American Single Parent Households - Essay Example

ey gradually proceed towards becoming adults, the psychological and economic stresses that a child has to endure as a result of being forced to come to terms with a household which lacks a parent and which may have strangers as family members often hinders a child’s normal development and growth. Children living in single parent households often present a lack of academic achievement and a tendency for delinquency as a result of deficiency in parental care. The dynamics of a family or a household can be considered in terms of the conflict within a household or an individual’s assessment of reality, which generally have a broad impact on households and the lives of their members.

This brief essay attempts to present an examination of the American single parent household from the conflict and symbolic theory perspectives and then presents a comparison of American single parent households with those in the United Kingdom. I hereby certify that, except where cited in the text, this work is the result of the research carried out by the author of this study. The main content of the study which has been presented contains work that has not previously been reported anywhere.

From a public policy perspective, out - of - wedlock births and fatherless families are often the issues of greatest concern to policymakers, but it has to be appreciated that fatherless families are created by death, divorce, separation or imprisonment and motherless families may also be created as a result of similar circumstances (Ellwood 1 - 10). Changes in societal values and life styles have meant that a significant number of out – of – wedlock births are likely to be cohabiting with fathers and mothers who may be living together without officially having married, or they may have separated prior to marriage.

Despite the individualism of the American psyche, it is still possible that children who are living with a single parent, especially those who are living with their mothers, may