Are Non-Traditional Families Unfit for Children?

2049 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Parents-children relationship

Most of the time when a person thinks about a traditional family, a mother, a father, and at least one child is what comes to mind. However, the familiar structure of the traditional family has changed and does not necessarily show if it is the best dynamic for a child to be raised in afterall. A child’s emotions, behavior, academics, and socialization may be impacted depending on how he or she was raised. We may be able to see that a child raised by a single parent, raised by his or her grandparents, or even by same-sex parents could be better off than those raised in a traditional family based on the positives and negatives of each family dynamic. Emotional Impact. When raising a child, a parent or guardian must be mindful of their actions in regards to the child. According to Abidin, “stress that has a negative influence . . . may be especially detrimental to the child’s development . . .“ (qtd in Fagan 142). If a parent or guardian shows negativity towards a child during crucial development windows, the child may in turn be hindered emotionally. Research also suggests that “regardless of family type, adolescents whose parents described closer relationships with them reported better . . . adjustment” (Wainright 1886). In traditional families, the father spent less time interacting with his child, seeing this “interaction as not important” unlike the fathers of non-traditional families (Halme 115). If these traditional fathers did not see satisfaction in their involvement with their child, then who was the one investing in the child? Are the single fathers more involved in their child’s life? Halme reported that single parents, more specifically fathers, “enjoyed spending time with their child . . . shared childcare tasks . . .... ... middle of paper ... ...can F. Koerner. "The Effect of Family Communication Patterns on Adopted Adolescent Adjustment." Journal of Marriage and Family 70.3 (2008): 715-27. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. Smith, Gregory C., and Patrick A. Palmieri. "Risk of Psychological Difficulties Among Children Raised by Custodial Grandparents." Psychiatric Services 58.10 (2007): 1303-310. PsycArticles (EBSCO). Web. 24 Feb. 2014. Wainright, Jennifer L., Stephen T. Russell, and Charlotte J. Patterson. "Psychosocial Adjustment, School Outcomes, and Romantic Relationships of Adolescents With Same-Sex Parents." Child Development 75.6 (2004): 1886-898. PsycARTICLES. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. Zimmerman, Irla L., and Maurine Bernstein. "Parental Work Patterns in Alternative Families: Influence on Child Development." American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 53.3 (1983): 418-25. PsycARTICLES. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Adoption And Identity Formation

    2068 Words  | 5 Pages

    Kelly, M., Martin, B., Rigby, A., & Towner-Thyrum, E. (1998). Adjustment and Identity Formation in Adopted and Nonadopted Young Adults: Contributions of a Family Enviornment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 68(3), 497-500.

    Read More

  • Blended Family Essay

    1146 Words  | 3 Pages

    Family systems have been studied since psychologists began studying people and their behaviors. The family is a dynamic system—a self-organizing system that adapts itself to changes in its members and to changes in its environment (as cited in Sigelman & Rider, 2009). Allowing the focus of a family system to grow beyond the mother and child relationship did not happen overnight. For many years, there was no connection made between other members of the family and the developmental issues of the children involved.

    Read More

  • How Divorce is Affecting the American Culture

    1994 Words  | 4 Pages

    Over the past decades, the patterns of family structure have changed dramatically in the United States. The typical nuclear family, two married parents with children living together in one household, is no longer the structure of the majority of the families today. The percentage of single-parent families, step-families and adopted families has increased significantly over the years. The nuclear family is a thing of the past. Family situations have tremendous influence upon a child’s academic achievement, behavior and social growth.

    Read More

  • Parenting Styles and Their Effects

    540 Words  | 2 Pages

    Parents and their parenting style play an important role in the development of their child. In fact, many child experts suggest that parenting style can affect a child’s social, cognitive, and psychological development which influence not just their childhood years, but it will also extend throughout their adult life. This is because a child’s development takes place through a number of stimuli, interaction, and exchanges that surround him or her. And since parents are generally a fixed presence in a child’s life, they will likely have a significant part on the child’s positive or negative development (Gur 25).

    Read More

  • Negative Effects Of Parental Divorce

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    Parental absence can lead to a decline in support from the custodial and noncustodial, which later has an effect on the child’s self and external perception (Amato, 1991). Economic disadvantage is due to a lack of income from two individuals within one house, developmental problems can arise when a child is not exposed to positive resources (McLanahan, 1989). Family conflict can put an emotional strain on a child’s well-being, especially when this hostility is put upon by their parents, this can lead to later psychological problems that interfere with later life (Emery, 1982).

    Read More

  • Applying the Sociological Imagination to Sole-parent Familes

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    Families are becoming more diverse and they come in all shapes and sizes. Some people consider families to be strictly biological, while others consider people they love to be their family. Although two-parent families, also known as a nuclear family are the majority, one-parent families are becoming more common in today’s society. A sole-parent is considered to be a parent without a partner or spouse who is the primary care giver of one or more children in a household (Ministry of Social Development, 2010). From the age of 14 onward I was raised by m...

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Single Parent Family

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    For many years, children growing up in a single parent family have been viewed 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

    Read More

  • Discrimination Against Gay Adoption

    2163 Words  | 5 Pages

    This study examined associations among family type (same-sex vs. opposite-sex parents); family and relationship variables; and the psychosocial adjustment, school outcomes, and romantic attractions and behaviors of adolescents. Participants included 44 12- to 18-year-old adolescents parented by same-sex couples and 44 same-aged adolescents parented by opposite-sex couples, matched on demographic characteristics and drawn from a national sample. Normative analyses indicated that, on measures of psychosocial adjustment and school outcomes, adolescents were functioning well, and their adjustment was not generally associated with family type. Assessments of romantic relationships and sexual behavior were not associated with family type. Regardless of family type, adolescents whose parents described closer relationships with them reported better school adjustment.

    Read More

  • Parenting and culture

    1597 Words  | 4 Pages

    The universality versus cultural specificity debate both have aspects that make sense and can be applied to childhood development. On one side, supporters of the argument for the universality of parenting suggest that certain types of parenting styles will produce the same child development outcomes in different cultures. On the other hand, the argument for cultural specificity states that different parenting practices vary from culture to culture, and that culture ultimately determines the outcomes of child development. Each culture has specific styles of parenting that instill values on children particular to that culture. Each individual has characteristics of what their parents taught them, which gives every individual their own personality. Both sides present logical information on the cultural impacts of parenting on child development outcomes.

    Read More

  • Virtual Family Adolescence

    1379 Words  | 3 Pages

    As a result, their parenting style can change which is defined as the bidirectional relationship in which a parent conveys discipline and warmth towards a child; it is bidirectional since it is dependent upon characteristics of the child and the parent. Therefore, a parent can have a variance in their style between siblings. The mother in this virtual reality was highly disciplinary, but also extremely affectionate. In a psychologist’s report conducted when Ember was eight years old, the mother fell into the top 15% for disciplinary, but also ranked highly in warmth. Furthermore, in adolescence, Ember confessed to her mother that although her mother gave her more rules to follow, she was more affectionate compared to other parents as well. Since Ember was young, the mother required Ember to contribute to household care; this was encouraged through an allowance. When the child’s academic performance began to falter, the mother offered encouragement through special dinners and trips in exchange for good grades, thus demonstrating a warm but firm approach to acquiring a certain level of scholarly effort. Through this additional guidance, the negative academic affects experienced from the trauma of her parents’ divorce were minimized. Parenting style impacts the development and socialization of the child; in Westernized society, the most

    Read More

  • How Children of Single Parent Families are Affected

    1209 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Family structure has changed significantly in the last fifty years. With higher percentages of marriage ending in divorce, and higher rates of childbearing out of wedlock, single parent families are increasing rapidly. “Seventy percent of all the children will spend all or part of their lives in a single-parent household.” (Dowd) Studies have shown that the children of these families are affected dramatically, both negatively and positively. Women head the majority of single- parent families and as a result, children experience many social problems from growing up without a father. Some of these problems include lack of financial support, and various emotional problems by not having a father around, which may contribute to problems later in life. At the same time, children of single-parent homes become more independent because they learn to take care of themselves, and rely on others to do things for them.

    Read More

  • Culture And Parent Child Development

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many think that culture has nothing to do with lifestyle or that one has nothing to do with the other but they both go hand in hand. Culture and lifestyle is many different things and the effects it has on the parent child relationship can vary. How can that be possible? Well there are many different cultures and lifestyles around the world that can either make a happy and positive parent child relationship or put a strain on it making it negative. For example going from living in a married household to living in a divorced household may cause a child to resent their parents putting a strain on the relationship between the parent and child. Both culture and lifestyle has an affect on the relationship of parent and child. The different aspects of both culture and lifestyle such as food, travel, religion, single-parent households, employment etc. can negatively or positively affect a parent child relationship.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Same Sex Parents

    2365 Words  | 5 Pages

    Research has already shown parent sexual orientation has no significant effect on children’s psychological adjustment in Wainright, Russell, and Patterson (2004) as well as Rivers, Poteat, and Noret (2008). There has been a stereotype that a man and a women should raise a child and if not the child would be “confused” about gender behavior, identity and sexual orientation. Wainright, Russell, and Patterson (2004) study has shown that parental sexual orientation has no effect of adolescent romantic attractions and behaviors. The results of their study show that children of same sex parents have a significant relationship quality. There was no significant difference in children’s’ general role behavior, children’s sexual orientation, gender identity, children’s’ cognitive development and psychological adjustment. Having same sex parents has no impact on a child’s gender role behavior, sexual orientation, gender identity, cognitive development and psychological adjustment. Having a same-sex parent has no impact on a child but rather the relationship that the child has with the parent no matter the parent’s sexual orientation. The relationship between the parent and the child s what can

    Read More

  • The Effects Of Single Parenting On Children

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Future of Children” writers Adam Thomas, Ph.D., and Isabel Sawhill write that “single-parent families may benefit from incentives like tax cuts and child support, but they still earn less than two-parent families.” The research also indicates that financial stability guarantees that the parent provides for a child’s basic needs. In a recent study, researchers surveyed 13,500 mothers to meter children’s behavior. The mothers who participated were instructed to note their children’s energy levels, behavior, emotional problems and relationships with friends and peers as “normal” or “abnormal”. After gathering the information from the mothers, the researchers assigned the children into three group categories labeling them from “normal” to “serious behavioral problems.” The researchers found that stepchildren and children with one parent were significantly more likely to misbehave. Multiple studies have validated that children do best in households with both biological parents, but raising a child in a two-parent home is not always possible or the best choice. Single parenthood affects children, but not all of the effects are

    Read More

  • The Family as an Agent of Socialization

    1399 Words  | 3 Pages

    Everyone is born into some form of family, with the family taking the responsibility of nurturing, teaching the norms or accepted behaviors within the family structure and within society. There are many types of families, which can be described as a set of relationships including parents and children and can include anyone related by blood or adoption. Family is the most important, “for it is within the family that the child is first socialized to serve the needs of the society and not only its own needs” (Goode, 1982).

    Read More

More about Are Non-Traditional Families Unfit for Children?

Open Document