Family Structure in the UK Essay

Children of divorce are numerous, the effects of their biological parents separation and subsequent divorce has lasting effects on their behavior, academics, and their emotions. No one seems to care about the prevalence of divorce in society today; it is no longer considered taboo.

The family shows both continuity and changes which can be seen by looking at nuclear families and single parent families respectively. Before 1940s, marriage was considered an important part of society and thought to be a social institution essential for order. Divorce and single parent families were considered dreadful, sex outside marriage was not acceptable, it was a moral offense. The tempo of divorces was very low, but this social behavior soon ended in the post war era. By 1960s, this was no longer the case, as women started to work. They became much more independent, laws were changed and increase in divorces and cohabitation rates had shown that marriage was not compulsory in one’s life.

Throughout time, people from all over the world have chosen to live together, or “get married”. Marriage is a beautiful thing, but there are some couples who are unable to maintain their relationship, because they choose divorce as a solution to cope with the problems between husband and wife. Although divorce can be solution to cope with problem between the husband and wife, it still has dangerous effects especially on their children. Children with divorced parents are vulnerable to risk. Divorce has a dangerous impact on children. Divorce of parentss causes many problems to children. It causes children to have a loss of Knowledge, skills, and resources from parents, behavioral problems, emotional problem, and health problem

In the introduction to the article, the authors David Gately and Andrew Schwebel best wrote “Karl Zinsmeister uses studies of children and divorce to argue against the contention made by many parents that it is better to divorce than to rear children in a marriage with conflict. He maintains that children’s sense of stability and family structure supersedes parental needs.” Throughout the article Zinsmeister uses the headings “Fear and Loathing of Divorce Among the Young”, “Short and Long-Term effects of Divorce on Children”, and “A Catalogue of Behavioral Changes” as a platform to prove/explain his opinions and back them by research.

one. On the other hand, I do think that it has helped to change the

Janet Shansky of Iona college wrote this intellectual article about some major theories within divorced families. These theories have the potential to explain the connection between parental divorce and negative outcomes for the children. These include, but are not limited to, the "marital disruption" theory, the "reduced resources" theory, and the "parental conflict" theory. Shansky takes a deep look at all of the research that went into these theories and how they explain the adverse effects of divorce on children. Another aspect of her article is how these significant theories can be put to use in intervening future students and children from having such a hard time with this major change in their life.

The statistics for divorce in the 1990's suggest that nearly sixty percent of marriages end in divorce. Given this startling figure, the assumption can be made that many children will experience some effects caused by the life-changing event called divorce. What is it exactly about divorce that causes negative consequences for these children? In what ways will these children be effected? Will these effects show outwardly? I will attempt to uncover some of the complexities surrounding these psychological questions in the following text. The unsettling fact is: young children of divorced parents face great psychological challenges due to the environmental conditions and changes associated with divorce (Wolchik and Karoly 45).

Family is the building block of society. One of the most crucial institutions there is. Marriage being the main foundation for family. Not only is divorce increasing psychological problems for children, but it will also, in turn, effect all other institutions in society. Children are becoming less motivated to receive higher education, and many people blame this on

Divorce is a heavy concept that has many implications for those involved. The situation becomes even more consequential when children are considered. As divorce has become more commonplace in society, millions of children are affected by the separation of the nuclear family. How far-reaching are these effects? And is there a time when divorce is beneficial to the lives of the children? This paper will examine some of the major research and several different perspectives regarding the outcomes of divorce for the children involved, and whether it can actually be in the best interest of the kids.

With a major upsurge of divorces beginning in the forties, experts argue that divorce was and still remains a social problem. From a religious perspective, historically theologians and moralists have disapproved of divorce and decreed divorce as a dysfunctional and disruptive of the stability of society , the family and the welfare of children and the well being of adults. In addition, sociologists imply that divorce is undesirable and promote familial disorganization. The increase of divorce has threatened the normativity of intact families, thus divorce defies the desirable family structure. Psychologists, including children psychologists and social workers emphasized several deleterious consequences of divorce in terms of the

During the early 19th Century, nuclear families proved to be the most prevalent type of family, however, in contemporary society a diverse range of family structures have prevailed. Some of the family structures that have become more common are lone parent families, couple families, same sex families and blended families. Many historians believe that this dramatic change in family structures is due to the change in values, attitudes and beliefs of the people within society. Divorce and marriage rates are one of many factors involving family structures that have been changed by contemporary society. Furthermore, lone parent, single and couple families are on the rise and are widespread all around the globe, particularly in the Western world. The prevalence of nuclear families has also decreased as a result of everchanging society. Therefore, contemporary society is having an adverse effect on family structures.

Children can and will gain if parents can and work out their problems and stay as a unit rather than get a divorce (Paul R. Amato and Alan Booth, A Generation at Risk, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997). All marriages have their good times and their bad times. But love conquers all in most cases. Recent research with a large national sample found that 86% of people who were unhappily married in the late 1980s, and stayed with the marriage,

So, what is a family? A family is a group of people who live with,

Each and every day a child somewhere in the world is experiencing major changes within their family. One of those major changes is divorce or separation of parents. Divorce is “the action or an instance of legally dissolving a marriage”(Webster, 2011 p1). Today’s reality shows that couples only have one in two odds of remaining together. “ The U.S. Census bureau – involved in research about counseling children of divorce- estimating that approximately 50% of all American children born in 1982 lived in a single-parent homes sometime during their first 18 years. Mostly are due to divorce”(Children of Divorce, 2008 p.1). The rapid increase in divorce rates is a factor that has contributed to the large decline of the typical family. “Over 1

In her book The Unfinished Revolution, Kathleen Gerson argues that today, family pathways are more important than family structure. In this context, family structure refers to the organization of a family, and the way that it has been changing as a result of the gender revolution. For example, some nontraditional family structures that are explored in the book include double parent families with both parents earning, single parent families (mostly single mothers), and families with same-sex parents. Gerson argues that while family structures are not negligible, it is family pathways that are more important for the children of the gender revolution. That is to say, the children value the dynamics of their family more than the structure. They are more concerned about how well their parents are able to provide them with the necessary emotional and financial support than they are about how well their families follow a norm. For them, it is more about feeling like they’re part of a family rather than just physically being in one. Gerson emphasizes this when she explains that the people she interviewed “focused on the long-term consequences of parental choices, not on the specific form or type of home these choices produced at any one moment in time.” One important implication of this argument is the way in which the children of the gender revolution imagine their own romantic relationships unfolding. Even there, they prioritize a feeling rather than a format. For example, one