely better off if totally incompatible parents separate instead of staying together, divorce is about loss and change, and it is still hard for children. Everyone knows that divorce has its effects on children. There are three different sources that try to explain these effects. Graham Blaine Jr. states that divorce is a threat to all children, whereas Rhona Mahony states that divorce is not always the cause of behavioral or academic problems in children coming from divorced families. Yvette Walczak and Sheila Burns state that the extent of the damage can be determined by the parents and their methods of explanation to the children.
Academic research has shown that 41% of all marriages end before their 30th year of marriage (Battams, 2013). Many studies dispute the fact that divorces only effects children psychologically, but this paper will focus on other important factors including emotional and behavioural effects along with short and long term effects a parental divorce will have on children. The purpose of this paper is to present the various types of ways that children cope with the stress and depression of a divorce. Of these various ways in which children cope with the stress of divorce, their are coping strategies that are proven to treat children effected by a divorce.
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
Divorce is a process that many people in America go through. The divorce rate continues to escalate over the years. Divorce is a serious problem, it is a gradual process that ultimately results in families breaking up. There are various factors in which a marriage can fail and end up in divorce. Some skip the step of trying to reconcile things and make it work. In some cases it is easy for a divorce to take place. For instance, in cases where both parties are in agreement and have no children it is easier to handle a divorce. But in the cases where children are present, what happens to the kids? Both parents are at each others throats or one is devastated from the rejection, what role does the child play? It is a hard thing to cope with as an adult imagine as a little one or even a teenager, it affects them in more ways than anyone can imagine. It can affect them both physically and emotionally. The effects of divorce are immense, it permanently weakens the bond or relationship between a child and his parents. Can lead to them reaching out or looking to others for attention, causing poor attitudes, low self esteem, dropping grades, loss of virginity, use of drugs and or weapons, or in some cases mutilation of the body. There are various effects that children have to deal with that maybe extremely hard to cope with. One parent may say one thing yet the other disagrees and makes it impossible for the child to have a stable relationship with both of them. Children need both biological parents at their side to be guardians and counselors in their lives, to be examples of what they need to do to become outstanding citizens in our community.
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...
It is unfortunate that marriages sometimes end and there are children caught in the middle of the marriage but it may be worst for the parents to stay together simply for the children’s sake. However when parents do divorce the children are the most effected by the divorce. Often enough the divorce causes children to feel displaced and also to have feelings that their world is coming to an end. These children tend to grow into adults with either extreme emotional detachment and self-esteem issues or they will have strong family values and try to prevent the cycle from repeating itself but the majority of these children grow up suffering from the divorce.
Children will be suffered conflict with the interaction with their parents and siblings, and other aspects in their family life by cause of the divorce (Berk, 2010). Some parents who decide to get divorced that they were waiting the time on arguments and fights. Also, these parents use their children to punishment to one to each other. For this situation, children have a lot of conflicts on their emotions, and they have issues in their security. For instance, the custody’s fights are the biggest battle during the separation, and parents develop a lot of stress during this process. In the majority of the cases, mothers have the custody of their children, and they have to raise as a single mother. Also, the children tend to develop a lot of fears and about what they want to do. The divorce brings several negatives on children, and children live with a lot of stress during the divorce process. As well as, each child is different, and they
In the world we live in today, divorce has unfortunately become a normal thing in our lives. Many married couples are getting divorced for many reasons; problems in the marriage, either a spouse having an affair, a loss of feelings, and many other types of complications. Many divorces involve children who are young and due to their age do not understand what is really going on. We all know someone who has dealt with divorce. Children are the ones who are typically affected the most by the divorce and they will have to learn to cope with their parent’s divorce at such a young age, affecting them in positive or negative ways.
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 ...