The Voice of Child in Parent Divorce An Overview Through The Impact Of Parental Divorce On Children

By Sam Dickinson

Parental divorce is considered one of the most stressful events in the lives of children.

When parents divorce, the effects of divorce on children can vary. Some children react to divorce naturally and understanding way, while other children may struggle with the transition.

Children are resilient, and with assistance, the divorce transition can be experienced as an adjustment rather than a crisis. Since the children in a divorce vary (different temperaments, different ages), the effects of divorce on children vary, too.

The good news is, parents can take steps to reduce the psychological effects of divorce on children. A few supportive parenting strategies can go a long way to helping kids adjust to the changes brought about by divorce.

• Language: English
• Publisher: vincenzo nappi
• Release date: Aug 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201587369

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Introduction

Divorce has been considered particularly disruptive for children due to the fact that it occurs during childhood. While adults may have faced several losses and disappointments in life, for many children the divorce of their parents is their first life crisis. The distinctive feature of children of parental divorce is that unlike their parents, they usually remain members of the families of both their parents. The current study considered the perspectives of children regarding the divorce of their parents, paying particular attention to honoring the voice of the child in the divorce process. The adult perspective on divorce has dominated the discourse on divorce and research has only recently started to consider the viewpoint of children.

Children are voiceless: they don’t write books, they don’t vote, they don’t usually get interviewed on television. We learn about their experiences by sensitively observing their lives and later, when they are grown up, asking them what it was like.

Research has revealed that the nature of the divorce process as experienced by the child is the most important factor in post-divorce adjustment. It also remains a relatively unexplored area, with only limited research on the manner in which children experience the divorce process. Children need to be acknowledged as active agents in research rather than passive subjects. The benefits of talking to children themselves about their transition-related experiences, rather than depending only on adult-mediated accounts.

Parental divorce has been labeled as a substantial loss for all children affected. Research has considered its occurrence to be one of the most stressful events in the lives of children affected, with repercussions that are ongoing throughout the lives of these children. As parental divorce transitions occur children often experience depression, anxiety, anger, behavior problems, and a drop-in school performance. Most researchers agree that children from divorced families are poorly adjusted in comparison to children from intact families. In the South African context about 10% of children from intact homes present with psychological problems, behavioral problems, and scholastic difficulties. These same problems are experienced by about 25% of children from divorced homes. About 70% of children from divorced homes view divorce as an acceptable solution to an unhappy marriage.

The rise in global divorce rates has resulted in an increased focus on the impact of divorce on children. Statistics South Africa’s most recent release regarding divorce data reported that there were 23885 completed divorces inSouth Africa in 2013. This indicates an increase of 1887 (8,6%) divorces from the 21998 divorces that took place in 2012. Of the 23885 divorces in 2013, 12999 (54,4%) involved children younger than 18 years. There were 21073 children affected by divorce in 2013. A large number of South African children affected by divorce, along with the increasing divorce rate in the country, points to the need for research regarding children’s experiences of parental divorce.

This need is further emphasized by research findings regarding the impact of parental divorce on children. Psychologists agree that divorce impacts significantly on children, despite disagreeing on the extent, nature and intensity of this impact. Research on divorce has advanced significantly over the past four decades. It is however, still considering a young science. The usefulness of the research conducted over the past few decades has been impacted upon by its skewed focus on clinical patient samples, and its emphasis on pathology rather than positive adjustment and coping. Poor methodology meant that early studies on parental divorce produced limited findings. Most studies were cross-sectional and used non-representative and often clinical samples. Researchers relied on single informants and on inadequate and unvalidated measures. Many variables or moderating factors were disregarded, including, amongst others, length of time since parental divorce, economic implications of divorce, and the individual personalities of children. Early research on parental divorce held two negative assumptions. One is that a divorce is a traumatic event that has detrimental effects on children. The other being that a two-parent family structure is essential for the successful socialization of children. Research indicates that in most cases, regardless of circumstances, children do experience some adjustment difficulties in the months following parental divorce. While some children of divorce do display adjustment difficulties, others demonstrate notable resiliency. No significant difference in the long-term outcomes for children of divorce when compared to children from intact families was found. In this regard, researchers caution against holding presuppositions regarding what represents a major crisis in the life of a child.

More research is needed on the way in which children experience the divorce process as there is no clear evidence delineating their experiences in this regard. In addition, they note that the divorce process remains a relatively unexplored area. While a large amount of research has been conducted on the adult and adolescent perspective regarding divorce, there is an increasing call for research on the perspective of the child. Children of divorce do not have a voice in divorce research and this was the primary rationale for the current study. This study addresses previous research deficiencies in the literature and contributes significantly to the literature by interviewing children themselves and providing rich data on the perspectives of these children. There is an existing body of research in which children have been effectively and ethically interviewed regarding various topics including divorce. The way in which children perceive the divorce decision of their parents tends to inform the way in which they react.

An understanding of the experiences and perceptions that children have regarding parental divorce should be of value to professionals such as psychologists, social workers, and teachers, should aid the development of intervention programs, and should inform policy. Researchers have called for divorce studies that yield findings that are of greater utility to counselors, families and society.

The definition of divorce impacts considerably on the findings of a study. For the purposes of the current study, the divorce event was defined as the once-off legal divorce occurrence, while the divorce process was defined as the period between which parents separated and divorced, and included possible family friction or conflict prior to the separation, as well as the time period during which family transitions took place post-divorce, for example, relocation and step-families. It is not sufficient to simply research the divorce event itself, but that the changes in the relationship between children and parents as well as the post-divorce family transitions should be considered important areas of research focus. It is also important to consider that in most cases parents separate for a period of time before they are divorced. Divorce should be understood as more than a discrete event because the family processes that precede, and follow the divorce event, are essential components of the divorce itself. Children are affected by divorce long before the legal finalization of the divorce event. Children who experience divorce are exposed to its negative effects months or even years before the divorce event, often in the form of parental conflict. He thus recommends that divorce be treated as a process