Running head: Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Willie Williams
Paine College
Sociology of aging
Professor S. W. Godbee, LMSW February 28th, 2013
Table of Contents I. Abstract II. Introduction III. Review of Literature/ Compare & Contrast A. Reasons for grandparents raising grandchildren B. Legal issues C. Financial issues D. Healthcare Issues E. Positive and negative emotional effects F. Conclusion
Abstract
A lot of parents are leaving the responsibility of parenting roles on grandparents due to numerous personal and
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Taking care of a grandchild may put the grandparent’s future in jeopardy. Some grandparents have to make job related sacrifices while grandparents who were comfortably retired deplete their savings to take help support their grandchildren. Taking on a parental roll has effects on a person’s lifestyle and his or her relationship with friends and family. The extent of the effects depends upon the extent of child-care that is provided by the grandparent. Grandparents who are raising their grandchildren assume that when their children were grown, it would relinquish the role of raising children but now they are raising their grandchildren. Sometimes it makes the grandparent resentful (Driver et. al, 1997).
Legal Issues
There are numerous legal issues that complicate grandparents raising grandchildren. Living arrangements within these households are quite often fluid and informally arranged. Grandparents raising grandchildren are likely to move in and out of the grandparent caregiver role throughout their life depending on the needs of adult children and grandchildren (Lee, E. & LaVeist, 2005). Due to these types of living arrangements, grandparents who raise their grandchildren have no legal rights concerning their grandchildren. They may be viewed as “babysitters.” By not having rights concerning the grandchild, the grandparent must abide by whatever
World War I outbroke in August 1914 when countries were thirsty for power and dominance. The war ignited with tensions between Serbia and Austria. Australia being an ally of Serbia and Britain had to take part in the war. Everyone was full of eagerness and enlisted to fight in Australia’s first war as an independent country. The attitude of Australians to fight in the war during 1914 has changed from being excited, proud and ignorant to being more aware of the consequences and feeling scared.
There are many factors the court should contemplate before determining the guardian of Walter and his estate. The court will recognize that both parents are deceased and the guardian will most likely be the nearest ascendant in the line of the minor. If there is more than one relative available, the guardian will be chosen based upon the best interest of the child.
(a) Once a grandparent has been granted visitation rights, the grandparent shall be given proper notice of any petition or order providing for a change in custody or visitation rights, and the grandparent shall have standing to intervene and be heard in any hearing affecting the grandparent's visitation rights.
The issue here is what factors are to be considered in deciding guardianship of Walter and his estate. A court considers whether the guardian is a parent or a near relative and who will serve in the best interest of the minor. If the minor’s
Adult children caring for their aging parent or grandparent provide the majority of informal support. This is due in part because grandmothers “raise their grandchildren to believe in lifetime reciprocity”, grandchildren often feel an obligation to care for their aging family members (Novak, 2012, p.191). Furthermore, a heavy reliance on family support may be due to a lack of trust exists towards formal health care programs, a lack of access, or a general lack of
Child relocation laws and best practices in the United States vary from state to state. Child custody in Arizona is defined as “legal decision-making” for the child and visitation is known as “parenting time”. The term “child custody” is no longer used, effective January 1, 2013. The court can order one or both parties to have legal decision-making authority for the child(ren) and consider many factors, falling under A.R.S. 25-403. In the case of joint legal decision-making authority, both parents must work together to make decisions regarding the child. If one parent is granted sole legal decision-making authority, they make decisions about the child without consenting the other parent as long as it
Child custody have been an issue for many years but no clear rules have been established until approximately in the 1970’s. In the early colonial years, the arrangement was unappealing to children and their mothers and possibly doing psychologically damage. Luckily, history has evolved and children’s well-being has become a priority in divorce cases.
that visitation between grandparent and child is nevertheless necessary to protect the child from significant harm."
The Honorable Denisse Garcia, Judge, 303rd Family District Court, Dallas - 12 years as a judge. Maria, is her daughter and she is grateful for the grandparents she has because they take care of. Grandparents are stepping in as parents. The State is not ready to adequately take care of kids. It is easier for grandparents to get full custody by suing the parents instead of getting them for a few hours (visitation hours). Any person at any time can sue for visitation under the Washington Statute. Grandparents would be of the best interest unless mother can prove that the children are better without the grandparents.
Culturally is it unusual that Lanesha’s grandmother is her primary caregiver? I would like to say no to this question, but the facts behind this issue don’t support it. Within the African American community, approximately 12% of African American children nationally are cared for by their grandparents, compared to approximately 7% of Hispanic children and 4% of non-Hispanic White children (NCBI, 2010). Lanesha and her grandmother are part of a larger issue that is reflected in today’s society. Several reasons can exist for this paradigm, anything from the parents needing complete education, the grandparents supplementing expensive daycare costs, or simply because the parents are not involved in the child’s life.
Grown children can benefit significantly from parental help. Young adults who received financial, every day and emotional support from their parents have reported clearer life goals and more satisfaction than young adults who received less parental support (Fingerman & Furstenburg , 2012). This closeness to parents, signals an overall change in the cultural climate of what relationships take place in people’s lives today versus in generations past. This change is made true by, delays in marriage, more Americans choosing to remain single, and high divorce rates, a tie to a parent may be the most important bond in a young adult’s life (Fingerman & Furstenburg , 2012). However the negative side to this can also lead to adult children feeling stifled and there even older parents sometimes feeling as though the children will never grow up. Research shows that parents and grown children alike reported awkwardness, viewing intense parental support in adulthood as a sign of harmful over-involvement. Parents reported less gratification about their own lives if they believed their children were too dependent (Fingerman & Furstenburg , 2012). So although help is great, it is the idea that this help can in turn cause more good than harm that is the issue. With the economy not yet having fully come back full swing and an ever changing definition of marriage coupled with
Aging brings many behavioral, physiological and psychological changes in human. As many older adults surpass young adults they experience deterioration in cognitive abilities such as memory loss, inability to perceive, reason, and understand as they age. In human brain, capacity is involved in person’s ability to understand and interpret the information presented to them. According to the text book Adult Development and Aging: Biopsychosocial perspective Canadian edition (2015), capacity is referred to as a context-dependent and fluid because, a person may lack capacity for making complicated decision, but they still may have a capacity to outperform simple decisions and their cognitive abilities may diminish as they age (Whitbourne, Whitbourne, & Konnert, 2015, p. 62). In the construct of capacity for any research project, a researcher must receive an informed consent in order to
The grandparents are faced with financial challenges and limited resources causing them to feel resentment towards their new role as “parent”. Children often go undisciplined not because of a lack of caring but from the huge age differences and energy level of the grandparent(s). The grandparent(s) seclusion from friends and social events can make many of them sink into depression causing further feelings of isolation by the child. Animosity among the grandparents other kids and grandchildren can cause further rife within the family unit.
The final stage is the “family in later life”. During this stage, individuals must accept the shifting of generational roles, as they become the grandparents. They must be able to let go of some power to their offspring as they find their new place in the family system. Dealing with this change while facing potential decline in health, financial security, and loss of spouse can be stressful. Grandparenthood can be a reward substitute (Carter & McGoldrick, 1988, p. 20).
In many families in our society today, the parents are a part of the sandwich generation and now are raising kids that are growing up to take part in the boomerang generation. The sandwich generation makes up of people who are in their thirties or forties that are trying to raise their own children while looking after their elderly parents. On the other hand, the boomerang generation consists of young adults who graduate high school and college to only come back and live with their parent and rely on their support. As a result of this, there comes many challenges for both the parents and the child since the sandwich generation is stuck in the conflicting nature of taking care of their elderly parents while providing for their children by meeting their needs of emotional love and providing tangible needs. However, many realize that their kids are entering into adulthood and now these parents face the challenge of pushing their children to be independent and take on responsibility while trying to secure a stable retirement.