EFFECT OF DIVORCE ON CHILDREN

Effect of Divorce on Children

Effect of Divorce on Children

Introduction

Divorce is defined as the legal dissolution of a marriage. As a legal action, divorce culminates in a final divorce decree, which outlines for each individual his or her obligations for division of property and assets; support, if indicated; and provisions for children.

Typical effects of divorce on children's behavior include feelings of sadness, anger, and fear, which may manifest in behavior changes and/or emotional and behavioral problems. It is common for these problems to become evident in the school setting (Hines, 2007). Typical in school-age and adolescent children is the desire or fantasy for parents to reunite, fear of abandonment by one or both parents, and/or feelings of responsibility for the divorce. Divorce is technically the formal dissolution of marriage; more broadly conceived it is the catalyst for the increasing family fragmentation characterizing contemporary Western societies. From a societal perspective, divorce reflects the changing societal values and norms concerning marriage, gender, children, parenting, and caregiving. It has brought about significant shifts in the distribution of social welfare and has given new moral and political significance to previously uncharted demographic categories like “single motherhood.”

Many studies confirm that after divorce, the lack of financial resources is the major reason that children experience high levels of physical, emotional, and psychological stress. Research has also linked the absence of fathers to child poverty, juvenile delinquency and violence, teenage promiscuity, and child abuse. Fathers' rights activists have suggested that these social problems are aggravated by the marginalization of fathers as a direct result of the almost automatic granting of custody to mothers in contested divorces. Stigmatizing single fathers as deadbeat dads or incapable caregivers who do not assert their parental rights after divorce is just as harmful as perpetuating negative stereotypes about single mothers.

On average, children growing up in fatherless families are disadvantaged relative to peers growing up in two-parent families with respect to psychosocial adjustment, behavior and achievement at school, educational attainment, employment trajectories, income generation, involvement in antisocial and criminal behavior, and the ability to establish and maintain intimate relationships.

These differences are explained by a number of factors, including the social and financial stresses with which custodial parents must cope, largely on their own; reductions in the level and quality of parental stimulation, attention, and supervision; conflict between the parents; and disruptions of one of the child's most important and enduring relationships. Children's well-being is significantly enhanced when their relationships with nonresidential parents are positive and when the nonresidential parents engage in “active parenting.” This suggests that postdivorce arrangements should specifically seek to maximize positive and meaningful involvement by both parents rather than simply allow minimal levels of visitation by non-residential parents. Overall, the level of involvement and quality of relationships between both parents and their children, the amount of conflict between the two parents, and the socioeconomic circumstances in which children reside all affect adjustment to divorce and single parenthood. Unfortunately, however, most contemporary custody and visitation decrees do not ...