Sociology

The pattern of family in which a child is brought up is very important in his or her social and emotional development. There is an increase in number of children who are being brought up in non traditional family with one parent rather than two parents, a mother and father. Research indicates that those children who grow in families with single parents experience some problems. Their social, cognitive and emotional development is negatively affected by the conditions in the family (Booth and Amato, 2001).

In many cases single parent families are faced with financial problems which may negatively affects the development of the child. The single parent may be disadvantaged economically which makes it difficult for them to finance the well being of their children. The parent may not be able to afford goods that the child may value and thus affects the child emotionally and socially. Secondly, it is not easy for a single parent to function as an effective parent which has big influence on the social and emotional development of the child. The parent may be over occupied in trying to make ends meet and therefore may have no time for their children. It is also observed that children who are brought up in the non traditional families are more exposed to parental stress which affects them emotionally. Through parenting, the preference of single parenthood can also be transmitted to the children leading to marriage breakups in the future (Amato, 2005).

In conclusion it is indisputable that a two parent nuclear family is the most ideal condition to bring up a child. Both parents in the family supports the child emotionally and social development which is not the case in non traditional family setup.