Essay - How Divorce Affects Children and Teenagers This Paper Presents A...

how divorce affects children and teenagers

This paper presents a discussion about how divorce affects children and teenagers. The writer takes a sociological path in exploring the long-term affects on the individuals and then how that related to society. There were five sources used ***** complete this *****.

During the last four decades ***** divorce rate began to climb not *****ly in America but also across the globe. As families began to live ***** sepa***** houses researchers took on the task of studying ***** affects ***** the divorce on children and ***** (Dunn, 1999). Now, four decades later the results are in and the experts agree ***** has an undeniable negative impact on children and teenagers. This is ***** to say the negative impact cannot be counterbalanced ***** it must ***** recognized as a given for groups of people affected by divorce if ***** world wants ***** correct the affects from a sociological point of view (Dunn, 1999).

Studies have concluded ***** children and teenagers of ***** are more likely to suffer from mental health problems when they reach adulthood. One recent study used hundreds adults with known mental health issues whose parents had divorced be*****e they were 17 years old. It is interesting to note the children ***** parent ***** died ***** also studied ***** the negative ***** was greater on the children of divorce than the ***** who lost a p*****rent to death.

The patients in ***** study suffered from cl*****ical depressi*****, manic depression or schizophrenia. They were compared with others who never suffered psychological disorders. The two groups ***** matched exactly by age, sex, education and ethnic background(Dunn, 1999). "

***** leads ***** the social aspect of the affect of ***** on children and adolescents. If the ***** and teens of divorce are more ***** to suffer from serious mental ***** issues as ***** this does ***** society in a negative manner. Those who have severe mental illness sometimes cannot function on a job; *****refore need to collect dis*****bility benefits. There are problems for those who do work ***** function ***** society when they have a mental illness as well. The inability to be a te*****m player or get along with others can ***** grave consequences in personal relationships, which ***** lead to a generational cycle of divorce and generations ***** children and teens at high risk for mental health issues ***** adults.

Studies further indic*****e that teens of divorced ***** *****ten have a harder time adjusting to ***** enduring the already difficult teen years. Teens ***** a higher rate of smoking, *****ting divorce themselves as adults and trouble with the law if *****y come from a home of divorced p*****rents. (Divorce 1996) Approximately 700,000 couples with children divorce each year in the United States. This growing number will have an impact on society, as ***** children of these *****s become adults *****(*****, 1998).

They are a ***** problem with significant societal costs. More than one in ***** marri*****s in the United ***** now end in divorce