Single Parent Home Essay

Single parent families can be defined as families with one parent who has one or more children under the age of 18. The parent or head of household may be one who is widowed, divorced and not remarried, or never married. Compared to twenty years ago millions of children lived in a household with only one parent. Western society dictates that the mother is the primary source of nurturing and thus rearing children when the family unit is disrupted. The change in the family structure in the last decade has had a negative effect on the children involved in these relationships. Children of single parent homes fare less favorably in behavior, social adjustment, economics, and in academics than children who are reared by two parents. Social and psychological

The findings are often quoted in other studies. According to the study, divorce is related to delinquency especially if a child is close to the parent who leaves the home. Boys tend to suffer when the father leaves and girls are more affected by the absence of the mother. The anger that exists in the home before the separation is often shifted to the single-parent home. Lingering resentments between the parents is frequently manifested in the conduct of the child (Siegel, 2009). Children of divorce often establish outside relationships that are not healthy. The pressure of a teenager’s friends will be stronger than parental advice when the parent has been missing or not attentive. Children learn behavior from family and friends. They are naturally attractive to parents and want to model the behavior of the parent(s). Normally, parents’ guide the child’s conduct because they want to see the child succeed. When this does not work out, the child is delinquent--acting in an antisocial manner by breaking the law. If the offensive act of a juvenile delinquent was handled in the courts as an adult doing the same offense, it would be considered a crime. Children just entering school have enough to deal with trying to cope with separation and loss just as they are beginning to leave home to go to school. The separation is difficult when the family is together. Having to cope with this added difficulty is often more stressful than the child can handle. Without intervention problems develop that affect the way the child performs as an adult. Rogers reports that, “Researchers agree that almost all children are at least moderately distressed when divorce occurs and continue to experience confusion, sadness, and anger for a period of months or even years. . . .” (Rogers,