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Parent conflict and child development
How does family conflict affect children
Parent conflict and child development
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Recommended: Parent conflict and child development
Hypothesis
There are many negative short and long-term emotional and behavioural effects of witnessing parental conflict on children and youth.
Definition of Terms
Appraisals:
Angry/ambivalent pattern (noun): One of the three basic ways to cope with background anger.
Background anger (noun): A term in this context used to describe anger between adults.
Concerned pattern (noun): One of the three basic ways to cope with background anger. In this pattern is where children show signs of mild distress during exposure to anger between adult strangers.
Distress (noun): Extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain.
Mediate (verb): To indirectly relate to.
Self-reporting (verb): A child themselves explains how they felt during a certain situation or event.
Unresponsive pattern (noun): One of the three basic ways to cope with background anger.
Methodology
To find credible information on the negative emotional and behavioural effects of exposure to constant parental conflict on children and youth, I used many methods. My first resource was the Internet. Here I first looked into the reliable databases recommended by my school. I then went to the Toronto Public Library Website. Here I found websites recommended at school along with a few others. Some of them provided me better access to the websites already provided by the school. Others provided access into otherwise restricted websites or pieces of information. Otherwise helping me by providing me with websites that I then used to get into the restricted websites or obtain restriction information. I also searched websites I was familiar with that I knew were credible. I used Google to filter my search results so that only specific websites and pages would come up with my info...
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...ily Dispute and Resolution E. Mark Cummings and Patrick Davies
Reputable Website Articles or Information
Crowe, M. (2013). Parental Conflicts & Their Damaging Effects on Children. Retrieval from http://www.livestrong.com/article/513540-parental-conflicts-their-damaging-effects-on-children/#ixzz2mpepJynV
FANSELOW-BROWN, P. (2011, July 14). Parental conflict harmful to children. Press, The. p. GL3.
New York Hospital Queens. (2014). Lasting Effects of Parents' Squabbles. New York Hospital Queens. Retrieved from: http://www.nyhq.org/diw/Content.asp?PageID=DIW010480
Sedacca, R. (2010, April 18). (2010) Parental Discord, Not Divorce, Most Damages Children. Basil & Spice.
Reputable Newspaper and Magazine Article
Gordon, A. (2012, April 19). High conflict between parents affects kids’ learning and future health. Toronto Star.
Interpersonal conflict is. Every relationship has conflict and determining on how the conflict is resolved or handled can make the relationship stronger or weaker. If someone is more easily to come up with a compromise rather than always getting their own way, they may have stronger relationships (Bevan and Sole, 2014). Television shows also use interpersonal conflict between their characters to find a solution or compromise in the end. Interpersonal conflict is all around us, it is how we handle that conflict that makes or breaks our relationships.
Vaughn, M, and Q. Fu, and K. Beaver, and M. DeLisi, and B. Perron, and M. Howard. (2011). Effects of Childhood Adversity. Journal of Interpersonal Viole, 26 (17), pp. 3509-3525.
When there has been unresolved issues in childhood, the parents re-enact these behaviours with their own children. Chetik (1976) believes that when a parent seeks therapy for their child it’s usually because they are aware that they may have unconsciously contributed to the current issue. Out of guilt, they seek some form of parent-child work to address their child’s and their own issues. Once the parents ' issues have been identified, worked through, and resolved, the child becomes free of the parents ' past issues, and the parent and child can develop a healthy relationship (Lewis, 1996).
Levine states “a child cannot possibly develop resilience when his parents are constantly at his side, interfering with the development of autonomy, self-management and coping skills” (Levine, 2008 p.77). She says, affluent children don’t have the practical tools needed to survive on their own, they haven’t learned how to deal with problems, and they value others opinions over their own (Levine, 2008 p5). When parents feel like they have to step in to protect the health and welfare of their adolescent child they leave the child feeling disrespected or untrustworthy by their protective parents. (Levine, 2008 P223).
Mzarcovitz, Hal. “Chapter 3: Irreconcilable Differences.” Teens & Family Issues (2004): 9-14. Book Collection: Nonfiction: Web. 25 March 2014
Heath, P. (2005). Parent-child relationship: history, theory, research, and context (1st ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Everyone experiences anger at some point in their life. We all have those topics that if it gets brought up we automatically go into our defense mood, whether it be sex, religion or politics . We all have had those skeletons in our closets that we don’t like to bring out. Commonly anger and aggression are used together but they aren’t the same thing according to the Interpersonal Conflict textbook, “Anger differs from aggression is an attack whereas anger is the feeling connected to a perceived unfairness or injustice. Anger can help people set boundaries when they need to be set and to right wrongs.”
Wallerstein, Judith S. "What Are the Possible Consequences of Divorce on Children?" N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
When a couple with a child chooses to get a divorce this can have major impact on a child at any age. There are many causes of stress throughout the divorce process that can negatively affect children. First, negative reactions and behaviors are dependent upon the situation before the divorce. Some studies show that how much parents fight, how it is done, how it is resolved, and what precautions are taken to protect the children from it's effects are the most important predictors of child adjustment (Kelly, 2000). Meaning that if children are exposed to fights about custody, money, or the failing marriage they could feel the repercussions of their parents conflict. Next, divorce can cause children to have heightened fear...
Young children sometime blame themselves for their parent’s problems. The child will think of ways of how he or she can be a better son or daughter in hopes that the parents will get along. The child will also sometimes put themselves down because they think they are not good enough and that’s why their parents are fighting. The children might even feel guilty at times because they can’t stop the violence from happening. They might even feel worthless and helpless because they cannot intervene in fear of getting hurt or making it worse for their mother or father. All of this can lead to depression and other mental issues when they get
How does domestic violence between parents and parental figures affect the children who witness it? This is a question often asked by Sociologists and Psychologists alike. There have been studies that prove that children who witness domestic inter-parental violence experience mental health problems, issues with gender roles, substance abuse, the committing of crimes and suicide/suicide attempts later in their lives. This paper will explore all five of these 'effects' of domestic violence on children and show that there is evidence of a clear relationship in which increasing parental violence is associated with increasing outcome risks (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.8).
Warring parents 'in denial ' about effects of divorce on children. (2013, Dec 30). Telegraph.Co.Uk Retrieved from
Every parent experiences stressful moments during their daily activities. Whether it may be a screaming baby, a temper tantrum or a stubborn child, the way the parent chooses to react, is significant for the child’s development. Understandably, parents are only human and cannot be perfect all the time. Although no one is expecting perfection, every reaction that parents express is seen by the child, helping them to view the world through their parent’s reactions. Children depend on the adults for survival, the more calm and compassionate the parents are towards their children, the more resilient they become, in being able to handle their emotions. (Firestone, 2011)
Children’s growth and development start at a very early age. Every child develops at their own pace. Through the stages of development, people are able to see the changes in their emotional, cognitive, and physical growth. A child may grow up to be loud and very outgoing while another may grow up to be quiet and reserved. Some may have more social, emotional, and behavioral problems than others. We know every child, every person is different. Some could have inherited characteristics from their parents. Or some may have picked up these “ways” by observing. Some children may not be in the best of places growing up such as being in a family where physical abuse is present, alcohol and drugs, or family issues between parents leading to divorces. Parents being divorced or having a parent walk out in the family and never returning could negatively impact a growing child especially witnessing the leave.
Rettner, R. (2010, June 30). Divorce Not Always Bad for Kids | LiveScience. LiveScience | Science, Technology, Health & Environmental News. Retrieved July 31, 2010, from http://www.livescience.com/culture/parents-divorce-children-relationships-100630.html