Family is an important structure within society. The word family may be defined in various ways: you may define it as a group of close friends who you genuinely care for and trust, or as a group of people who are related by the blood which runs through their veins. In this country, we see all types of families. The traditional nuclear family consists of – a father, mother, and children. However, currently this is not always the case. Divorce rates have risen over the years, breaking the nuclear family; unfortunately, this event can affect children’s development. Gary Peterson and Kevin Bush mention the conclusion of – children benefiting from two-parent families rather than single-parent families (499). This can be proven when we notice …show more content…
They tend to internalize and sometimes externalize their feelings. Some common immediate reactions are: fear, anger, sadness, fear of abandonment, denial, and imaging reconciliation between parents (Mcwhorter 12). An example of this can be found on the first page of the article ‘Preparation and a Gift Help the Transition,’ when it states “Children often misinterpret and blame themselves for stressful situations.” Divorce can be a very stressful meanwhile young children tend to blame themselves for the whole situation; most of them believe that it’s their fault that their parents were fighting. Of course, this is not true in many divorce cases, yet it is commonly seen because they try to find someone to blame. This can be a way of coping with the idea of their parents divorce. We can study the short terms effects divorce has better when we observe younger children. This term, younger children, can be broken down into two different categories: preschool age, toddlers, and school age.Common short term effect we see in preschool children, are: the tendency to have behavioral and withdrawal problems. For school-age children are frequently seen as having academic problems and experience feelings of fear, worries, sadness, and lost (Clarke-Stewart & Brentano 130). There are more differences between the children’s reactions. Preschool children are usually very young and sometimes can’t remember what has happened before the divorce, but
According to Marquart (2006), “after a divorce the job of making sense of the two worlds and the conflicts that arise between them doesn’t go away—it gets handed from the adults to the children(p. 215). When living with one parent a child may develop a sense of confusion when it comes to the family hierarchy because of the loss of one or more of the leader figures in the household (Kumar, 2011). Loss of one of the family incomes and
The change in a family dynamic, such as a divorce, will have a huge impact on a child’s development. During childhood, divorce in a child’s early life is one of the most stressful life events that can occur. Although, all children are not affected, majority of children are more likely to become affected and have a negative impact when it comes to their social and cognitive development. According to Velez et al (2011), “evidence shows that factors such as parental warmth, acceptance, support, family cohesion and firm rule enforcement are positively associated with engagement efforts and negatively associated with disengagement efforts” (pp. 245). At a young age, if children are experienced with a change in their family dynamic, this will lead
Children of divorce often suffer from negative psychological effects such as changes of views on marriage, a sense of lost hope for their family and thinking that they have been abandoned and forgotten.
There is so much emotional distress that these children endure due to their parents being in a divorce that one can only imagine the fragile state of mind that they are in. An example of such is being with one parent for a few days that may differ from the other, religiously, economically and socially from the other parent. This causes tension and confusion amongst the children that affects their everyday life and well-being. Another example would be, if one parent tells the child that school is important and they should strive for better by getting good grades and going to college, and the then on the other days the other parent is telling the child that going to college gets you nowhere, it causes disparagement and confusion within the child making them feel displaced.
Child and adolescent development is already a sensitive time with the emotional and physical changes, so divorce of the parental figures may only make it a more fragile process for the child (Newman, et al., 1993). Young children about five to nine years old will perceive divorce as a physical separation of the spouses, whereas older children about ten to fourteen years old will perceive divorce as a psychological and emotional distance between the spouses (Newman, et al,
Children at a young age can adjust to their parents’ divorce, but some children may not adjust to the divorce of their parents and may carry all the emotions and painful memories with them through adulthood. When parents get a divorce while their children are at a young age the children really don’t exactly know what is going on, and they don’t know why their mommy and daddy are not living together anymore. With teenagers the divorce of their parents is harder on them because they know what is going on and why their parents are not living together anymore. Also with teenagers they had both of their parents together during their whole childhood, but now they don’t. Teenagers will sit there and tell themselves that their lives are different now because they don’t have both of their parents together anymore. Teenagers that their parents get a divorce don’t really have a lot of time to get use to the whole situation before they move out on their own. It is harder on the teenagers trying to divide their time between both parents. Teenagers do a lot of activities and have things they need to do, so with that they really don’t have that much time to go to the other parent’s house and spend that time with the parent. If parents get a divorce while their children are out of the house and in college then the children might think that their parents only waited to get a divorce till they were out of the house and off to
People get divorced often. In fact, an average 813,672 people get divorced every year, CDC.Gov says. But one thing people don’t pay attention to as much is how it affects the children of these couples who get divorced. According to psychologytoday.com, the children whose parents divorce must adapt to new surroundings and “Witnessing loss of love between parents”.
In today 's society, divorce or remarriage rate has been growing rapidly. Divorces is a legal action between married people that is on longer together. Over the last twenty-five years, several studies has indicated that divorce process may affect family characteristics and most especially children 's cognitive performance. Divorce changes children 's lives through parental emotion and behavior. Divorce may also increase the risk of negative outcomes for younger and older children. Children from infant and toddler are less likely to be affected by divorce because is an early development stage (Leon, 2003). The purpose of this study is to better understand how parental divorces affects a child 's development, how children transition from living with both parent or divorces single parent and also. Studies, how divorce could influence a child 's behavior, emotions, a child academic and their future relationships. Between young children and older children who react or adjust more to parental divorce. My hypothesis is to see divorce effect a child 's cognitive, emotional and psychological aspect class or at home.
I met the love of my life in my financial accounting class. He was charming, and intelligent, and he carried himself well. Early into our relationship I realized underneath this assuring exterior, was a broken, unstable man. He had issues with trust, and he always took many health risks. He explained to me how hard it was for him to attach himself to people because he figured they would leave anyways. "Nothing is forever." he seemed to believe. On top of all these negative behaviors he was a closeted alcoholic, and was in denial of the psychological issues he had developed. All of this is classic behavior from a child who grew up in a divorced home. He did not get the reassurance and healing he needed during his child development, and it has become evident in his adult life. The separation of his parents caused an unstable childhood, and a detachment to his father. It took a while for him to realize that his trauma was caused by his negative childhood experiences. Understanding the cause and effects of his deeply rooted behavior helped us get through many problems.
As a result of divorce, there are many children that have to go through this situation at a very young age. Children of ages three to six have a difficult time understanding why their parents are splitting up. They are still at a young age where they do not accept the fact that their parents are no longer going to be together. Kids have the hardest time when the parents did not argue in front of them because the divorce comes out of the blue. Children like to fantasize that their parents will reunite to help cope with the pain. As a consequence of this, the relationship between the child and parent is affected by not having the same mutual bond they used to have. This can change the dependency of the relationship even if the child does not remember the divorce itself. Going through this situation at a young age can affect their relationships as an adult as well.
Many times when people get a divorce they tend to not take into consideration about their kids, whether they are five, ten, or seventeen. They go along with the divorce not realizing that this poor child 's life is about to be turned upside down. Divorcing someone, while children are involved affects the way children develop to become adults. It can scare them, when they grow up to be parents one day, or they may even not want to be parents one day because all of the things they had to go through when their parents were getting a divorce. Kids absorb and acknowledge what is going on around them regardless of their age, which is why when divorces occur the atomosphy is very unsettle.
Effects of divorce may vary by gender, age, development level, and quality of noncustodial parenting (Miller, 1). For example; preschoolers are more likely to focus on maintaining emotional security and relationships with both parents, and to need routines in their school and home environments. These early problems can be compounded by the time they reach middle childhood. This is the result of the child blaming him or herself for their parents divorce. The child may feel that it is their responsibility to some how bring their parents back together.
The bond between the parents and the children changes and it will never be the same either. Some adults may be able to deal with emotional situations better than children. Having both parents in the home gives a child a sense of security. For children divorce can be stressful, sad, and confusing at any age. While parents may be devastated or relieved by the divorce, children are invariably frightened and confused by the threat to their security. Studies show that kids are never the same emotionally after the divorce of their parents and it also in most cases affects their marital success.
As divorce separates families, this situation can cause financial hardship on divorce families as each household transition from two incomes to one. This reduced income can place economic and financial struggles of single parents trying to support children. Separated parents are now each responsible for individual housing, utilities, and various other expenses. With divorce, there are high legal fees that result from the divorce proceedings and custody battles over children. These economical issues can place additional stress on the families and children.
They may initially react by getting lower grades or becoming depressed or anxious. Younger children may choose to cling to the parent that they live with for the fear that they could lose both parents. “Troubled children are particularly likely to develop problems with anger, disobedience, and rule violations”(Emery pg. 1). They can become antisocial and no longer wanna be around their friends. And in a lot of cases the child feels their to blame for the divorce which can cause them to be depressed.