Psychological Effects of Same-Sex Parents - Essay Example

The purpose of the proposed study is to examine previously recorded research that can be associated and correlated to determine the affect of living in a household that is not universally accepted as legitimate.

By studying the research of a variety of topics related to this issue, a conclusion will be made in regard to the impact this issue has on the psychological influence on children raised by same-sex parents. Findings from this research will help clarify the social responsibility that may or may not be neglected by the current legal system. Findings from this research will help clarify what steps may be recommended to governmental agencies and lawmakers that will ensure the security and safety of these children in order to provide a more stable and secure environment to promote successful development within the family structure.

The issue of familial rights within homosexual partnerships has raised sociological questions that have proponents for and against marriage between couples of the same sex. As families of non-traditional forms are being created and sustained, the issue of child development within a non-traditional structure becomes a relevant social issue. The study of children who are raised in families that are comprised of two same-sex parents who are also life-partners can answer questions of the affect that a non-traditional parental pair can have on the psychology created by that environment.

In order to study the psychological affect of two parents who maintain a homosexual relationship on a child who is raised by those parents, one must take into consideration the sociological concept of family.  Family, through most of Western history, has been an economic institution.  Stephanie Coontz, in her book Marriage, A History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage, discusses how in Western history “marriage was not a relationship based on mutual love between a breadwinner husband and an at-home wife but an institution devoted to acquiring in-laws and improving the family labor force.”