Sociology

Divorce is a major problem in present society that is spreading at an alarming rate, and in most cases, the most affected are the children. This paper is going to examine the relationship between coming from a divorced home and different social and relationship development. It will be based on the social, relationship and academic aspects of life. One can hypothesize that if somebody comes from a divorced home, heshe can exhibit a lower-level of maturity in relationship, lack of self-esteem, and increased social activity with comparison to someone from an intact-home. There is a negligible variation between children from divorced homes and non-intact homes in terms of their relationships, family and social characteristics. Introduction

In the world of nowadays, divorce is a common phenomenon. Several children are raised in single-parent homes, and this has an effect on their development. When parents divorce, the development of children is disrupted and many usually find it hard to adjust to this situation. As adults and teenagers, still related problems are often experienced by children of divorce. One has to therefore understand about its social impacts in order for himher reduce the social effects of divorce.

According to Stevenson and Black, Divorce can be defined as a legal disbanding of a valid marriage, in which the marriage is considered as being invalid, that is it leaves the partners the authority to re-marry. Divorce has existed in most communities but with variations in its availability on the ground. The western concept of divorce has been affected by religious beliefs as they deem marriage as a covenant that is not supposed to be taken slightly. The most widely accepted ground for divorce is adultery, others include conviction of serious crimes cruelty desertion alcoholism and insanity. Social functioning can be defined through measures like how much an individual likes to go out with people how social an individual is and how vital it is to maintain a social life. This paper is going to examine divorce as a social problem.

The causes of Divorce
Most parents show pretence encompassing motives that are selfish such as marrying somebody because shehe is from an affluent family, but they do not understand each other over their dislikes and the likes. As a social problem, the high rates of divorce in societies and nations are as a result of these problems of couples seeking for a marriage type that is ideal. Thereby, wives and husbands do not tolerate each other. Most couples do not have a religious conscious. Often, they do not attend marriage seminars and seek pastoral counseling in order to build-up spiritually for handling marital challenges or problems that may occur from outside colleagues and friends. Moreover, some marriages are based on unselfish choice while others by parents forcing their daughters to marry because of their marital gains.

Divorce-A Social Problem
Divorce is a major social problem in the world. Many social problems have lead to many divorces in the world. According to the Annual Review of Psychology, it states that most individuals who have experienced high nervousness life-events, such as divorce, usually develop problems. When parents divorce, their children, who are on adolescence stage, develop problems such as depression, which can then persist into adulthood. Morris and Steinberg state that family-divorce usually changes the inception of puberty and adolescents, who are from environments with higher conflicts, will mature faster and earlier. Stevenson and Black elaborate that children differ in their test-scores in regards to whether they come from a home that is affected by divorce or from an intact home. Adolescents with no close friends are influenced more by their families other than their peers, but those adolescents that are from families that have been affected by divorce are influenced more by their peers.

A study by McCabe and Richardson on behavioral-adjustment of post- divorce children, which focused more on the kind of living arrangement that is present after divorce, emphasized on the perspective of the systems. In regards to this perspective, if one part of the system is altered, all parts of the system will be affected because they are interrelated. Divorce is an alteration in the system of a family, and the children will experience the alterations in all other aspects of life at the time of divorce. This alteration will encompass the social functioning and development of a child. Divorce is an event that is significant to a child s life, and it is the one that alters the way a child relates to hisher surroundings, which are basically social thus the operations in this areas is effected. These social impacts can be long-term problems that are capable of lingering into adulthood.

Both long-term and short-term adjustments are affected by divorce. In regards to the study conducted by McCabe and Richardson on the effects of parental divorce, intimacy, and conflict with parents during adolescent stage, they observed that adolescence is the time of change and divorce facilitates this adjustment. Moreover, conflicts within a home can have negative effects on interpersonal relationships. Stevenson and Black argue that interpersonal relationships are predicted by parent child relations basing on the following aspects of life self-concept life satisfaction same-sex relations depression opposite-sex relation anxiety and stress. As Jaquet and Surra assert, individuals from divorced families display little trust in their relationships, thereby, weakening their relationships. Moreover, young adults that come from divorced homes are less-likely to be committed to their relationships and most women from divorced homes feel insecure while relating with men.

As a social problem, divorce has affected families in both Third World and developed nations of the world. Most communities fully support marriage and most individuals are likely to marry once they get to a certain age. Nowadays, most marriages are in divorce, which is a characteristic of today marriages. Individuals of all social class have experienced this social problem despite the fact that they have undertaken court, traditional marriages. Nowadays, a series of divorce are not only threatening the very foundation of marriage institution, but is only rampant. Initially, family units were held with secrecy and respect among the ancestors of our society. Individuals in the society that married couples were supposed to be loyal and faithful to their spouses. In view of the fact that marriage was deemed as a life-time commitment, most persons supported and embraced its stability. Several children experience family description because their parents are divorced. Furthermore, the affected children move into a more dilapidated and crowded housing that has more overcrowding and noise. As a result, they may be less healthy and suffer from severe neglect and strain.

Social Effects of Divorce
Women are not only suffering from poverty, but they also loose their social support, especially from ex-partners. Women with little employment experience and the elderly women have a more difficult time because they suffer more, at least in their first two years of their divorce. The rates of alcohol abuse among divorced women usually increase together with their general feeling of being unhealthy. Though, if one decides to remain in a marriage that is bad, the same noxious effects will be produced.

The Social Effects of Divorce on Children
Sociologist and the public are greatly concerned with children because they are the cardinal front once the family is divorced. There is a widespread trauma that is experienced by children at the time of divorce. Any time a family experiences a trauma of divorce, the first thought would be whether ones quality of marriage affects the children. Jaquet and Surra agree that children of parents that are not happy typically have high heart rates during playful interactions and cannot soothe themselves. Nonetheless, a significant reduction in financial constrains as well as poverty often are as a result of divorce and is the main cause of children s problems. The negative consequences of children in poverty are similar to those of children in poverty. When children are poor at the time of divorce, they experience several problems in their-likes. This is due to the fact that divorce is a series of transitions but not a single event. As Black and Stevenson, puts it, not less than 3 percent of women move together with their children after separation, into a more dilapidated and crowded housing that is more polluted and noisy. As a result they may become unhealthy due to stress with comparison to their neighbors who may be unsafe, have more children, and engage more in activities that are delinquent.

The custodial guardians of a divorced family find it difficult to make ends meet and this makes them to work for long hours. On returning home, they are too tired and typically have little time to devote to their children. Therefore, poor children of divorced parents receive little affection, attention, encouragement, guidance and supervision. Their social life is affected. The remaining single parent cannot monitor and sponsor hisher children school progress for various reasons such as not supervising when they are out of school as they may be on the streets, they may be alone (at home), or they may be with press unsupervised. Children who are not supervised are likely to engage in delinquent activities that may encompass stealing sexual activities drug abuse and violence.

The social problem caused by divorce on children is that of disposition of children that are raised in a single-parent family and is likely to suffer from parental protection, love and guidance. The probability of those children not attending school on a regular basis, and them not being nutritionally led, may be high. Both parents tend to pull the children apart with regard to their welfare and custody despite the ruling by the court in such a matter. The children are placed at disadvantaged position with regards to their normal development. Children from divorced marriages are likely to derail parental expectations and norms. As Surra and Jaquet assert, moral values have been worsened and be infectious as an open cough, which concurs with parental protection and care that is constantly lacking.

The Social Effects of Divorce on Couples
Those involved in divorce do regret their actions due to many difficulties they encounter after being divorced. The marital freedom prize is usually high even when the family is childless other than when divorce has occurred. The social effects of divorce to divorces are worth mentioning. When a family breaks, the whole chain of social relationship is also broken for the involved parties in the divorce-case. After divorce, the children custody is an unresolved problem among the divorced couples especially with regard to the children s welfare. Women are the ones who suffer more from divorce, and the father s neglect over the autodial offspring by the mother regularly. Often, after divorce, children are told to stay with the family of their mother until the financial status of their father is improved.

A series of social problems for a parent, specifically for single-custodial parents are created by divorce. These problems may encompass increasing parenting permissiveness instability or harshness and decreasing parenting skills, time, and affection. After divorce, most parents encounter a downfall in their children s ability, to provide them with a routine that is regular. They are psychologically and emotionally destabilized particularly the woman as she encounters a downfall in her capability to take care of her children if her divorced husband refuses to do so.

Divorce should not be constructed from any flimsy or minor reason constant misunderstanding between wife and husband can lead to their differences. When one is taking about the social problems of divorce, the biggest repercussion of broken homes and divorce is poverty. A vast number of individuals who reside in poverty are single-mothers, and many of them end up in poverty as a consequence of divorce.

Conclusion
Divorce has much to do with social structure, belief and social values that exist within a marriage thereby, making it a social problem. The degree of prudent judgment among spouses, capability, understanding, tolerance, and humility, will determine the strength of marriage bond, which will further determine the rate of divorce. In my opinion, divorce is the main contributor to alcohol and drug problems and teenage pregnancy problems because children need guidance and monitoring from parents on in regards to their social life.