This paper discusses the factors that determine if the impact of divorce on children and parents is positive or negative and how extensive the impact is for the children.
Abstract The following paper explores the psychological impact the high rate of marital breakdown have on children and how these effects impact on society. The marital breakdown addressed in this paper is between heterosexual couples. To examine this topic a review of literature has been conducted. A comparison of children living in intact families and children living in divorced families has been completed to demonstrate the similarities and differences. This paper also discusses the effects on members of society of the high divorce rate and the positive outcomes of divorce.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Mediators of Divorce
Economic Effects of Divorce
Effects of Conflict on Children
Effects of Absence of Non-Custodial Parents
Effects of Remarriage
Long Term Effects of Divorce on Children
Effects on Society
The Positive Consequences of Divorce
From the Paper "Some children experience an easier adjustment to divorce while others display difficulties for a long period of time. Factors have been identified that ease the adjustment for children. These conditions include supportive interactions with family members and friends, having effective coping strategies and accessibility to any needed mental health interventions (Cooney, Hutchinson and Leather). The effects of divorce can be lessened also if the parents act without hostility, if children's relationships with their parents are continuous, and if the children's financial needs are provided for by the parents (Thompson and Amato). Thus, reducing life stresses will moderate the impact of divorce on children."
Abstract The paper shows that many parents today seem to have lost their ability to support the education of their children. It shows how many claim they lack the time, interest, and/or financial resources to get involved, but teachers can be trained to reverse this trend and encourage parental involvement.
From the Paper "Schools need desperately to implement programs for parents that teach them how to get more involved in their child's education. Research has unmistakably shown that student achievement improves as parental involvement increases (Kelly, 1994). By training teachers how to encourage parents to more actively participate in their children's education, we are taking the first step towards creating a more positive attitude towards learning that could ultimately help teachers achieve their goals of providing a top quality education without unnecessary distractions such as excessive discipline."
Tags: family, learning, school, students, teachers, training
Elaine Tyler May's "Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold covers historical development of family unit, social, economic, political forces and the breakdown of traditional family.
1,125 words (approx. 4.5 pages), 1 source, 2001, $ 39.95
From the Paper "Elaine Tyler May's Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era captures the underlying tensions that belies the portrait of the traditional American family from the ?40s to the late ?60s. In May's depiction, the family was upheld as a bastion of security and domestic bliss. Men were willing to sacrifice the autonomy and freedom of bachelorhood to assume the responsibility of being the primary breadwinner of a family. Concomitantly, women gave up their pursuits in education and careers to take on the domestic responsibilities of wife and mother (May 23). However, in her book, May highlights the individual tragedies of these nuclear families that appeared to have everything any family could have wanted. The seething discontent of the individuals in these families would ultimately lead to the disintegration of traditional family units (May 201-2)."
Abstract This paper provides an introduction to family or domestic violence, including the cycle of violence from one generation to another. It defines several kinds of violence including physical, mental and sexual. The paper examines the effect of domestic violence on the community and shows what is being done (and what is not being done) about America's number one health public health problem.
From the Paper "There is rarely a single cause of domestic violence. However, one constant in most instances of domestic violence; those who abuse family members, either witnessed abuse or were abused as children. It is called the "cycle of violence", it is a behavioral pattern, and psychologists refer to this as "intergenerational violence", because it affects many generations of the family. The American Psychological Association states, "The strongest predictor of violence, is a history of violence within a family". Women who witness abuse as a child are at a greater risk of experiencing abuse as adults. Furthermore, men who witness abuse as a child are at a greater risk of abusing. To "them" it is an accepted part of a male-female relationship; they imitate and repeat what familiar to them."
Abstract Discusses importance of parental involvement in a child's education. Influence of parents on child development. How parents influence the environment that children are raised in. Impact on student achievement. Quality of home life as critical to educational success. Children's need for parental support. View of teachers and parents on the necessity of parental invovement.
From the Paper "Introduction
There is an old saying: "It takes a village to raise a child". In today's society of multiple marriages, relationships, step- and half-families, family reunions can indeed look like a village. Yet, in these families, as well as in other, smaller, nuclear families, or in single parent families, the most important aspect is whether or not the parents are involved in the development of their child.
Contrary to recent articles and books by Judith R. Harris indicating otherwise, because of their dependency on the adults in their lives, children will always be effected by their parents (Azar, 2000). After all, "parents are a child's first and most important teachers" (Fuentes, Cantu, & Stechuk, 1996, p. 16). The question is, however, how will they be effected and to what degree. For this reason ..."
Abstract Social learning theory states that people learn a behavior by imitating others and receiving rewards for this emulation. The paper describes the ways in which this theory is put into play in the way parents raise their children. The writer explains how social learning theory is used to understand the differences in levels and types of aggressive behavior, as well as the influences of race, gender and family structure.
From the Paper "Bandura, a major proponent of social learning theory, states that the personality is learned within a social context, with the reciprocal interaction between the environment, the behavior, and the person (reciprocal determinism). The reciprocal determinism paradigm includes self-regulatory behavior, self-observation, judgmental processes, and self-response. Bandura's theory proposes that the personality is learned through the process of observation and imitation, symbols are used to achieve this phenomonen, and people are the self-regulators in the complex interaction with the environment (Corsini, 1977, p. 422; Feist, 1985, pp. 266-267, 270-284)."
Tags: parenting, imitation, reward, emulation, environment, social
Abstract The media, including television, magazines, radio, internet and billboards surround everyone daily, sending messages about what items to buy and why. While the effect is obvious among the adult population, the effect is even more profound on the teenage population. The present day media has established a target on adolescents, influencing them to smoke, drink, look a certain way and dress a certain way in order to be accepted by society. This paper focuses on the affect that television has on teenagers, showing that the average American teenager will view nearly 14,000 sexual remarks, sexual innuendos, and jokes per year. The paper details the negative effects on these youths, including an increase in violence, early sexual activity, substance abuse and eating disorders.
From the Paper "Studies have shown that young women subscribing at an early age to "teen" magazines such as "YM" or "Teen" have a much higher rate of eating disorders. According to the National Eating Disorders Association (2002), an increase in magazine viewing led to a 45% increase in lowered self esteem in young women age 12-15. Another study showed that 66% of young women believed that models in magazines were their "ideal" image, or what they were expected to look like (Irving, et al 1998). Actually, the average American woman is 5?4" tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is 5?11" tall and weighs 117 pounds. Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women (NEAD, 2000)."
Abstract This paper is a research proposal designed to show that students perform better in school, both academically and socially, when their parents and/or other caring adults are involved in their lives and that the skills students learn from their parents and school at a young age carry over into their adult lives and affect how they function in society. The author reports that she will use a quantitative method based on report card grades and a parental questionnaire ascertaining the degree of parental involvement. The paper assumes that the analysis will show that, in general, children who perform well in school have more parental involvement overall than children who perform poorly. And this is why programs for these at-risk children, those not supported by their parents, are so badly needed.
Table of Contents
Definition and Significance of the Problem
Conceptual Framework/Literature Review
Hypothesis or Statement of Purpose
Methodology
Data Analysis
Limitations of the Study
From the Paper "Often, there is not much time for the children after the parent or parents arrive home from work. They are tired, and therefore the homework and other concerns of the child are often neglected or done in haste instead of talked about the done properly. This is doing a great disservice to our youth, as they will be the future of this world, and many of them will be ill prepared for the "real world" of work, bills, and household duties and responsibilities because of a poor education and poor role models. This can be prevented, but it is not an easy fix, and much work remains to be done."
Abstract This paper examines the theory put forth by John Bowlby on the four stages of attachment. It examines the development of attachment between mother and child and the caregiver relationship. It also deals with coping with separation and separation anxiety.
From the Paper "With his identification of the four stages of attachment, John Bowlby (1969) was instrumental in illuminating the changes in the development of attachment between mother and child. During the first phase of indiscriminate sociability, infants interact ..."
Abstract This paper argues that lack of maturity in adolescence, the link between increased criminal activity and alcohol consumption, the link between alcohol consumption at a young age and illicit drug use, and the high rate of alcohol-related deaths among young people are factors that overwhelmingly point to the need for a high legal age for alcohol consumption.
From the Paper "Due to the immaturity and lack of reasoning skills demonstrated by adolescents in their late teens, it is crucial for the legal age of consumption to be 21 rather than eighteen. Although the difference in age is only three years, a lot of maturation and responsibility is gained in this short time span. Often young adults have completed or nearly completed college in these three years, or have taken on the responsibility of a full time job. Many young adults move out of their parents? homes and establish their own lives that they must support independently through earning an income and behaving in a responsible manner. This increase in responsibility and maturity translates into a better understanding of the consequences yielded by one's actions and better decision-making. A twenty-one year old is better equipped through life experience to make responsible decisions regarding alcohol consumption than an eighteen year old is."
Abstract Structural Family Therapy is seen to be effective in treating dysfunctional and non-functional families by assessing their performance in relation to societal and/or community structures; that is, larger structures within which the family must function successfully. This paper explains how it is a particularly effective type of therapy in dealing with youth with drug problems, but can be used in any context. The writer tells how therapists using the structural paradigm approach families, often in familiar or household settings, as groups and groups-within-groups, and they encourage enacting and balance in structural paradigms that are based on power, joining/opposing, and roles and effective communications strategies. It points out that the model is generally attributed to Salvador Minuchin, who was most active in the mid-20th century.
From the Paper "Structural Family Therapy is most commonly associated with the innovative impact and methods of the Argentine Salvador Minuchin, who practiced as a family therapist in the mid-twentieth century and was renowned for his clinical acumen and ability to get families under his tutelage and moderation to make effective and lasting changes. Minuchin ?discovered two patterns common to troubled families: some are ?enmeshed,? chaotic and tightly interconnected, while others are ?disengaged,? isolated and seemingly unrelated? (Salvador, 1998). His method of assessing and contributing to functional families varied with the situation, and in Families and Family Therapy, the therapist set down what were to become the fundamentals of Structural Family Therapy."
Abstract This paper looks at the increased reports of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. The writer points out that only recently has the Church needed to answer for itself and take a stand due to the high level of reported cases. An examination of the Church's response is given which follows criticism of their reaction.
From the Paper "The Catholic Church has been rocked recently by allegations of sexual abuses"especially against children. The problem is not isolated but all pervading. The cases of child, sexual abuses are about the same percentage as the general population. Most of the cases are not, in the strictest sense pedophilic"sex with pre-pubescent children, but ephebophilia?abuse of adolescent children. In a comprehensive study of 2,252 priests for 30 years, only one case of pedophilia was found. It involved a priest with two six year-old nieces. Between 5 and 10 percent of priests were pederasts (ephebophiles). (Jenkins, 1996)"
This paper supports arguments in favor of divorce by discussing the advantages of divorce for people who have not sustained a loving and partnering relationship.
905 words (approx. 3.6 pages), 0 sources, 2002, $ 32.95
Abstract The following paper examines how divorce is yet another tool for making life more palatable. The writer focuses on the way in which it is a way for many people to enter new worlds, new adventures and new avenues they may never have pursued. Divorce may not be a breaking apart but rather a bringing together of things that some people may not otherwise have been privileged to enjoy.
From the Paper "Financially, divorce can be very beneficial for some partners. Women who may have been on a strict budget or were not aware of the family assets, suddenly through divorce come to "financial realization". They often find out that their partners had assets that they were unaware of and now in some cases, they have 50% of those same assets.
The argument for divorce will never be compelling but there are advantages that are often overlooked as stated in this paper. Even when children are involved, divorce can be a good thing. Think of all the fathers who never get that involved with their children while they are married. Once they are divorced and if they are lucky enough to have joint custody, their children are apt to see more of daddy than they ever did before.?
Abstract An in-depth study on how children from broken homes are affected emotionally, physiologically and from a behavioral point of view. The paper explores issues such as children with single-parent homes vs. two-parent homes, the benefits of friends and extended families, single parent attitudes towards children, effects on academic education and emotional behavior, socioeconomic effects, step-parents and single fathers.
From the Paper "Today, single fathers seem to be more familiar with these roles in home management and childcare than mothers. Furthermore, the tie and connection between single fathers and children as well single mothers and children have now become new focal points for self-direction. Both single parents have set the criteria for organization of more traditional spheres of work and social life such that now single fathers develop close relationships with their children and have a greater appreciation of responsibility in being the primary parent.
However, the fact remains that no mater how good mother or a father can be as a single parent, the negative and adverse effects of children's development proofed through various studies concludes that there's a price to be paid for removing one of the traditional pairs, and the old-fashioned concept and belief that to have a mother and a father is still a pretty good idea."
Abstract This paper discusses the moral and legal ramifications of surrogacy being recognized by the law and by the state. It examines the impact this might have on childless couples, how the truth might effect the child in the future and how, in the end, the best interest of the child should be the main factor in this decision making process.
From the Paper "A clean break from the child is what the mother must make. Deliver the baby and walk away--no binding emotional ties. Surrogate mothering takes place when an infertile couple asks another woman to carry their fertilized egg in her womb. The woman is usually paid to carry the embryo and once born she hand over the child to the couple. However, this creates a number of moral and ethical problems that are quite a dilemma. Though the concept offers a very effective solution to the problem faced by couples that are unable to have children the fact remains that the emotional toil on the surrogate is high. That there are legal problems involved is also something that cannot be doubted. Is the state entitled to interfere in a personal issue if a surrogate decides that she will keep her child? Then consider the medical issues."
