Love or Vendetta? Forty-one percent of a couple’s first marriage ends in divorce, according to mckinleyirvin.com. Also, Seventy-five percent of children with divorced parents live with their mother while forty-three percent of children growing up nationally, are raised without their fathers. Many factors leads to the decision of the child’s custody, although mothers usually win. However, what if both parents are capable of providing a decent life for the child? Unhealthy relationships between parents can question the true intent behind child custody. After reading Pop Quiz 7 in, “Octet”, from Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace, parents used money, vengeance, and love in the battle for child custody. Similar to the situation …show more content…
Eventually they got a divorce and began battling over who will have custody of the child. The father eventually got custody of the child due to his wealth. He threatened to discard the child’s trust bond as a way to get the wife to give in to giving him custody of their child. Here the father used his financial power to gain custody of the child. According to family.findlaw.com, the parent that gains custody has to be financially, mentally and physically stabled. I believe that the father was wrong for attempting to have custody of the child because he knew that she could not stand a chance against him because she could not provide for their child. The husband scooped so low to threaten to discard their child’s trust bond to the point that she had no choice than to make sure her child’s future is secured. On the mother’s behalf, in order for her child to have a better future, she made the sacrifice to lose custody. She knew that she could not have given the child what the father could. If the father cares so much about the child, why would he threaten to discard his child’s trust fund? It is simple, some parents use vengeance as a way to get back at the other
In the United States today more than one-half of all marriages end in divorce. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reason why women have typically received custody of the children far more often than the fathers. In order to better understand child custody one must first examine how fathers have often times been left out of the picture, and conversely why mothers have had such hard times raising children on their own. This paper will first examine the perspective of a father who has lost custody of his children.
In this first paragraph, the author battles with a commonly held belief that children are the “property” of their parents for a certain amount of time in their lives. The author constructs upon the topic slowly by disclosing his problem with the idea of children as property, only to bring his own life experiences into count by explaining his adolescence with a dysfunctional family. By bringing in his personal experiences, the author is in some sense considered an authority figure on the topic of a child’s life with a dysfunctional family. He compares the concept of parental custody with apprenticeship, and he puts it all together by creating a practical solution to the problem. His true thesis sentence is seen in the last paragraph where he says, “We have invested far too heavily in the unproved “equity” called the nuclear family; that stock is about to crash and we ought to being finding escape options” (p 196). By gradually giving the reader background info on the problems of the modern dysfunctional family, and then stating the thesis at the end, he very clearly gets his argument across.
In general, rebellion is considered as an act of disobeying laws and norms in society, and existence refers to something or someone that is living or present in the actual universe. Albert Camus once said, “In order to exist, man must rebel, but rebellion must respect the limits that it discovers in itself – limits where minds meet, and in meeting, begin to exist.” What rebellion has to do with existence? It is true that rebellion is an action of disobeying the norms. However, there are reasons for humans to violate such norms, and the reasons could be because they are unable to conform to these norms, or even worse they are completely excluded from society (by the norms). As result of these limitations and exclusions,
Findings amongst marriages and cohabitation that end in dissolution have shown custody and access disputes to be the “single biggest issue in civil law” (Roesh, Zapf, Hart, 2010). The role of forensic psychology regarding this issue is seen in the form of parenting capacity evaluations, otherwise known as child custody evaluations. Although many dissolved marriages or relationships end without the need of such evaluations, it is important to understand the current practices regarding custody cases and the evaluations provided by forensic psychologists in these cases. Currently, the dominant doctrine is the “best interest of the child” principle (Roesh et al., 2010). In an attempt to evaluate what is essentially in the "best interest of the child" evaluators may use methods including interviews, to parent and child, as well as a variety of psychological tests. This paper will further explore what is necessary for child custody evaluations and the role evaluators play in these cases.
Since the late 1970s there has been substantial change in the judicial system regarding child custody hearings (Symons, 2010). The end of the 20th century sparked a public demand for more custodial options including joint physical custody (refers to the day-to-day care of children), joint legal custody (refers to a parents rights and responsibilities regarding major decisions involving children) and a general increase in paternal involvement in children’s lives post-divorce (Symons, 2010; Atwood, 2007), 1982 marked the first year where a father in North America was granted sole custody (Amato, 2001). As recently as 1970, there were custodial cases granting sole custody to mothers stating that mothers make the best parents simply because they are mothers (O’Connell, 2007). Today we see many custodial options that range far beyond the traditional scope of sole custodian mothers and fathers with visitation rights or financial responsibilities (American Psychological Association, 2010). Juby, Marcil-Gratton and LeBourdais (2005) found that in Canada, sole custody awarded to fathers remains stable around 10% while joint physical and legal custody range between 25% and 50%.
American Psychological Association (1994). Guidelines for Child Custody Evaluations in Divorce Proceedings. American Psychologist, 47, 1597-1611.
Marano, Hara Estroff. "Children of Divorce: 25 Years Later." USA Weekend. Sept. 15-17 2000: 16-17. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 04 May. 2014.
It is an undenialble biological fact of life that to exist one must have a biological mother and a biological father, however after the point of conception nothing is certain about how that child will be raised. Some children are raised by foster parents – people who have absolutely no biological relationship to the child – some children have two mothers, some have two fathers… Frequently children are raised in some combination of stepparents, half-sisters, cousins, grandmothers, and whatever other family members are available to rear the child. It is long past the time where a mother and a father would raise a child except for the rare exception. This untraditional makeup of families has a great impact on the child’s successes and failures, as do traditional families which may be traditional in makeup but deal with several confounding factors from differing communication styles to poverty, to more severe abuse and neglect. Oftentimes there is an almost direct connection to an intact family versus a broken family and the type of juvenile delinquency that the children raised in these environments perpetrate. Recognizing the common patterns of family dynamics which
On the other hand, Naomi Richards, in her article “The Positive Effects of Divorce on Children,” shares a different perception on the impact of divorce on children. When it appears that most researchers see the negatives in terms of how divorce affect children, Richards, on the contrary, argues that divorce benefits the children in various ways. According to her, divorce is the best solution that can happen to a marriage that is plagued by contention and strife. She claims that it is rather dangerous for a child to reside in such an environment because of vulnerability to a violent act. In other words, if a child constantly gets exposed to hostility between his/her parents; there is a propensity for that child to become hostile and violent
Along with almost any other topic, there are statistics based on divorce and the effects it has on children. First, the current divorce rate in the United States is the highest in the world. As of now, fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce and sixty seven percent of all second marriages end in divorce. The financial reality of divorce is hard to comprehend (Corcoran 1). Along with...
For generations, traditional families consisting of a husband and wife raising children together has been a mainstay of civilization. Even the term “nuclear family” was coined, just earlier this century, to describe and promote such an arrangement. With current divorce rates increasing in the United States, negative implications of breaking up family units is starting to be seen on a much more visible scale. Often, parents who consider divorce do not foresee the long term effects it may have, specifically the effects on individual children and the adults they will grow to be. Although divorce may seem like an easy opt out for unhappy parents, it opens a door to the tragedies inside their children’s mental and social health causing damaging changes in their academic achievement, relationships with parents, and their emotional and physical behavior.
Explore the characters. Are they believable and round, or flat and one-dimensional? Does the major character ( the protagonist) change? What causes the change?
The major portion of the 1.5 million children in the United States whose parents divorce every year feel as if their world is being shattered. Many families are torn apart each year due to divorce. When children realize that their parents are not going to work out together, it is heartbreaking. It is a proven fact that the younger children are when parents get divorced, the worse the affects are. When children are involved in a divorce, it not only affects them emotionally and physically, but they are also affected socially; and they feel like a social outcast. Many may think that divorce is horrific on children, but it is much worse than most would think. Some parents are so worried for their children’s welfare that they remain in unhappy marriages, believing that it will protect the child from the trauma of divorce. After children are affected by divorce, they will always feel as if it was somehow their fault. Out of all of the things that happen in divorce, someone has to get sole custody of the children involved. In often times, that is the hardest part for
"The Truth about Children and Divorce." Emery on Divorce. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.
For many people throughout the United States, it is a melancholy but common sight to see broken families, separated children, and squabbling spouses. In a society in which over 20% of marriages end in divorce, it is not surprising that the majority of today’s children grow up in a one parent marriage. The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that in 1993, about 1,187,000 divorces were granted in the U.S., affecting 1,075,000 children. Sadly, some children are even deprived of seeing their mother or father throughout their entire childhood. Many others are allowed to visit one of their parents only once or twice a month. This lack of family unity results in emotional and psychological problems for both the parents and the children.