Grandparents raising their grandchild/ren are slowly becoming a raising epidemic in today’s society. This new trend of grandparents raising their grandchildren has become the focus of many researchers. Researchers are exploring the health perspective and the emotional perspective, but there is little research on the policies that must change to accommodate neither this new family structure nor the social issues surrounding it. This paper will take information from ten sources and two interviews to give a clear perspective of this growing population in social work practice. The information will address thought-provoking facts, the micro, mezzo, and macro levels of social work practice, and the experiential component which includes two documented conversations an lastly my thoughts on the subject. Population Information The Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons or AARP research shows that the United States has close to 5.7 million children living in grandparents’ homes. These families are often called “grand families.” Grandparents providing sole care and custody for grandchildren populations are slowly becoming a trend, but have been part of families’ structure since the 1940s (Goodman & Silverstein, 2006). According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 5.8 million grandparents are living with their grandchildren under the age of 18 and 42% of these grandparents have primary responsibility for their grandchildren (Grinstead, L.N., Leder, S., & Torres, E., 2007). The U.S. Census Bureau reported that in 1970, 2.2 million or 3.2 percent of children in the United States lived in a household maintained by a grandparent. However by 1997, this number had risen to 5.5 percent or 3.9 million, a 76 percent increase over 27 ye... ... middle of paper ... ... reports: marital status and living arrangements (March, 1990). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office (Series P-20, No. 168). Vacha-Hasse, T., Ness, R., Dannison, L. & Smith, A. (manuscript submitted for publication). The Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2005). New incarceration figures: Thirty-three consecutive years of growth. Retrieved July 10, 2013, from http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_stateratesofincbyraceandethnicity.pdf Dannison, L., & Nieuwenhuis, A. (Eds.). (1996). Second time around - grandparents raising grandchildren. Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University Press. De Toledo, S., & Brown, D. (1995). Grandparents as parents: A survival guide for raising a second family. New York: The Guilford Press. Griffen, M. & Waller, M. (1985). Group therapy for the elderly: one approach to coping. Clinical Social Work Journal, 261-271.
On the night of Saturday, February 1, 2014, I sat down with my grandfather, David Latta, to conduct an interview with him. He currently lives in Clarkston, Michigan, in the newly refurbished basement in my mother's house, along with my step-father, sister, and her son. One could say that my mother's household is quite the crowded nest, with four generation living under one roof. The perspective my grandfather obtains from living in such an atmosphere, is not only something I kept in mind while conducting this interview, but something that guided my questions.
The story “Adam Robinson Acquires Grandparents and a Little Sister” by Edward P. Jones, published in his collection of short stories All Aunt Hagar’s Children, tells the story of Noah and Maggie Robinson as they take their grandson out of foster care. The story could be said to primarily be about the importance of family bonds, and about establishing and reestablishing them, but it also is very strongly focused on the difficulty in handling and rebuilding a family for grandparents who must take responsibility for their grown children’s children. This very severely stresses Noah and Maggie in ways that impact their expectations about how they would be leading their lives at this phase of their marriage, after having completed their own child rearing and finally reaching a stage where they could focus on their own plans. They now see themselves having to deal with often difficult issues that they had not previously faced while raising their own children. In general, though it seems that grandparents raising their grandchildren in place of the parents is just an un-dramatic variant of the basic function of a family where those parents may sometimes not be available, it can be very stressful on the grandparents, negatively affecting their everyday lives and their enjoyment (Mills, Gomez-Smith and De Leon 194) and upturning life plans (Fitzgerald pp). This is true in spite of the fact that this may ultimately be the far better alternative in this situation (Koh, Rolock and Cross). While having the grandparents raise the children is the better alternative to neglect, abuse or an unstable situation, it is potentially complicated, however, by the behavioral and emotional problems that can often affect children who have been through the ...
In 2014 a little over 3 million children in the United States were under the guardianship of a relative other than their parent (Szilagyi, 2014). This agreement is referred to as kinship. Kinship care is defined as the care of children by relatives or close family friends, also known as fictive kin, after they have been removed from biological parents. Relatives are usually looked to as the primary resource of care support because they maintain the child's connections with the family and help to preserve the cultural values of the family. (ChildWelfare.gov) Kinship care is divided into three different categories: informal kinship care, voluntary kinship care, and formal kinship care (child welfare information gateway, 2016).
Manning WD, Smock PJ. 1997. Children's living arrangements in unmarried-mother families. J. Fam. Issues 18:526 44
The notion of an affectionate family framed the emergence of demographic changes. Birth rates fell and the life expectancy rose. From 1900 to 1930, the median age of American citizens rose from 22.9 to 26.5 (58). The youth population from ages 15 to 24 years declined. Thus, there was a higher adult- to- youth ratio and more caretakers available to supervise children. As a result o...
The book, ‘How to Care for Aging Parents’ is authored by Virginia Morris and with a forward by Robert M. Butler. In up-to-date new edition, the author completely revised and expanded over 200 pages of the text, covering the emotional, the legal issues and procedures, the financial aspect of every kind, medical related issues, and logistical related issues in caring for the elderly.
The concerned camp believes that families are in decline due to the rapid changes that have happened in the past 25 years. Unprecedented levels of divorce, people having babies while not married, and also teenagers having babies have hurt families and quite possibly led into hunger. The concerned camp also believes that families have the most influence on the character and competence of children and adults (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). The concerned camp values parental commitment, marital fidelity, individual responsibility, and civic participation. They also believe that individualism overshadows or threatens these values. The concerned camp believes happiness is due to relatedness to others, investments in family, and commitments to the community. Evidence that supports the concerned camp is that many Americans are very concerned about the state of families and the well-being of children. They also believe that it is very important to be concerned about how the next generation is raised because they will be the future parents, workers, and citizens. They believe that our prosperity depends on investing in childrearing. In addition, the concerned camp...
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 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 my father. I witnessed firsthand th...
Hertzog, Jodie, Holly S. Kleiner and Dena B. Targ. Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. Ed. UW Extension. 12 January 1999. 28 March 2008 .
Gadding, S. T. (2012). Groups: A counseling specialty (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education
Wetzel, JR. N.p.: n.p., n.d. American Families: 75 Years of Change. 1990. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.
In 1990, seventy-one percent of sixty-four million American children lived in a two parent household. Fifty-eight percent lived with their biological parents. Since the 1970s, there has been a huge increase in the amount of children living with single or divorced mothers. This only is right considering the increase in single women having children, although not all of those women don’t have a significant other. Currently 7.3 percent of children live with an unmarried parent, 9.1 percent live with a divorced parent and 7.4 percent live with a separated or widowed parent. Every year since the 1970s, over one million children have been affected by divorce (Shino and Quinn). Nowadays every where you look, someone has divorced parents. It could be your own parents, your best friend’s parents, your classmate’s parents or even your teacher. In 1988, fifteen percent of children lived with a separated or divorced parent, while 7.3 million more children lived with a stepparent. It is estimated that almost half of the babies born today will spend a portion of their life living in a one-parent family (Shino and
Middle adulthood is often a rewarding time for many, however, this period may be filled with several significant life demands. During this time some adults are caring for their grandchildren while simultaneously taking care of their aging and sometimes ill parents. During what is supposed to be a very rewarding developmental age, some are faced with added financial and physical burdens. This can lead to a depletion in money set aside for retirement and can create emotional and health problems for individuals in the caretaking
They say grandparents, are the two most favorite people in the world to children. Grandparents are the main characters of your childhood, they are the ones that leave you with the most beautiful memories of your life. Some grandparent’s teach you a very valuable lesson of life, they teach you respect, hard work, family values, and unlimited love. They show you their love in many ways, they say I love you in words as well as actions. Grandparents are the ones that sometimes get you out of trouble and guide you to the correct path. They show you trust, a trust that cannot never be broken.
... The 'Standard'. The influence of grandparents on the lives of children and adolescents. Child Development Perspectives, 7, 55—60. doi:10.1111/cdep.12016.