Parental Divorce: A Destructive Attempt To Pursuit Happiness

Parental Divorce: A Destructive Attempt to Pursuit Happiness

Introduction

During the past 3 decades divorce has increased dramatically. Many marriages were expected to end up in fatal marital dissolution. In the 1970s almost 40% marriages were predicted to end in parental divorce and more than half of these marriages were expected to include children (Fine, Moreland, Schwebel, 1983 & Hetherington, 1979). The process of divorce has been a major controversial topic in the past several of years. Some argue that it is a tension and stress reliever for both the child and the parents. In a situation where the parents are in a constant battle, the child experiences a great amount of stress, which eventually affects his or her grades at school and

Although some researches are trying to view divorce in a more optimistic way, it does not compensate for its serious damaging consequences.

Background

Divorce is a life altering process, not a single event (Hetherington, 1979; Morrison & Cherlin, 1995) that ends as soon as the papers are filed and the court rules its verdict. It is a major transition in a child’s life. It can mean moving to another neighborhood and transferring schools and saying goodbye to friends, but most importantly parental divorce means the loss of a parent. The nonresidential parent, usually the father, not only leaves his family but he also leaves a huge gap in his child’s life. It is very important to have a role model in a child’s life. Children tend to pick up on things, maybe negative things and they need someone to tell them what is right and what is wrong. Although, divorce is blamed for the child’s modest well-being, poor academic performance and bad behavioral problems such as aggression,

It gives a child a new start away from the tension and stress of living in a house with constant marital conflict. However the damaging consequences of parental divorce on a child outweighs the positive outcomes. A child of divorce might emerge with aggressive behavioral problems, poor psychological well-being and most importantly maintain a negative parent-child relationships. Parental divorce also has a long-term effect that extends to adulthood and does not withdraw during time. Long-term effects might result from the absence of the father in the child’s life. Losing a parent in a divorce has a huge negative impact on both the emotional well-being and the economical security of a