Free Essay on Conflict Theory: Divorce on Children in U.S Families

The issue of divorce has increasingly led to multiple challenges in the USA due to the effects it has on divorced couples, children, and even extended family members who experience the sociological impacts indirectly or directly. The ultimate effect of the menace is primarily on the children of the parents who are involved in such acts. Consequently, the victims undergo multiple problems that have long-term impacts that go beyond their social and psychological lives. Further research reveals that even after individuals find controls for numerous family background differences, the children from such families still experience the challenges resulting from the menace. It is because the children who have grown from intact households have always proved to be doing better on wider perspectives of key social indicators as compared to the ones from single-parent families.

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Moreover, common issues with school dropouts, teen parenthood, detainment in juvenile settings, and unemployment issues are mostly noted in children who come from single-parent households (McCall, 2019). Surveys reveal less than 10 percent of married couples who have given birth to children are poorer than around 35 to 40 percent of single-parent households (Family Means, 2019). However, single parenthood is not the primary factor behind the growing likelihood of engaging in such detrimental behaviors but is considered one of the contributing factors.

Effects of Divorce on Children in U.S Families

Divorce is a massive change for a child in her family and in her understanding of how the world works and where it fits. Some are going to transfer to another home due to the split that has taken place between the two parents. The child is probably not going to see a parent like he or she was accustomed to. For a child, divorce is going to be a rough time. Families not only think about different forms of communication but also new ways to bring their children to a new standard. Divorce may differ in children as parents who are divorced may have different ways of handling the situation. Many children instinctively and reasonably react to divorce, whereas others will battle the change. For most children, however, there are general effects which include;

Anger and Irritation

In certain situations, children may be frustrated or irritable as they are disturbed and unable to react to the effects of a divorce. Their anger may be aimed at several suspected reasons. Divorce makes children to be upset with their mother, classmates, and others (McCall, 2019). While this frustration will dissipate for several children after many weeks, it is necessary to be careful if rage continues, as it will have a lasting impact on children.

Poor academic performance

The further distressed children are, the less likely they are going to be able to focus on their school work. To the children, the changes that have taken place in their family may lead them to lose commitment to study or even concentrate in class. The children who grow up from a two-parent family where both biological parents exist perform on a variety of outcomes as compared to children from single-parent families. Single parenthood is commonly associated with issues of higher cases of school dropout, teenage pregnancy, and juvenile delinquency as most of the children born from such households lack access to various social skills, which can only be imparted by both parents (McCall, 2019).

Guilt

Children also ask themselves why their families had a break. They will find a reason to wonder if their parents do not love each other anymore, or if something was wrong—these emotions of guilt, which may lead to a variety of other problems. Guilt increases anxiety and can cause depression, tension, and other well-being issues. Background and guidance to consider the position a child can play in divorce will help to reduce such feelings of remorse.

Destructive actions introduction

Unsolved conflicts can lead to unexpected risks in the future for children in families that are divorced. Research has indicated that children who have been in a divorced family in the previous 20 years are more likely to take part in the abuse and protest through destructive actions, thus impacting children's well-being. Therefore, there some policies which have been implemented in the USA to determine the appropriate approaches that can bolster marriage and categorize as an institution (McCall, 2019). The national focus has therefore been directed towards the ethnically and culturally diverse populations to oversee the design, implementation, along with the rigorous evaluation of the initiatives aimed at mitigating the impact of divorce on children.

Emotional Sensitivity

Divorce pushes a person to all sorts of emotions, and the children concerned are no different from each other. Feelings of sadness, rage, dissatisfaction, anxiety, and a few others may all be triggered by this change. Divorce can make children emotionally reactive and confused. Children need a place to talk to, listen to, and so on, and children can feel separation through their emotions.

Children lose interest in social activity

Evidence has demonstrated that divorce may often have a detrimental impact on teenagers. Children in separated households would have a harder time with fewer social connections with others. Often children feel confused and wonder if their family is the only divorced family in their environment. The problem of low-income populations has a confronting impact on a variety of stressors that are absent in middle-class families (Family Means, 2019). However, the proof is limited since it does not clarify whether the designated strategies can overcome the stressors through the provision of job search assistance.

Loss of confidence in social harmony and marriage

Since surveys also have shown that adolescents who have separated are more inclined to split when in their own families when retaining stable partnerships while they grow up. Several kinds of research suggest that the likelihood to divorce can be two to three times greater than that of children from non-divorced families.

However, they are not universal or set in stone, including any of the potential effects of divorce on children. Families are growing more and more conscious that their children and they had a painful divorce. Families have used group services, including Family Means, to pursue a safe route to divorce (Family Means, 2019). They support couples make this process more effective with our joint divorce plan, not just for the benefit of spouses, but also for the sake of the children involved.

The impact of divorce on American children can be explained by different theories that describe the underlying developmental task, which is categorized under the responsibilities arising from particular stages of life. The impacts that the actions have on the family are directly felt by the children from such households. Therefore, mitigating the effects require the family members to follow the changing needs alongside the demands, which are key factors in family survival. The elements have direct links to the life of the children within such families which make them the most vulnerable victims to the children.

Therefore, the Family Development Theory helps in explaining the impact of divorce on American Children through reinstating the underlying significance being brought up from a two-parent household. The theory stresses on the growth of children from such homes as of great essence as most of the processes are regarded as inevitable in understanding various families.

Family Development Theory

The theory of amicable development reflects on the cultural changes that families are experiencing throughout their lives. The word family, as used here, is a social category that includes at least one parent-child partnership. This was a conscious split from the concept of a life-cycle in the decades after the emergence of the philosophy of child development. Roy H. Rodgers (1973) proposes that a more life-oriented definition, which he calls the family car, should be discarded. Joan Aldous (1978) argues that sub-professions, particularly siblings, marital and parental professions, are family careers.

Besides, they are profoundly affected by occupations outside the home, such as schooling and employment. This was a conscious split from the concept of a life-cycle in the decades after the emergence of the philosophy of child development. Roy H. Rodgers (1973) proposes that a more life-oriented definition, which he calls the family car, should be discarded. Joan Aldous (1978) argues that sub-professions, particularly siblings, marital and parental professions, are family careers. They are, in effect, strongly influenced by occupations outside the home, for example, in schooling and employment.

The definition of family development is very similar to the aging process and is endorsed by Paul Mattessich and Reuben Hill (1987) via invariant universal phases. However, there is still criticism of the conception of invariant and universal families. The family development theory's principles are therefore harmed by divorce, and this proves to be a problem, especially to U.S. families.

Conclusion

On balance, the art of encouraging and upholding the spirit of healthy marriages should be an initiative for different individuals to protect the lives of the children who may undergo extreme psychological and social problems. Such efforts have transformed various societies in different USA regions, as was evident from the Bush Administration's proposed policies. The action has remained the cornerstone as the administration addresses the poverty-related woes emerging from different single-parent households. The initiatives have been focused on bolstering the well-being of children from low-income households. The rationale is clear as the outcomes have led to massive transformations of multiple families within the United States of America. Mitigating the menace should be reinforced since a third of all children born within the United States every year are out of wedlock. On the same measure, more than half of first marriages in the United States always end in divorce leading to poverty among multiple single-parent households. Ignoring the initiatives to reduce the rate of divorce cases, therefore, mean that a bigger percentile of America's children will spend most of their childhood in single-parent families. The presupposition is evident from the growing number of births out of wedlock, along with high rates of divorce among families.

References

Aldous, J. (1978). Family careers: Developmental change in families. Wiley.

Boss, P., Doherty, W. J., LaRossa, R., Schumm, W. R., & Steinmetz, S. K. (2008). Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach. Springer Science & Business Media.

Family Means. (2019). https://www.familymeans.org/effects-of-divorce-on-children.htmMcCall, D. (2019). READ 175 OER Textbook. http://fir.ferris.edu:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/2323/6229/OER%20TEXTBOOK%20READ%20175.pdf?sequence=1Rodgers, R. H. (1973). Family interaction and transaction: The developmental approach. `Prentice-Hall.