THE EFFECT OF DIVORCE ON CHILDREN
Dorothea Barber
Liberty University
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to advise the reader on the various effects that divorce has on children at three different age levels. Children are never old enough not to be affected by the pain that comes when parents divorce. Children are affected differently depending on the age of the child. Our first point will explain how a preschooler tends to express their emotions openly for the parent that left. The second point this paper will address is how a school aged child will tend to place blame over one parent verses the other. Lastly this paper will discuss how the adolescent will tend to self inflect because of divorce.
The divorce rate in the United State rose steadily throughout the twentieth century (Brown, 2011). Many couples break up for various reasons from money to lack of commitment and violence just to name a few. When parents decide to divorce or separate, the child or children are faced with multiple stressors (Foulkes-Jamison, 2001). When a child begins to thinks of how things are going to be different because of the divorce this often leads to a tremendous amount of stress. A child has to now deal with the fact that his or her living arrangements may change, their school may change and most assuredly the family dynamics will change. There most likely will be a decrease in income, the custodial parent may have to depend on him or her around the house more. The child who once came from a two-parent household now is faced with the challenge of telling others things are not the same at home. It is often hard for any adolescent to see anything positive out of their new situation, most often than not, the adolescent will always accentuate the negative out of this situation.
Adjustments to divorce can take up to two years or even longer (Foulkes-Jamison, 2001). According to (Foulkes-Jamison, 2001) many children will adjust to their parent’s divorce, but... [continues]
Dorothea Barber
Liberty University
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to advise the reader on the various effects that divorce has on children at three different age levels. Children are never old enough not to be affected by the pain that comes when parents divorce. Children are affected differently depending on the age of the child. Our first point will explain how a preschooler tends to express their emotions openly for the parent that left. The second point this paper will address is how a school aged child will tend to place blame over one parent verses the other. Lastly this paper will discuss how the adolescent will tend to self inflect because of divorce.
The divorce rate in the United State rose steadily throughout the twentieth century (Brown, 2011). Many couples break up for various reasons from money to lack of commitment and violence just to name a few. When parents decide to divorce or separate, the child or children are faced with multiple stressors (Foulkes-Jamison, 2001). When a child begins to thinks of how things are going to be different because of the divorce this often leads to a tremendous amount of stress. A child has to now deal with the fact that his or her living arrangements may change, their school may change and most assuredly the family dynamics will change. There most likely will be a decrease in income, the custodial parent may have to depend on him or her around the house more. The child who once came from a two-parent household now is faced with the challenge of telling others things are not the same at home. It is often hard for any adolescent to see anything positive out of their new situation, most often than not, the adolescent will always accentuate the negative out of this situation.
Adjustments to divorce can take up to two years or even longer (Foulkes-Jamison, 2001). According to (Foulkes-Jamison, 2001) many children will adjust to their parent’s divorce, but... [continues]
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