Divorce Rates and Custody Battles for Children - Essay Example

If the custody battle occurred when the child is your research shows that by adolescence children begin to fanaticize that their parents get back together, often in a fairytale way and they all live happily ever after. The earlier abuse is minimized or not thought about. By adolescence, these children show the same symptoms of divorce as other children experience, difficulty making decisions, difficulty in relationships, more susceptibility to depression, and a higher degree of acting out including the use of alcohol and drugs (Johnson, 2004)

Parenting in Two Locations
From the parents, perspective custody battles ensue for many reasons but most involve the inability to problem-solve how to fulfill the child’s parenting needs from two locations. Every child, male or female, needs two parents but to provide that parents must work together. One theory says one of the reasons parents can not work together is because they are taking out their anger on the spouse in the custody battle. Another theory is that one parent feels they can not trust the other. This often occurs when one parent has been unfaithful in the marriage or has been neglectful in the marriage (Booth 2001).

In any case, a custody battle generally involved a failed attempt at mediation. It then moves into the legal realm which is likely to involve a custody evaluation of both parents either by a social worker, a guardian adytum, or a psychologist of all three. When everyone’s reports are finished, which can take months and involves multiple interviews with the children, family members, and parents and financial information is usually also included, the case is brought before a judge. The judge then hears from all the professionals involved, both parents and the children if they are old enough. The average contested hearing is from two to three days. At present, joint custody or 50/50 custody is the most common ruling( Amato & Sobolewski, 2001 & 2005).

All of this has an effect on the child, as this is stressful because of their feelings they must choose a parent. That is a grown-up decision that is not appropriate for a child. They are also often pulled by whatever parent they are with to try and please that parent. This kind of conflict does not make the child feel loved or wanted but rather like they were an object the parents are using to hurt each other. Studies suggest that exposure to chronic, overt, unresolved conflict between parents, even in the absence of divorce, increases the risk of comparable long-term problems for children (Amato 2006).

Of course, many children who experience divorce or grow up with discordant parents do not develop serious problems in adulthood. However, these findings have been repeated so frequently coming up with the same conclusions that the findings are considered conclusive. Read More