Single parent homes: How are they affecting our youth? The cause of behavioral and/or emotional problems among our youth could come from being raised in a single parent home. Many children resort to negative acts of behavior because of limited parental supervision within the single parent household. Children are two to three times more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems in single parent homes (Maginnis, 1997).
Research and etiology on the problem behaviors in childhood and adolescence often focus on the role of the family on the development of antisocial behavior. An important factor examined in past studies has been family structure, and this research has shown that youth from single parent families often have higher
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The single parent also showed lower ego functioning and in turn were less playful with the children, less empathetic, less tolerant of negative behavior from the children, and more likely to display non-age appropriate behavior (Walker & Hennig, 1997). Single mothers are more likely to make negative statements about and to their children, therefore resulting in a low self esteem in the child. Walker and Hennig (1997) also discovered an up side to single parenting, the relationship between parent and child was more nurturing. This could come from the loss of intimacy in the single parent's life. Problem behaviors in single parent homes could be the result of low income within the household. It was reported that 80% of single mother households had incomes of $15,000 of below (Peden, 2004). Loss of economic security can cause many problems in a single parent household. Economic problems may cause a loss of attachment between the parent and the child (Hollist &McBroom, 2006). Poverty has shown to cause poor mental health in single mothers and therefore having a bad influence on children. Poor mental health also had an effect on the mother's ability to perform at work or simply left them unemployed. Youth from single parent homes showed an increase in drug use. Children from single parent homes are also more likely to smoke cigarettes, use drugs, and drink alcoholic beverages. In a study done by Hollist and Mcbroom (2006) 49.2% of children being raised in single
Students from single parent homes also have lower academic achievement compared to students with two-parent families (Pong, Dronkers, & Hampden-Thompson, 2003). Single parent households are also at higher risk for child abuse and neglect (Paxson & Waldfogel, 2002). While poverty does not cause abuse or neglect, there is a direct link between the two (Bower, 2003). If neglect or abuse are present in Amanda’s
Children and single parenting begins with the divorce of a couple who have children. The majority of children live with their mother. Non custodial fathers usually have less contact with their children, and involvement usually declines as time goes by. Since most single-parent households are mother-headed their income is usually below that of a man, this causes economic distress and fewer opportunities for educational and extracurricular experiences for the child. Economic constraints may limit growth enhancing experiences. Even children whose fathers pay substantial child support are faced with limiting experiences. Children hate divorce because having two of the most important people in your life living apart hurts. For children,
Families who have dealt with being a single parent typically see themselves being judged by other parents. For example, Jamie Rush a teen mom said "If he acts up, or if he falls over and bumps his head, I always think people are looking at me as if to say "It's because you're a teenager." (Rush 3). This shows that teen moms are trying their best and love their kids too. Schools are helping teenage single parents. Take the case of Jamie, after she gave birth to her son, she went to an alternative school with a built in daycare (Rush 1). This tells you that there is help for teens out there, but it's not always available to everyone. Socially speaking, one of the primary causes of single parents is because of one of the parent's death. Through research, we have found that the primary cause of single-parent households was because of parental death (Chamie 1). This proves that not all single-parent homes is because of teen pregnancies. As a result, there are many single parents struggling with being judged, or because of significant other's death. But there are schools, helping
"Children of divorced parents are up to six times more likely to be delinquent than children from intact families” (Curt Alfrey) this statistic shows that delinquency is seen in single-parent homes more than in homes with two parents. Children need guidance from their parents to instill values such as not to use violence when they are frustrated and to the choose the right friends to avoid landing themselves into a gang or other bad situations. This quote from a criminal defense attorney, “Children in intact families tend to receive more supervision and are thus less likely to get into trouble, Alfrey asserts. Moreover, he claims, economic situations sometimes force single-parent families into higher-crime neighborhoods, where school officials and law enforcement may more readily treat the children as delinquents” (Curt Alfrey) demonstrates from someone who has seen first hand the effects of single-parents, can lead to violence in children. Children are often around more crime when they are living in a single-parent household because they have less of an income and are forced into worse neighborhoods. Additionally, this can lead to children picking up on these violent behaviors and can also lead to getting involved with gangs. All of these behaviors are bad for the children and can lead them down the wrong path in life instead of being on the path to success.
Divorce and out-of-wedlock childbearing are now epidemic in American society. Both forms of disrupted families are harmful to children and to society. The children of single parents are more likely to do poorly in school, commit crimes, and become single parents themselves. In addition, the increase in single-parent families contributes to such social problems as poverty, crime, and a decline in the quality of public education.
Through many years, children growing up in single family homes has been discovered as problems. “At first glance, defending single mothers and their children. Raised by a strong and resourceful single mother, I turned out OK” (Wilcox). Being raised up with one parent seems to be stressful and impossible, but for decades its become possible to happen. In the society today, there are children growing up overcoming emotional stages and achieving their goals whether if they have both parents to show them difficult paths in their life that they will overcome as a growing human being. The problems that occurs within raising a child in a single family home compared to a married home can be different or the same depending on the disciplinary actions. There are many questions asked, does a child need both parent figures to be raised? Does a son need a father figure, does a daughter need a mother figure? Among all the questions asked, is there a person taking care the main responsible with much undertaking, on the single parenting topic it has become an interesting argument. People need to be more informed with raising a child. Raising a child does not rely on the structure of a family, it is more to how a parent is discipline and having a proper process of teaching their child with learning how to be mature and respectful. Children of a single home can be progressive with the same emotional, social able, and interactive behavioral skills that is raised with both parents.
The results for alcohol showed that boys and girls who lived in broken homes had a much higher chance of becoming frequent alcohol consumers. Girls tended to drink more in single parent families while boys drink more in stepfamilies. For girls, the mother's drinking habit was the most important while for the boys the fathers drinking habit was the most important.
All across the globe, there are children growing up in single-parent households, and through some research
Children of single parent households may find that they do not feel as close to the parent that they live with. This can be because the children are a different gender than the parent or because the parent has increased the children’s responsibilities. Children that are a different gender than the parent that they live with may find that they are unable to confide in or ask questions of that parent due to the gender difference. An example of this could be that a daughter raised by her father may miss out on advice that only a mother can give. Children of single parent households may also find an increase in their responsibilities as the single parent is no longer able to perform all the household duties that they were able to prior to becoming a single parent household. A single parent will spend more time outside of the home and may be unavailable to make sure that the children are fed at night and do their
However, by rising to these challenges, custodial single parents develop significant strengths. The positive benefits of being a single parent are that the child receives a lesson in independence. The child sees how strong the one parent is at providing them with everything they need without having to depend on someone else. The parents are showing their children that it is possible to live on their own, have an enjoyable life and take care of others while doing so. The children will know that they are a priority to the parent. When there is a second parent around the house, it can be easy to put responsibility off on them, but when the children see how hard the parent is working for them, they will understand how important they are to their parent. (Dowd, 1997)
Deviance can occur in any society or home but is mostly connected and associated with broken homes. Children with single parents are believed to be at high risk of being delinquent. The reason delienquency is very likely to occur is because the child is either "motherless" or "fatherless", and this may currupt the personality of the child in many ways. This is argued may lead to a destructive delinquent future. "Bad" neighborhoods, where single parents reside often leads to delinquency as the social society that single parents often live in are surrounded by deviant behaviour. The main reason single parents tend to reside in estates and currupted areas is they cant work because they have. Single parents tend not to punish their children
Department of Health and Human Services). My mother was a single when she gave birth to me and, just as the statistics suggest, I was born with a very low weight; just barely four pounds. A study on nearly 6,000 children found that children from single parent homes had more physical and mental health problems than children who lived with two married parents. Additionally, boys in single parent homes were found to have more illness than girls in single-parent homes (Hong). Furthermore, three out of four teenage suicides occur in households where a parent has been absent (Elshtain). This is a disturbing number and should not be taken lightly.
The journal article is talking about the difficulties which the single-parent families facing, such as emotional problems, housing stress and financial stress. It generated different viewpoints from different literature, and suggested an approach to meet the needs of single-parents.
Some of the negative effects on a child being raised in a single parent home can be seen in the early years of their development. The child can start to feel infer to other children around them who have both parents present. These feelings of inferiority can stay with a child all the way to adulthood later in life. This negative impact can harm their ability to gain confidence leading to poor work in school and work later in life. The child will also feel neglected which can make it hard for them understand forming relationships with other people. This affects their understanding of how to act with other on a social basis during a critical time in their development. Also due to a parent needing to work longer hours to make up for the missing half of the house the child will not see them often. Missing parental presence can lead to very poor care of that child to the point that their health also goes into decline.
as different. Being raised by only one parent seems impossible to many yet over the decades it has become more prevalent. In today’s society many children have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or two parents to show them the rocky path that life bestows upon all human beings. The problem lies in the difference of children raised by single parents versus children raised by both a mother and a father. Does a child need both parents? Does a young boy need a father figure around? Does the government provide help for single parents? What role do step-parents and step-siblings play? With much speculation, this topic has become a very intriguing argument. What people must understand is that properly raising a child does not rely on the structure of a family but should be more focused on the process or values that are taught to these children as they learn to mature. Children of single parents can be just as progressive with emotional, social and behavioral skills as those with two parents.