The Impact of Divorce on Families

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The Impact of Divorce on Families

Divorce is a process and should not be viewed as an event that is single. This is because it affects the lives of the people, who are in that family. Most times, if there are children in a marriage, they are the ones who are affected, when divorce occurs. The processes and factors that are involved in divorce are many, and their impacts having a lasting effect on the family. After and the beginning of the process of divorce, is an aspect that needs to be known, as well as its outcomes. Divorce is considered being a traumatic experience and the effects being of a negative nature. Interactions, which exist, tend to be strenuous as well as negative to the family. Various perspectives exist concerning divorce, such as Islamic, Christian, Children’s and even the spouses. They all provide vital information regarding divorce as well as its negative impacts on the family (Crowder & Teachman, 2004).

Various Studies were done and the number of children that took part was 13,000, it was found out that children, who were in families where the parents had divorced, were at a less advantage, as compared to those who were in stable families. The children in divorced families were likely to manifest behaviors, such as troubled relationships with their families, problems in school and not associating well with peers. Also, the children did not have self concepts of their lives. The impact of divorce on the children is further affected by the ages of the children. For example, the impact on a seven year old child is different from that of a teenager who is seventeen years old (Amato,2000).

From a Christian perspective, it is evident that more people, even those who wed in a church are divorcing. According to the Christian Bible, marriage is meant to be a covenant between God and two people. As a result of modernization, people place little importance on the latter, and instead view marriage as being a social contract. The vow whereby, only death is meant to be an end to a marriage is not being fulfilled. Instead, couples are only in a marriage until they no longer love each other, and thus the reason for divorce. Divorce is not allowed as it affects the relations between the children and their parents, as well as causing a lot of pain.

According to the Islamic perspective, divorce is allowed and even offers solutions in terms of how the children will be taken care off. After divorce, it is the woman who is meant to ensure that the children are taken care off. The father is meant to provide upkeep for the children, as well as the wife. He is also awarded with rights whereby, he has the right and permission to visit his children. The negative impact of divorce especially on the children is drastically reduced. The effect of the process of divorce is lessened, as everything is planned for, before finalization of divorce.

Lastly, the divorced couple perspective, offers valuable information regarding how they are affected by divorce. Research shows that when divorced women are compared to divorced men, the latter are worst affected. This is because they suffer in many ways, such as emotionally as well as being harshly judged by society. They often find it difficult to marry again as the stereotype, which exists concerning them, is extremely high. Sometimes, even their relatives such as siblings and parents, distance themselves (Kelly & Emery, 2003). On the other hand, men have it easy after divorce. For example, remarrying is easy for them, as society seems to be on their side. They are not judged in the same manner as the women. In terms of relationship with their children, women have a more stable relationship with their children, since it is them who mostly live with them. Men find it difficult to have a relationship with their children as they distance themselves or remarry.

According to me, I support the perspective of children, who are affected by divorce. They are the ones most affected and the impact can traumatize them, even when they are adults. As research has found out, in the future, when they are grown ups, they will not have stable marriages. Also, they are likely to divorce just like their parents did and even have emotional problems. Others are known to suffer in marriages, which are physically abusive, and will only blame it on their parents (Stevenson & Wolfers, 2007). This means that before parents decide to divorce, they should make sure that their children and well informed and able to handle it well. For example, they can take their children to counselors and even make them know that their parents will still be available for them.

In conclusion, divorce has a great negative impact on the family and especially on the children. The different perspectives on divorce confirm that the impact is felt everywhere. Solutions should be found to reduce divorce rates and suitable methods of assisting families to deal with it found.

References

Amato, P. R. (2000). “The Consequences of Divorce for Adults and Children.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 62:1269–1287

Crowder, K., & Teachman, J. (2004).  Do residential conditions explain the relationship between living arrangements and adolescent behavior?  Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 721-738

Kelly, J. B. & Emery, R. E. (2003).  Children’s adjustment following divorce:  Risk and resiliency perspectives.  Family Relations, 52, 352-362.

Stevenson, Betsey, & Wolfers. Justin, (2007). “Marriage and Divorce: Changes and their Driving Forces.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21,2, 27–52.