One of the most difficult challenges that parents face is the child behavioral problems. All children may misbehave sometimes, it is part of their mental and emotional development to break the role and explore new things. However, the most important thing is to keep an eye on them and know if they need to seek a professional help. The causes of the children’s behavioral problems may vary and once the parents know the cause, they should be able to help. One common reason that lead to this problem is the parental divorce. It is not easy for a child to see his parents split and it is normal to feel the stress related to this difficult experience. They response to this experience by exhibiting behavioral problems, and it depends on the age of the child and his ability to cope with this issue. I chose this topic because of the high percentage of divorce that occurs every year in the United States. Therefore, the failure to protect our little children is a social crisis lead to a tremendous impact on the society in which the behavioral problems that are caused by insufficient nurturing style increase the level of future involvement in social crimes. Also, the children of a single parent are more likely to suffer the poverty and education related difficulties. The Alexander house association (2013) stated that there are 2.3 million marriages a year, with over 1.2 million divorces. Statistically, 40% of first marriages, 60% of second, and 73% of third marriages end in divorce. According the new studies, children whose parents separate in their early age are more likely to have behavioral problems such as lying or stealing, hurting himself or other , destroying and so on. A longitudinal study was designed by Li 2007 to measure the effects of divorce on the children’s behavioral development. The study found that parental divorce is associated with a higher level of behavior problems in children in the ordinary least squares regressions that adjust for observed factors ( Li ,2007).Children of divorce are more likely to develop emotional stress, social and academic problems. These stresses are first expressed as physical symptoms as a respond to the event because they are shocked from the separation and experience disbelieve emotions. During the stage of divorce, parents do not spend enough time with their children or do not response sensitively to the children’s needs, so kids tend to show behavioral disturbances , irritability, aggression, temper tantrums, and regression including sleeping habits and toilet training skills. Another study was led by Robber and his colleague in 2012 to investigate whether the genetics and environmental influences on the internalizing and externalizing problems were different for children of divorce and non-divorced families. This study found that “environmental influences become more important in explaining variation in children’s problem behavior in the context of parental divorce” (Robbers, Oort, Huizink, Verhulst, Van, Boomsma & Bartels ,1539). Some Studies show that Children age and gender are very important factors to understand how the divorce affects their adjustment. For example, girls tend to be more anxious and withdrawn, while boys tend to show aggression and disobedience. Also, preschoolers show more long-term adjustment difficulties than older children who experience parental divorce. Also studies have found that divorce is linked to more adjustment problems for boys than for girls. Whereas other studies have found no gender differences or even that boys appear better adjusted than girls after their parents' divorce (Malone, Lansford, Castellino, Berlin, Dodge, Bates & Pittit, 2004). Even if the divorce is a peaceful, it tears the unit of society negatively. “According to the Federal Reserve Board’s 1995 Survey of consumer Finance, only 42 percent of children aged 14 to 18 live in a” first marriage “ family _ an intact two parent married family. It should be no surprise to find that divorce is having such profound effects on society”(Fagan & Rector, 2000).Because the family is a small units of society , and any fracture happens to this unit definitely would affect the society as a whole. Divorce With this perspective, one of the worst social phenomenon, pillars of the family in more cluttered and its destructive effects on the children will leave behind. Divorce, break, collapse and destruction of the center is warm and peaceful life that irreparable effects on family leave.( Rahimi, shakarbigi, & Naderi , 2012). There are evidence that divorce impacts society by leading these children to crime. Children who are not living in intact, married household have higher rate of crime, alcohol and drug abuse. Also, living with a single parent in the family doubles the chance of being poor, and suffering emotional and behavioral problems that interfere with the academic statue. Therefore, these children are more likely to drop out of school or repeat grades. In conclusion, according to the previous perspectives, I think that divorce is a social issue that we should not take for granted. Thousands of children suffer the consequences of it and receive no support because their parents need help and are less available to the kids. Both Parents should work to support their children by being involved in the child’s life. They should keep their conflict and sharp discussion away from kids, and seek a professional help to support the whole family. Also, the society should teach its individuals and institutions that family and marriage is the best environment to raise healthy and happy children who can get through life successfully. The family is a building block of society and the marriage is the strength and support for the family. If this foundation is growing weaker, and many adults use divorce as a solution, the whole society will suffer and gradually collapse (Fagan & Rector, 2000).
Reference
Fagan, P& Rector, R, (2000).The Effect of Divorce on America. The Heritage Foundation backgrounder. 1373.
Li , J,(2007). The Kids are Ok: Divorce and Children’s Behavior Problems. The RAND Labor and Population working paper series.
Malone, P., Landsford, J., Castellino, Berlin, L., Dodge, K., Bates, J., & Pettit, G.,(2004). Divorce and Child Behavior Problems: Applying Latent Change Score Models to Life Event Data.
Rahimi, S., Shakarbigi, A., & Naderi, G., (2012). Phenomena Effects of Divorce on Families and Society. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research. 2(5)4639-4647.
Robbers, S., Oort, F., Huizink , A., Verhulst, F., Van, C., Boomsma, D., & Bartels, M.,( 2012). Childhood Problem Behavior and Parental Divorce: Evidence for Gene – Environment interaction. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, 47, 1539- 1548.
Alexander House ( 2014). The Impact of Divorce on our Society. Retrieved from Alexander House. http://thealexanderhouse.org/the-impact-of-divorce-on-our-society/.
http://thealexanderhouse.org/the-impact-of-divorce-on-our-society/
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