Effects of Divorce on Early Childhood: A Critical Discussion - Essay Example

Effects of Divorce on Early Childhood: A Critical Discussion (Fill in with your information etc Effects of Divorceon Early Childhood: A Critical Discussion In the United States between 1970 and 1977, divorce rates rose a dramatic 79 percent. Although these rates have remained steady over the past few decades, an alarmingly high proportion of marriages still end in divorce. Divorce has been considered by some to be the 'best course of action', such as when a child is living with both parents amidst conflict, abuse, or both. It would be obvious in this situation that the child would be better off living with one parent rather than remaining to live in the middle of such an unfortunate scenario as that; however, even under the best circumstances, few would argue that children are not greatly and long-term affected by divorce. A child's perception of divorce will largely be determined by their age and gender, and when stressful events outweigh the available protective factors in a child's life, even the most resilient child can develop problems. Younger children, for instance, are at risk short-term due to the confusion surrounding the divorce and the loss of the parents no longer living together in the home. Younger children are also less likely to understand and make sense of all the changes which are occurring around them. In order to come to a clearer and more understanding viewpoint on this subject matter, the following questions must be addressed: 1. What is divorce and what are the phases involved 2. What are the effects of divorce on early childhood By discussing these two questions, we will gain a more knowledgeable objective on this subject of interest. This is what will be dissertated in the following. What is Divorce and What are the Phases Involved Divorce is in fact much more complex than it appears to be on the surface. Rather obviously, ending a marriage is not a one-time event that occurs in a courthouse; it is a process. Divorce in itself is a multi-level, series of events and behaviors, which has significant life-long effects on not only those who are primarily involved, but also those around them. The divorcing couple, as well as the entire family, experiences a variety of abrupt changes which impact nearly every aspect of their lives. In divorce, there are considered to be six phases in which divorce occurs, and they are the following: The emotional divorce is one which centers around the problem of the actual deteriorating marriage. This is the process in which the attributes that attracted the couple to each other slowly become less important in the presence of more negative feelings; the positive feelings of love and affection are displaced with feelings of anger, hurt, disappointment, frustration, resentment, dislike, or even hatred. The legal divorce is based legally on the grounds for the divorce. This phase of the divorce process involves the legal documentation informing that the couple is no longer married to each other. The economic divorce deals primarily with money and property. In fact, for many divorcing couples, the economic part of the divorce is the most volatile one. The process of the dividing of assets can often times be a grueling one, as emotions often run high when it comes to deciding who gets what from the material goods which were accumulated during the marriage. The co-parental divorce is the dealing with of custody, single-parent homes, and visitation. This is another significantly emotional part of the divorce process. For a long time, the mother was automatically given custody of any children unless they were specifically proved to be unfit. In the world of today, however, most custody decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, rather than immediately assuming the mother will take full custody. The child or children are placed with the parent who is deemed most capable of providing them the best care. The community divorce involves the changes of friends and community of which every divorcing person experiences. Because after a divorce the two individuals involved no longer fit comfortably in one another's life, both must find their new, altered, place in community. The psychic divorce is the part which revolves around the fact that each of the two divorcing persons has to adjust to living alone. Daily decisions and activities are now carried out as an individual, rather than as an individual who is part of a relationship. Some of these phases may take several years to complete, and some people may never even finish certain phases at all. The children involved in this divorce process have to go through each stage right along with their parents. What are the Effects of Divorce on Early Childhood Early studies (e.g. Block, Block, & Gjerde, 1986) suggested that children from divorced families had an alarmingly higher rate of emotional problems than those from never-divorced families. This research has continued on, and has also concerned itself with the possible transmission of divorce from one generation to the next; the children view and experience this divorce early on in their life, and, perhaps without any knowledge on their part, may follow in the same footsteps as their parents, simply because that is what they were 'taught'. Evidence suggests that there is a substantially increased risk for divorce in children of divorce (Amato, 1996). Other relating evidence to this shows of even more interesting findings: a recent study conducted at UCLA (Wolfinger, 1997) has found evidence that there is a downhill trend in divorce transmission over the last 20 years - specifically that children of divorce are 50 percent less likely become divorced now than compared to 20 years ago. Yet another interesting finding from Wolfinger's research is that children of divorce appear to marry other children of divorce at a rate greater than chance alone would predict. In other words, marriages of two children in divorce are especially likely to end in divorce. Behavioral problems are at an alarmingly high rate among children of divorced families, and these behavioral problems can be anywhere from subtle to violent and threatening, and are almost always - at least in some form - long-term. Over one hundred studies have been conducted on thousands of different families, comparing that of children of divorced families with children of non-divorced families. The great majority of studies found that children of divorce have not only more behavioral problems, but also more adjustment problems than other children (Amato & Booth, 1997). It has been shown that two times as many children of divorced families show signs of behavioral problems compared to those children of non-divorced families. (Hetherington et al, 1998). Behavior problems can include anything from hyperactivity, aggression, and delinquency, to poor school performance, depression, low self esteem, and anxiety. There are many factors involved when discussing the explanation for why children of divorced families experience these behavioral and adjustment problems, of which are of great importance when looking at the effects of divorce on early childhood. Several studies have found that poverty has an especially negative effect on children of divorced families (Amato & Booth, 1997), and that families are therefore often forced to move into more dangerous neighborhoods as they cannot afford (to remain in) a better one. The impact of split custody on a child has a great impact, especially on their early years. When a child has to see each parent separately, rather than growing up with a warm, caring relationship with both of them - it can be seriously traumatizing. As well, the child is also affected when there is no view of that warm and caring relationship amongst the parents. Some studies show that greater contact with the non-custodial parent at least helps children of divorce remain somewhat emotionally adjusted. (Clarke-Stewart & Hayward, 1996). Another explanation as to the significantly increased behavioral problems on children of divorced families is that of the heightened overprotective attitudes which divorced parents seem to acquire more than non-divorced parents. This is due to the fact that the divorced parents are under stress from the divorce, have less time to socialize with friends, and are therefore more likely to beginning sharing their daily problems with the children, or seek physical or emotional comfort from their children when they are feeling tired or upset. Although the needs in the parent are real, their placing of the 'friend' role onto the children is unfair, and can be the cause of a number of serious behavioral problems. The effects of divorce can be strikingly different between a boy and a girl, especially in the matter of custody. Although few studies have directly compared mother and father custody, of those that have, there is support for the assertion that young boys do better under their father's custody, and the same went for young girls - the study proved more positive for their care under the mother. In an impressive study which included 187 children divorced families (Clarke-Stewart & Hayward, 1996), it was examined how younger children fared in mother vs. father custody. For boys, father custody was associated with lower levels of depression, higher self-esteem, fewer parental ratings of the child as being 'difficult', and substantially lower anxiety. Children in their father's custody were also more likely to have liberal access to their non-custodial parent than children in their mother's care. As well, there appeared to be less negativity towards the non-custodial parent on the part of the custodial fathers. "Allowing a great deal of contact with the mothers undoubtedly gave the children more of the benefits of having two parents."(Wolchik et al, 1985). On studies of this same matter with adolescents, studies showed that there has not been much of a consistent advantage for either mother or father custody (eg. Maccoby et al, 1992). More specifically, it may be that whichever parent is more capable of and willing to keep track of what their teenagers are doing is going to be the more effective parent at this stage. Hitherto, the gender considerations are incredibly important in the discussion of divorce; as the studies indicate, the younger a child is, the more importance there is in which parent receives custody. Joint custody has also been compared against sole custody, and has steadily been a topic of major interest among researchers. The majority of studies have indicated that joint physical custody is significantly better than sole custody from the standpoint of the children's adjustment. However some research (Depner, 1994) suggests that joint custody may be chosen by families who are less disturbed than that of families who opt for sole custody. Research on divorce has found that the feelings of the children involved and their "feelings of being caught between parents are linked to internalizing problems and weak parent-child relationships." (Amato & Afifi, 2006). Children with parents in high-conflict marriages were more likely to feel caught between parents, and these feelings were also associated with lower subjective well-being. All of the previously addressed studies and research show the seriousness and threatening implications which stem from divorce, and how impacting the act of divorce is, especially during early childhood. It suggests that children of divorce may be unable to escape from the trauma and relays of divorce - even into adulthood. Intervention is of the utmost importance, and perhaps the most influential intervention for children is that of mentoring programs. These types of programs can help to reduce problematic behaviors and increase the self-esteem in youngsters from single parent families. Each child is different however, and some may require even more help than this. There are promising support groups available for children of divorce - some of which even take place in school - which may be useful to children to help normalize themselves and find supportive adults to confide in. Some states have actually even instituted mandatory programs for divorcing parents to go through that teach the principles of cooperation which may help to insulate children against any post-divorce squabbles. The key here is - the children are going through every step and process of the divorce right alongside the parents, whether anyone involved realizes it or not. Regardless of the child's age or gender, this is a process in life which is far too extreme for them to be able to handle or understand on their own, and there must always be someone there to care, nurture, and listen to each child - especially during the times and trials of something as serious as a divorce. References Amato, P. R., & Afifi, T. D. (2006). Feeling Caught Between Parents: Adult Children's Relations With Parents and Subjective Well-Being. Journal of Marriage & Family, 68(1), 222-235. Amato, P. R. (1996). Explaining the Intergenerational Transmission of Divorce. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58, 628-640. Amato, P. R., & Booth, A. (1997). A Generation of Risk. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 546-670. Berk, L. E. (2004). Infants and Children: Prenatal Through Middle Childhood (5th Edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Block, J. H., Block, J., & Gjerde, P. F. (1986). The Personality of Children Prior to Divorce: A Prospective Study. Child Development, 57, 827-840. Clarke-Stewart, K. A., & Hayward, C. (1996). Advantages of Father Custody and Contact for the Psychological Well-Being of School age Children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 17, 239-270. Hetherington, E. M., & Anderson, E. R. (1988). The Effects of Divorce and Remarriage on Early Adolescents and Their Families. Early Adolescent Transitions. Wolchik, S. A., Braver, S. L., & Sandler, I.N. (1985). Maternal versus Joint Custody: Children's Postseparation Experiences and Adjustment. Journal of Clinical Child Psychiatry, 14, 5-10. Wolfinger, N. H. (1997). Trends in the Intergenerational Transmission of Divorce. In Submisison. (Contact wolfin@nicco.sscnet.ucla.edu for reprints). Zaslow, M. J. (1988). Sex Differences in Children's Response to Parental Divorce: 1. Research Methodology and Post-Divorce Family Forms. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 58, 355-378. Read More