Divorce Argument Essay

Divorce has progressively become a common procedure worldwide, affecting not only parents and their offspring, but also the communities that surround the family unit, and consequently presenting a terrifying threat for the affected child. Nonetheless, regardless of the conventionality of divorce, it persists to affect various aspects of children's' daily lives and rituals. Children and adolescents are consequently deprived of a customary and stable family upbringing and thus suffer the disadvantages of a single-parent family structure. Divorce can be signified as a common legal procedure for the dissolution of a marriage, which ultimately results in the separation of two parents and inevitable division of property and final custodial guardianship of children. Psychologists have researched the effects of divorce upon children's' mental state, which can also deteriorate later in adulthood. It can therefore be thoroughly justified that divorce is harmful to children's' moral well-being and behavior.

The injurious effects of divorce involve feelings of inadequacy, instability, deprivation and depression usually culminating in resentment, aggression and mood alterations. Studies have distinguished that children and adolescents raised in an intact family structure display evidence of disciplined behavior, as opposed to their counterparts that are often characterized by delinquency and regressive attitude. Children experience extensive loss and unexpected change after the divorce of their parents. The majority of the effects of divorce are unpleasant since children are deprived of a formerly familiar environment and status in the community. Children typically experience grief and melancholia as they undergo through various mood changes, involving overreaction, loss of personal identity and the inability to adjust to a differential setting. According to Nancy Dreger, "In children, divorce can generate personal fears unrelated to their parents or the security of the environment: concern about how friends will react to the news, fear of being embarrassed" (LIRN). Single parenthood creates potential unrecognized problems for children. Divorce can significantly result in, "higher rates of school dropout, teenage pregnancy, [and] juvenile delinquency" (Berlin, CYBRARY). Children habitually imitate their parents' behavior and following a major life change such as divorce, they may attempt to release their withdrawn emotions through anger and participating in illegal activity.

An opposing viewpoint contradicts my perspectives on the detrimental impacts divorce poses for children and adolescents in particular. Certain theories suggest that divorce is necessary and beneficial in providing relief to children who experience negativity and depression as a result of conflict within the family unit. This argument maintains that divorce does not harm children, who in fact engage in delinquent acts whilst cohabiting with their struggling parents in a violent atmosphere.

The Journal of Youth and Adolescence manifests that divorce does not damage a child's existence as, "being exposed to conflict within the family in the form of arguments and violence is positively related to feelings of anger and depressed mood among adolescents" (LIRN). The various authors of this complex article attempt to clarify that there is a definite correlation between depression and anger as well as family conflict. The article distinguishes that divorce does not harm children but in actuality provides relief from continuous turmoil and an oppressive environment. This argument is flawed for several specific reasons. Primarily, children are not relieved by a temporary separation of their parents. The effects of divorce seriously inflict psychological impacts upon a child. Within a family structure, children feel inevitably secure, supported and possess a distinct attachment to their parents. Divorce ultimately demolishes all of these