Family Issue: Divorce

Posted: January 5th, 2023

Family Issue: Divorce

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Family Issue: Divorce

Marriage and divorce represent both private concerns and social issues. The elementary repercussion of divorce and the preceding conflict that precedes the action represent deterioration in the association between parents and their children. Straight away, following separation, most parents have two-set challenges: the role of the separated parent and their intrapsychic conflicts. The most affected group is that of children. Approximately three decades of studies evaluating the effects of family structure on children’s wellbeing and health portray that children residing with married, biological blood relations consistently possess better systems that have the optimal potential of leading to productive lives (Damota, 2019). Divorce is a critical life stressor for individuals involved, with latent adverse solid consequences for all family members’ physical and mental health. The children’s wellbeing and health are major concerns since they are weightier relative to children and biological parents residing together.

Selected Issue

One of the most pressing issues in family and social issues is divorce. According to Eyo (2018), divorce is the lawful dissolution of a marital relationship: it is any formal severance of man and wife as per the established customs, which is a complete disjointing of any form. Despite the perceived notion because of the harmful effects it has on families, it is a common experience in the history of humans. Individuals undergo it regardless of their religious, social, academic, economic, or social status. The main effects of divorce on families are relationships.

Parent-Children Relationships

In cases where parents separate, another form of divorce occurs between them and their children. The principal effect of separation is the disintegration of parents’ and children’s relationships (Damota, 2019). Following a separation, most parents fail to adjust to their roles as divorced parents and might or adjust to their intrapsychic conflicts. The stress associated with divorce usually weakens and damages the parent-child’s relationship for mothers.

Support

Children of separation tend to rate of support received from their abodes much lower than those from intact homes (Eyo, 2018). Continuously, the adverse ratings tend to become more evident when the children join high school or college. Customarily, children of divorced marriages derive less financial backing, handy help, and emotional shoring up from their birth parents. Divorced homes expose a decline in overall pride, language incentive, back-up for social development, stimulus of academic behaviour, warmth intended for towards them, and fondness (Garriga & Pennoni, 2020). Physical punishment rapidly becomes a novel way of living for such children. Also, in the minor ages, they have fewer games and toys, which ought to be learning avenues. For the more concerned families, they instigate exhaustion, worry, and stress—such factors both influence parental and parenting control. Hence, separation and divorce contribute to more overbearing and less caring parenting in children’s adolescent years.

Trust

Children’s capacity to trust close friends, parents, and other relatives are robustly associated with positive parent-children relationships notwithstanding parental divorce. Divorce makes children less trusting towards all they have been accustomed to throughout their lives (Garriga & Pennoni, 2020). Conceivably, children raised from intact marriages have higher degrees of family harmony and cohesion. When the levels of parents’ marriages are higher, children will become closer in their relationships with their parents and deter marital discord, including the children’s subsequent psychological development. Besides, children of intact marriages will not have a high inclination to depart early from their homes since they feel trust, affection, and inclusion. Some teenagers who might depart home at tender ages due to separation and parenting interference might be viewed as escaping or prematurely departing (Eyo, 2018). Such children might end up living on the streets alone, cohabiting, or entering into premature marriages.

History of the Evolution of Divorce

As mentioned earlier, legal separation between parents is not an uncommon phenomenon in contemporary society. Over the past seven decades, the family’s nature has undergone significant transformation (Sandström & Garðarsdóttir, 2017). American families experienced a steady transformation from being extended families to nuclear families and to single parenting in nature. The change process has covered around six decades. Among the principal reasons for the change is mobility, an aspect that has simplified the process of adult children moving away from their families and starting new relations in distant geographical locations. Thus, the main reason for parental disintegration is the reality that the family does not represent the robust pillar it was once renowned for.

Up to the ’60s, matrimony was perceived as the ordinary mode of conjugal unification: divorce was thought of as an individual failing, often a social issue. Divorce psychology, linked since its commencement with controversies over the disintegration of the family unit, conceivably suffered over the following decades from the very poor outlook associated with separation (Sandström & Garðarsdóttir, 2017). The sudden, massive rise in divorce cases and their adverse repercussions to all involved were the main factors that propelled sociologists and psychologists to look clearly at the matter and determine causes of divorce, their ramifications, and their possible solutions. Despite the present society vying the trend as normal in present days, it is alarming that it continues to become more prevalent and hurt children across the globe.

Resources Available to Assist Families Experiencing Divorce

Healthy Children

Under the website Healthychildren.org (2021), various experts in sociology and psychology present information regarding how parents can communicate with their children regarding divorce, how they can adjust to divorce, taking care of themselves, assisting children in dealing with the occurrence and how to attain a healthy divorce. Primarily, the website is concerned with the wellbeing and health of children experiencing divorce situations. The site has links with professional sites such as the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Nonprofit Organizations

Kidsfirst.org, (2021) is a nonprofit organization that provides professional information for parents undergoing divorce and who wish to safeguard their children from the adverse repercussions. The website offers essential information and links to validated sites, journals, and books concerning divorce. Also, the site offers basic advice for parents seeking to separate for whatever issue.

Nationwide Children Organization

Nationwidechildrens.org (2021) is an organization that provides guidelines for parents undergoing marital separation. It offers information on how to prepare for separation, cope with their decision, anticipate and recognize their children’s reactions, and what they can do. It also includes further links to professional services that they can utilize during the change.

Closing Discussion

Divorce is an ever-rising trend in the modern family that affects not only the parents but the children’s wellbeing and health as well. Although there is no single specified remedy for divorce, there are several potential solutions. First, there is a need for counselling for both partners prior to decision-making (Garriga & Pennoni, 2020). Couples tend to wait until they become completely helpless before they seek a solution to marital woes. Couple counselling sessions can deter unnecessary separation. Second, couples have to speak out about their needs and insecurities. They cannot read each other’s thoughts and minds, meaning that regular conversation is essential. Third, parents have to spend quality time mutually to make the marriage happier. Finally, couples have to comprehend that both parties are human. Mistakes can be made in marriages, and the best way out of confrontations leading to separation is accountability and the principle of dialogue. In terms of policy, it would be prudent to make divorce laws more strenuous to decrease avoidable separations (Sandström & Garðarsdóttir, 2017). For example, the signing of prenuptial agreements can decrease the probability of couples splitting up over solvable issues. Besides, from a social change, the society needs to comprehend that taking sides in a matrimonial dispute leading to separation could have adverse effects on the children. Regarding the familial aspect as the preceding significance to any conflict can help alleviate the matter.

References

Damota, M. D. (2019). The effect of divorce on families’ life. Journal of Culture, Society and Development, 46, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342145237_The_Effect_of_Divorce_on_Families’_Life.

Eyo, U. (2018). Divorce: Causes and effects on children. Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Studies, 6(5), https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337773612_Divorce_Causes_and_Effects_on_Children.

Garriga, A., & Pennoni, F. (2020). The causal effects of parental divorce and temporary parental separation on children’s cognitive abilities and psychological wellbeing according to parental relationship quality. Social Indicators Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-020-02428-2.

Healthychildren.org. (2021). How to support children after their parents separate or divorce. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/emotional-wellness/Building-Resilience/Pages/How-to-Support-Children-after-Parents-Separate-or-Divorce.aspx

Kidsfirst.org. (2021). Resources for parents. https://www.kidsfirstiowa.org/additional-resources/resources-parents#:~:text=The%20following%20websites%20may%20be,parents%20%2D%20www.ourfamilywizard.com

Nationwidechildrens.org. (2021). Divorce and children: Guidelines for parents. https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/family-resources-education/health-wellness-and-safety-resources/helping-hands/divorce-and-children

Sandström, G., & Garðarsdóttir, Ó. (2017). Long-term perspectives on divorce in the Nordic countries – Introduction. Scandinavian Journal of History, 43(1), 1-17.