Child Development in Gay Marriages - Research Proposal Example

According to the social cognitive theory examining gender development, the origin of gender roles is part of the fundamental phenomena affecting many aspects of daily life. From a personal perspective, children raised in these settings grow up with more or less the same provisions as the rest of the children in the society and their parents’ orientations do not largely affect them.

The aspect of having gay couples raise children has been subject to increased debate amongst political and religious sections of society. Some people do not believe that the child has any differential treatment compared to those raised in straight families. The child grows up with the love of the parents and makes decisions based on what they observe within the environment (Martin, Ruble, & Szykrybalo, 2004). Many argue that growing up with two lesbian parents will impair a child’s psychosocial adjustment while gender identity will also be a point of concern in them.

The social cognitive theory points out the way a child grows and develops depends on the way they are raised by the parents (Wainright, Russell, & Patterson, 2004). If the gay couple can offer the child the required atmosphere for the growth of all virtues, it will be easy to deal with such issues as they grow up. They are in a unique position to learn more about themselves and make decisions based on their observations. Though it may influence their decisions on how successful they will be in heterosexual relationships, it is critical to creating a different understanding of what will happen when they begin to lead their own lives (Davidson & Moore, 2001).

Children mainly imitate what they do and form their beliefs and values based on what they learn from society. The parents are the biggest influencers when it comes to dictating the goals and roles of each gender (Patterson, 2004). Everything depends on the parent who has to make sure that the child gets an unbiased understanding of the world and uses what is learned at school, home, and society to make better judgments about their lives (Bogaert & Skorska, 2011). There are children raised in straight marriages but end up making bad decisions in life.

The fact that the children have an understanding of what they want based on how open and frank their parents are will hugely determine their future. In conclusion, the development of a child is affected primarily by their relationship with their parents. The child will only borrow some of the ideas from the parents and then make better choices based on how the parents decide to raise the child. The sex of the parents does not have much bearing as the child only looks up to the parents for guidance.

The development will depend on how parents handle the child and not on the sexual orientation.