Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Sociology Marriage and Divorce
Sociology Marriage and Divorce
consequences of divorces
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Sociology Marriage and Divorce
Throughout the United States, more than one-third of children don't live with their biological fathers, and about 17 million of those children don't live with any father at all. Of those, roughly 40 percent haven't seen their fathers in the last year. The over 500 Father's Rights organizations are trying in a variety of ways to change these statistics because they believe that fathers are necessary to the intellectual, psychological and emotional well- being of all children. "Family values" groups encourage long lasting stable, marriages and tough divorce laws to increase the number of two- parent households. Some organizations focus on reasonable child support and visitation, as well as creative joint custody arrangements to combat fatherless ness after divorce. Still other sects within the movement encourage responsible fatherhood through counseling for "Deadbeat" or "Dead-broke" Dads, job training and placement to increase the likelihood of child support payments and educational seminars to teach men how to be emotionally supportive fathers. The unique coalition of conservative pro-marriage groups, white middle-class divorcées and low- income fathers is an unusual alliance. But regardless of philosophical and tactical differences, the essential mission is the same- to improve the relationship between our nation's fathers and their children.
A Brief History
Throughout the 18th and 19th Centuries, wives and children were considered property of the husband. Divorce was very rare, but when it did occur, children would automatically become custody of the father. Even if a father died, his wife was not assured custody of the children unless his will explicitly stated so. In the Early 1900's, courts and state legislatures began to support maternal rights, viewing the mother as the more nurturing parent. The "tender years" doctrine, implemented in many states, encouraged courts to place young children with mothers because mothers were seen as essential to emotional development. The maternal preference continued to increase throughout the 1950's and 60's. With the spread of no-fault divorce laws throughout the late 1970's, and the increase of women's participation in the work force, women were more able to obtain divorces from unhappy marriages. Maternal preference in custody battles gave women a huge advantage, and a vast ...
... middle of paper ...
...hers Manifesto or Dads Against the Divorce Industry, who use feminist bashing, gay bashing and make up outlandish statistics to support their cause. Aside for the fact that they support the repeal of the 19th Amendment, the Father's Manifesto web site includes a non-sensical graph which proves that 0% of 12th grade girls know anything about math and/or physics! Although I understand that many of these men are angry and frustrated, they will achieve nothing by make ludicrous claims and discriminating against women and homosexuals. Groups like this serve as easy targets for people opposing the movement, and reflect badly on educated reformers who see a need for change. I think that in order to be successful as a movement, positive Father's Right's organizations should distance themselves from the fringe groups, and try to make a cohesive movement excluding the reactionary organizations.
Overall, I think that this movement focuses on a problem that many policy makers have ignored for two long. Our children do need fathers, and while I don't necessarily agree with the different ways these groups want to achieve their goals, I commend their efforts and think this is an important cause.
In David Blankenhorn’s book written in 1995, he brings to light what he calls “America’s fundamental problem”: our culture of fatherlessness. Our modern day view of fathers is that they are unnecessary both in society and in the upbringing of a child. Blankenhorn argues the contrary: the only way to solve the multitude of social problems present in America is to address the common denominator, the decline of fathers and the shrinking importance of fatherhood. Blankenhorn’s book is split into three parts: Part I: Fatherlessness, Part II: The Cultural Script and Part III: Fatherhood. In Fatherlessness, he provides the history of fatherhood and includes statistics that help to illustrate the transition of the father from head of the household to being “almost entirely a Sunday institution” (pg. 15).
In Wade F. Horn’s article “Promoting Marriage as a Means of Promoting Fatherhood,” Horn discusses how having a child and being married is better for children because the father is more involved in the child’s life. Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas’s “Unmarried with Children,” on the other hand, takes the reader through Jen’s story about getting pregnant at a young age and deciding not to marry the father of her son. While both sources make appeals to emotion, reason, and character, Edin and Kefalas’s article makes more successful appeals and thus is the stronger argument.
Fatherless has been one of the most important challenges and epidemics in our generation. The effects of growing up...
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.
"Father absence and the welfare of children." Coping with divorce, single parenting, and remarriage: A risk and resiliency perspective (1999): 117-145.
Although single parenthood is on the rise in homes today, children still often have a father role in their life. It does not matter who the part is filled by: a father, uncle, older brother, grandfather, etc...; in almost all cases, those relationships between the father (figure) and child have lasting impacts on the youth the rest of their lives. In “I Wanted to Share My Father’s World,” Jimmy Carter tells the audience no matter the situation with a father, hold onto every moment.
Fatherless America: Confronting our most urgent social problem. New York: Harper Collins. Children Who Grow up in Fatherless Households Complete Fewer Years of Schooling Than Others. (1988). Family Planning Perspectives, 20 (3), 148. doi:10.2307/2135709Douglas-Gabriel, D, (2015, April 16). An alarming number of teenagers are quitting school to work. Retrieved November 29, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/04/16/an-alarming-number-of-teenagers-are-quitting-school-to-work-heres-how-to-help-them/?utm_term=.e6aebc179a03 Effects of Poverty, Hunger and Homelessness on Children and Youth. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2017, from http://www.apa.org/pi/families/poverty.aspx Harper, C. C., & Mclanahan, S. S. (2004). Father Absence and Youth Incarceration. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 14 (3), 369-397. doi:10.111/j.1532-7795.2004.00079.xJustice, N.C. (n.d.). Statistical Briefing Book. Retrieved November 28, 2017, from https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/qa05101.asp Leving, Jeffrey M. (n.d.). Fathers absence in America: Turning the tide on fatherlessness. Chicago Family Law & Divorce Attorney Fathers Rights. Retrieved November 11, 2017,
Fathers every year in Washington go to jail for nothing more than being broke (Deadbeat). They are called “dead beat dads” by their peers, scorn by society, and treated as subclass citizens (THE, ASSOCIATED). This is a very grim reality that men of every age range face daily. Both men and women make the choices which result in babies. However, women are given a choice at every stage of the child’s development to adopt out, abort, or even use contraception (Why). Thus, men and women share equal responsibility in the acts that conceive children. However, men do not have the same options women do (Why). Despite this, DCS hunts men down as if they are the answer to all of society’s problems, treating men like criminals until they lay a golden egg. Some men never do lay the golden egg, and these are the truly “dead broke” dads (Miller; Deadbeat). Ultimately, the question that we have to ask ourselves is, should we prosecute “dead-beat” dads? My stand on the issue is clear, and I believe I have the evidence on my side. I’ll tell you why this is a failure of society with statistics, testimony, experience, and court records. I should hope that once you have seen the evidence, and the pleas from the downtrodden fathers of society who have been forced to turn tail and run, endure endless nights in prison, and lose their jobs or even their licenses, you will see that this approach is not only a violation of their civil liberties; but, is a violation of their very rights to live.
Waldman, N., & Herick, J. M (2002). Promoting Responsible Fatherhood: Uniting parents and their families. Available:http://fatherhood.hhs.gov/incarceration/parents02.shtml
With the increase of divorce and the number of children being born out of wedlock, parental alienation continues to grow. With custody laws changing, allowing for equal opportunities for both parents to raise their children, and fathers beginning to fight for their right to be involved, not just every other weekend fathers, custody battles have become increasingly fierce. Another factor contributing to this is the fact that many courts consider who will be more willing to encourage the child to have a heathly and continuing relationship with the other parent.
By the 1960's and 1970's the child custody trends began to change. Fathers began to voice their concerned over sexual discrimination...
It is estimated that 50 percent of all American marriages end in divorce, and that 22 million children in the United States alone live without a father. My parents added to these numbers in 2002, when I was only 5 years old. My mother raised me solely. When I was young, I spent every other weekend traveling eight hours round trip to see my father, but for the past five years I’ve only seen him sparsely — maybe three or four times annually.
The role of a father is more than just another parent at home (Popenoe, 1996). Having a father, the male biological parent in a child’s life is important because it brings a different type of parenting that cannot be replicated by anyone else (Stanton, 2010). Fathers who are present and active in a child’s life provide great benefits to a developing child (Popenoe, 1996). Having a father brings a different kind of love. The love of the father is more expectant and instrumental, different from the love of a mother (Stanton, as cited in Pruett, 1987).
... social issue is being addressed, we are finding more ways of how to deal with the problems that single-parent families face. The parents might go through a lot providing for their children, but we cannot forget the efforts of the children that are making it without two parents and becoming strong, independent, self-sufficient individuals.
It is obvious those children need a male role model and that children brought up by single parents tend to suffer academically and socially. However, the absentee fathers have a negative aura surrounding them and shaking this negativity needs to be factored in the process. Involving such absentee fathers is an excellent idea, but the details of the involvement need to be discussed further. The debate should, therefore, shift from if the fathers should be involved to how the fathers can be involved. The shift in perception will see the program’s successful implementation in a way that will benefit the children in the long