Grandparents Raising Their Own Grandchildren - Essay Example

Grandparents raising their own Grandchildren Part I Theoretical Application The socialization theory states that children's peer groups and those around children as they grow up do exert major environmental influence on the children's development. Therefore, it can be said that when children are brought up by their grandparents, their behaviour and character will most likely be shaped by the behaviour of their grandparents, and the way they are treated by their grandparents. In their book on the socialization theory, authors Bold, Gladys Hildreth and Ronald Fanning noted that The processes by which children develop into adulthood are genetic transmission, indirect genetic influence, which refers to the behaviour of other people in their environment, including their parents and grandparents, socialization by peer groups, and influence by parent peer groups on child peer groups. (Bold, M, Gladys J. Hildreth & Ronald A Fanning 1999) The socialization theory, like some other theories of social control, also holds that pro-social family processes like the house rules and the inherent attachment resulting from a family setting, do affect growing children's behaviour and character. The Group Socialization Theory states that children's peer groups affect the behavior and learning patterns of the children more than the influence exerted by their families or genetics. Social control in growing children can be said to operate through direct control, indirect control, satisfaction of needs, and internalized control. Direct control has to do with parental supervision and monitoring, while indirect control is the interaction of growing children's beliefs and attachment. For example, children will try not to jeopardize their family relationship by not disappointing their parents or grandparents. Growing children also seek for satisfaction of their needs, and if a child is not emotionally satisfied within the family, the child seeks intimacy and support from his peers. One important implication of this and other models is the timing of family management practices and how these affect later peer choices. Poor attachment, monitoring, and supervision in the preadolescent phase will surface later in an adolescent's choice of peers (Oxford, Harachi et al. 2001). According to Judith Harris, "the psychological characteristics a child is born with become permanently modified by the environment" (Harris 1995, p. 482) Some people are of the opinion that there are two main developments in the field of psychology as a whole that need to be better assimilated in socialization work. The first is the attack on the trait (or nature) theory, and it is argued that socialization research can survive this attack only if it becomes more concerned with structural developmental change in its dependent variables. Second, the impact of the "cognitive revolution" is assessed, and the paper argues that more attention must be given to the ways in which children process inputs from socialization agents, and developmental changes in processing capacities. Finally, it is urged that research attention must be focused on the conditions which sustain the effective performance of socialization agents. (http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED112283&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED112283) For many decades now, there has been an ongoing conjunctive effort to clearly distinguish between the roles of nature and nurture in human development, and this has eventually led to some of the most provocative discoveries and psychological advances in the twentieth century. In his book, Stephen Pinker noted that "for many decades psychologists have looked for the causes of individual differences in cognitive ability and in personality. The conventional wisdom has been that such traits are strongly influenced by parenting practices and role models." (Pinker, S. 2004) This belief that cognitive ability and in personality is a direct effect of a person's upbringing is flawed, because it is based on co relational studies that investigate the effects parental care and the environment on children, but does not allow for the natural factor of genetic relatedness. The term nurture here includes the effects of prenatal, parental, extended family, and peer experiences on development. Judith Rich Harris is also of the opinion that "Parents do not influence their children in the way that has always culturally been assumed and it is peer groups that are the major influence in determining how children will grow up." (Harris, J. R. 1999). Thus the appeal of the theory that vertical relationships during childhood do have a significant impact on human development. It has been discovered that a growing child is capable of learning things like various human languages with equal facility. Judith Harris, author of The Nurture Assumption argues that children are more influenced by their peer groups than their parents or grandparents, as the case may be, and that peer groups are the major factor in ascertaining how a child grows up. This conclusion has led to a lot of debate and controversy, but there are theories, which suggest that the vertical relationships, in which a person finds himself during childhood, do have equally significant effect on how that person develops. An example of one such theory is the attachment theory, which states that every child has a drive to feel secure through the formation of emotional bonds with their basic care givers who might be their grandparents. Part II Policy and Ethical Implications Psychologists and social workers who work with families often include various configurations of individuals in their work. Social workers involved in raising children might sometimes involve significant people in the life of the children, although in a very limited way. Including additional individuals in this way is a decision that can be appropriate and helpful. Ethical principles to the topic of grandparents raising their own grandchildren and becoming parents again Ethical principles involved in the issue of grandparents raising their own grandchildren and becoming parents again, like confidentiality, client autonomy, self-determination, informed consent, and respect for persons, may become problematic when individuals are not clear and do not understand the role of the social workers involved. Also, social workers and psychologists who work with grandparents who are raising their own grandchildren should carefully think through their relationship with each of the people whom they involve in their work. Informed consent Informed consent is a legal condition in which a person gives consent for an action, based upon an understanding and appreciation of the facts and implications of the situation. For an individual to give informed consent, such an individual has to posses relevant facts to make a decision, and should also have sound reasoning faculties "not being mentally retarded or mentally ill and without an impairment of judgment at the time of consenting. Such impairments might include illness, intoxication, insufficient sleep, and other health problems." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informed_consent) Practitioners like social workers and psychologists who work with grandparents who are raising their own grandchildren and have become instant parents again, might be hindered from legally exercising certain actions because of a lack of informed consent. In cases where an individual is considered unable to give informed consent, (for instance children), another person is usually authorized to give consent on their behalf. Examples of this include the parents, grandparents, or legal guardians of growing children. This is necessary because serious ethical issues may arise when individuals are provided with limited facts. Client autonomy Clarifications of ethical issues are attainable when social workers and psychologists genuinely consider the organization and structuring of their services in the most clinically helpful manner. Strickland also noted that "Grandparents raising grandchildren should make the drive to get along with other grandparents raising grandchildren and urge government agencies and authorities, the legal system, schools, insurance companies, social bureaus, religious and other spiritual institutions to recognize the good you are doing and to help lighten your burden as much as possible." (Strickland, C. 2006). Self-determination The Ethical Principles of Psychologists social workers helping grandparents to raise their own grandchildren with little or no warning consists of general principles and ethical standards. General Principle E, "Respect for People's Rights and Dignity," exhorts psychologists to respect the right of individuals to self-determination. The many examples throughout the ethical standards of how respecting the right to self-determination can improve client care show the important relationship between our ethics and our clinical work: Good ethics and good care go hand-in-hand. (BEHNKE, S. 2004). Confidentiality Confidentiality is an important factor in the relationship between grandparents and social workers who aid in the upbringing of children by their grandparents. "Research and theory during the past decade have contributed greatly to our understanding of the knowledge, skills, and expectations that children acquire in the context of secure attachment relationships." (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980; Bretherton & Waters, 1985). Respect for persons Conclusion Raising one's grandchild can be an ambitious task, but is quite highly honoring. In fact, it is a great gift for a grandparent to have the love and respect of their grandchild, who appreciates and places value on the sacrifices that a grandparent might have to make in order to ensure that the child is given adequate care and grows up happy and healthy. When a child is raised by grandparents, the child will have an additional duty to educate others about what they are doing, and thus theses grandparents will be given support, and respected for their efforts in bringing up their grandchild. Also, grandparent-grandchild attachments can be viewed to be functionally similar to the peer relationships during childhood, and adulthood relationships (e.g. spouse relationships). Finally, those who are culturally privileged might fare differently in grand parenting cases, and courts seem to have become more tolerant of Caucasian drug addicts who try to maintain their parental rights, even when they are misbehaving badly or missing their therapy appointments. Grandparents have thus, come to "inherit" the cultural ledger of justice, and family therapists might yet be their best allies in passing on a culture of resilience to subsequent generations. References Bold, M, Gladys J. Hildreth and Ronald A Fanning (1999) debate of judith harris' group socialization theory Harris, J. (1995) where is the child's environment A group socialization theory of development http://www.city-data.com/top2/h7.html http://www.pcusa.org/ideas/05spring/singlehousehold.htm Jendrek, M. P ( 1993). Grandparents who parent their grandchildren: Effects on lifestyle. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55. 609-621. Jendrek, M. P (1994). 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