|
|
Divorce: Children and Society Each year, over 1 million American children suffer the divorce of their parents; moreover, half of the children born this year to parents who are married will see their parents divorce before they turn 18. Mounting evidence in social science journals demonstrates that the devastating physical, emotional, and financial effects that divorce is having on these children will last well into adulthood and affect future generations. Divorce: Children and Society Since there is so much discussion of the effects of divorce on children, it is important to begin stating divorce (overall) does have negative effects on children. Divorce not only has an effect on the family institution, but also effects the other institutions: religion, economy, education, and state. Children that come from a divorced family have more difficulty in school, more behavior problems, more negative self-concepts, more problems with peers, more trouble getting along with their parents and less likely to participate in a religion. With half of American marriages ending in divorce, divorce greatly affects the younger generations (York, 1998). Most psychologists and sociologists agree that there are six major hypotheses regarding the causes of children's difficulties: loss of a parent, economic loss, stress, poor parental adjustment, lack of parental competence, and exposure to conflict. These six effects are affiliated much more with family institution and the economy institution. If the family is the building block of society, then marriage is the foundation of the family. However, this foundation is growing weaker, with fewer adults entering into marriage, more adults leaving it in divorce, and more and more adults eschewing it altogether for single parenthood or cohabitation. American society, through its institutions, must teach core principles: that marriage is the best environment in which to raise healthy, happy children who can achieve their potential and that the family is the most important institution for social well-being (York, 1998). One of the most significant factors in divorce is a child has a loss of a parent, affecting more the family institution. Divorce often results in the loss of a parent for the Divorce: Children and Society 2 children and with this loss children also lose the knowledge, skills and resources (emotional, financial, etc.) of that parent. Though many no custodial parents still spend time with their children, there still is less time being spent. One finding that emphasizes the importance of parents as a resource to children, is that children who lose a parent due to death are somewhat similar to children of divorce (Fagan, 2000). Generally, children who lose a parent due to death suffer some of the same problems as children of divorce. However, the effects of death are not exactly the same as the effects for divorce as studies suggest that children of divorce have greater problems than children with a deceased parent.
|
