The Impact Of Divorce On The Minds Of Children Research Paper Example

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Divorce is a stressful situation that threatens not only the psychical equilibrium of one or both partners, but especially hurts feelings of their children. The situation of divorce in a family causes great harm to the mental health of the child, who is not capable of simply taking things as they come. According to Gumbiner (2011), "During the 70s, when the psychological literature first discussed the effects of divorce on children, the general view was that divorce doesn't have to harm children"  But in very deed it is one of the greatest emotional trauma that a child may experience. It does not matter how young or old the children are, all of the children experiencing the divorce of their parents often think it is entirely their fault.
The effects of a divorce are different for every child, varying from minor and temporary emotional blocking to irreversible psychological problems and mental diseases. The reaction to a divorce of 5-7- year old children is particularly painful as they take their parents' marital separation incredibly hard. According to child psychologists, one of five young patients with neuroses and other neurotic disorders, or a patient being under pressure all the time is definitely a child who survived separation from one of his parents at an early age. Moreover, statistic reveal the fact that children seeing their parents get divorced, are almost two times more likely to become patients of a pediatric psychologist or child psychiatrist than those whose parents live happily together.
According to Fagan and Churchill (2012), "The effect of divorce on children’s hearts, minds, and souls ranges from mild to severe, from seemingly small to observably significant, and from short-term to long-term". It is not an overstatement to say that the consequences of a parental divorce may affect the rest of their child's life.
Parents' fighting before the marital separation procedure and even following the divorce may lead to serious consequences for their children. According to Laumann-Billings and Emery (2000), "Divorce clearly increases the risk that children will suffer from psychological and behavioral problems".
The thoughts of a child are centered on finding reasons for the parent's divorce and blaming himself/herself for it but not on the studying process. According to Laumann-Billings and Emery (2000), "Overly responsible kids may end up caring for their parents instead of getting cared for by them". As a result, almost half of the children would show decreased academic performance, as their attendance rate and grades are very likely to drop.
Moreover, rebellious and troublesome behavior of a child is a very common effect of divorce. According to Laumann-Billings and Emery (2000), "Troubled children are particularly likely to develop problems with anger, disobedience, and rule violations". This is a child's way to show his disagreement and dissent from the parents' decision.
Many children become sorrowful and grieved for a very long time and require special attention. But if parents are too busy, being immersed in their own thoughts or self-absorbed, it may lead to much more significant problems for their child. Eventually, it may result in a deep depression and even suicidal tendencies and thoughts.
Some children experience parental divorce tend to become avoidant and self-constrained. They are not capable of passing thought a family fight and, consequently, the only way out they see is running away from home.
There is every likelihood of a child's having conflicts with friends as a result of the parents' divorce. The majority of children whose parents are getting divorced tend to shrink from society of their peers. As a consequence, they would rather stay at home all alone than, for instance, go out for a walk or go in for sports.
It's common knowledge that flourishing and strong relation are based on trust. However, a lot of children, viewing the happenings in their families and watching their parents getting divorced, may notice that not all of the relationships are built on loyalty and trust. They see their parents trying to deceive each other in order to benefit somehow from the divorce. As a result, they might start seeing betrayal as a normal occurrence in any relationships. Unfortunately, chances that these children will carry a distrust-based relationship model over into their future families are awfully high.
It is of fundamental importance to draw attention to the fact that in the majority of cases a marriage break-up is likely to have a profound effect on a child's perception of an ideal family and relations. The thoughts of a child relating to marriage and family are no longer optimistic and promising a happy and bright future. Quite the opposite, a child of an older age may even reject the possibility of his/her getting married to avoid the potential risks of going through divorce in the future.

Works Cited

Fagan, P., & Churchill, A. (2012, January 11). The Effects of Divorce on Children. Retrieved March 17, 2015, from http://marri.us/effects-divorce-children
Gumbiner, J. (2011, October 31). Divorce Hurts Children, Even Grown Ones. Retrieved March 17, 2015, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-teenage-mind/201110/divorce-hurts-children-even-grown-ones
Laumann-Billings, L., & Emery, R. (2000). "Distress among Young Adults from Divorced Families." Journal of Family Psychology 14(4): 671-87. Print.