Effect of Divorce on Children (Essay Sample)

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Effects of Divorce on the Children
According to the American Psychological Association, about 40-50% of all people who gets into marriages end up divorcing (American Psychological Association, 2015).Essentially, this is a very high rate as it means that about 50% of all children born in the United States end up in a broken family. Over the recent past, there have been many studies examining how divorce affects both the parents and the children, and there seems to be an agreement that divorce has negative impacts on the children and the parents. However, how exactly does divorce affect the children in the marriage? Ideally, this is one of those questions that do not have a clear-cut answer(s) as different individuals react differently to stressors. However, understanding this issue is essential to marriage counselors as it would equip them with the knowledge to help parents understand the effect their decisions would have on their children. The information is also important for child's therapists as it would equip them with the knowledge that will enable them to help children from broken families cope with the post-divorce trauma more effectively.
Consequently, this will help the children reduce the post trauma stress to an extent that they are affected by their parents’ divorces. Studies done over the years show that on average children seem to be affected in some ways. Sadly, all the effects observed in different children are negative and counterproductive to the normal holistic development of the affected child. These impacts include:
Children from divorced families suffer academically. A study conducted by Karel Kurst-Swanger et al (2003) shows that children from broken families have a lower possibility of graduating from school as compared as those from stable households. This trend is due to the behavioral change that children from divorced families exhibit. So even when the children do manage to graduate, the average grade of the children from broken families is relatively lower than that of children from stable families. This poor academic performance results from the behavioral changes as described in the other effects.
Likelihood of Teens from divorced families engaging in drug and substance abuse and early sexual intercourse than are those with stable households. According to a study by Karel Kurst-Swanger et al (2003), children from broken families experience emotional problems. Additionally, they find it hard to maintain a romantic relationship and often feel that they were born to fail. Such kids resemble their parents who cause depression usually expressed in different forms such as having the need for a less committed relationship and cohabitations. They value sex less and engage in intercourse without many regards for the sanctity of sex. Similarly, children from broken families are more susceptible to abusing drugs as a reaction to post-divorce stress.
Consequences of juvenile crimes.
According to McLanahan and Sandefur (1994) most of the detained children who are juveniles hail from broken families. A primary reason these children engage in minor crimes is in the quest to earn money to support their drug abuse behavior. Drugs are expensive, and most teens have less money at their disposal. They thus engage in shoplifting and other crimes to get money to buy drugs. Nevertheless, this is withstanding the fact that, children from divorced families are extremely vulnerable to poverty that those from intact families. The study by McLanahan and Sandefur (1994) showed that children in broken families have a high likelihood of living below the poverty line as compared to the children living with their married parents.
The study observed that the custodial income drops significantly after divorce. Also, the total earnings of the two parents become split and committed to more commitments than would have otherwise been the case. However, this predisposes the children to poverty, and they end up in debt. Most of the privileges that come with hailing from a financially stable family are missed out by the children. For instance; they cannot afford quality education and health care. Probably one of the reasons why children from divorced families perform dismally in academics. Not surprisingly, a study by David J Buller (2005) showed that children from broken families are more likely to fall ill and even more surprising, recover slower than those from stable households. Consequently, the type of health care and also the diet they take can help explain why divorced parents are more likely to be living in pov...