Project 2: Negative

Effects of Divorce On
Children
By Malaya Torres
What Is Divorce?
Dictionary.com definition: My definition/view: an
a judicial declaration unfortunate event that
dissolving a marriage in occurs that breaks up
whole or in part, the whole family.
especially one that
releases the marriage
partners from all
matrimonial obligations.
Divorce Rate In the United States
According to American Psychological Associtaion, about 40 to 50
percent of married couples end up getting a divorce.
Who Is Affected the Most, And
Why?
Children/adolescents are affected the most by divorce
because they're too young to understand what's going on
and don't know how to deal with the huge change.
They become depressed because of the problems going on
between their custodial parent and non-custodial parent.
What Happens During A Divorce?
A divorce can lead to strict visitation rights which means
that the child will not only stop seeing a parent as often as
they did, but they'll also stop seeing the rest of their family
such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Changes
Divorce causes a huge, uncomfortable
change and adolescents don't know how to
cope with it all so it most likely will lead to
depression.
- Children tend to become very sad about
their family being completely broken apart,
so they'll start to feel alone.
Divorce Leading To
Economic Problems
One of the biggest problems that divorce can
lead to is financial problems.
- The family of the custodial parent will most
likely experience a lower standard of living
because of now having to supply every need all
on their own.
- The new way of living can lead to problems in
the family because of a misunderstanding.
Divorce Leading To Economic
Problems Continued
Families involved in a divorce will often have to
move/relocate because of financial reasons.
- The family will almost always move to a poorer
neighborhood in order to save some money.
- As a result, the child involved may have to change
schools.
Divorce Leading To Social
Problems
Children from divorced families often
experience problems with their peers.
- Because of having to relocate, children
lose their friends from their old school.
- Because of relocating and dealing with
everything, children have a hard time
making friends at their new school.
- Divorce leads to children being
introduced to unstableness, and that
instability tends to fall on them which
then leads them to start acting different
with their peers.
- All this unfamiliar change tends to make
children become angry inside, so they
start to act out towards others.
 Functionalist theory
Sociology Textbook Definition: Society is like a living organism with
its various parts working together (or functioning) for the good of the
whole.
Functionalist Perspective of This
Institution
I think that a person who follows the ways of a functionalist
would view this institution as a very negative thing, just like
the rest of society does.
The reason is because a functionalist's perspective is that
things work together to create something positive or make
something whole.
- Nothing positive comes from divorce, especially for
children/adolescents because they are being completely torn
apart and have to experience a whole lot of emotional abuse.
- A functionalist's perspective would view this institution as
being cruel because a family is supposed to cooperate and
work together to make each person whole, but instead
divorce causes everyone to be broken apart.
 Conflict theory
Sociology Textbook Definition: Focuses on power and the
allocation of valued resources in society.
Conflict Perspective of This
Institution
The reason why children have to go through all the emotional abuse
that comes with divorce is because of the conflict theory.
Children end up being caught in the middle when it comes to divorce
because of each parent wanting full custody of their child.
- The conflict theory/perspective on this situation is that the two
parents that are getting a divorce are competing for everything in this
whole process of divorce, including the child.
- The result of the parents competing for everything (resources) is that
the child gets caught up in the mess, and is now affected by the
situation.
Works Cited

"Behavioral Issues in Children After Divorce."Our Family Wizard. N.p., n.d. Web. Apr.
2017. <https://www.ourfamilywizard.com/blog/behavioral-issues-children-after-
divorce>.
"Children Changing Schools: How Detrimental Is It?"Divorce Lawyer Call
(505) 247-2390. N.p., 16 Mar. 2017. Web. Apr. 2017.
<http://lightninglegal.biz/children-changing-schools-how-detrimental-is-it>.
"Custom Research Papers on Divorce Rate."Research Papers on Divorce in the
United States. N.p., n.d. Web. Apr. 2017. <https://www.papermasters.com/divorce-
rate.html>.
"The Impact of Divorce on Young Children and Adolescents."Psychology Today. N.p.,
n.d. Web. Apr. 2017. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/surviving-your-childs-
adolescence/201112/the-impact-divorce-young-children-and-adolescents>.
Mallon, Bridget. "Children Of Divorce: Study Finds Younger Children Feel Lasting
Effects Of Divorce."The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 01 July 2013. Web.
Apr. 2017. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/01/children-of-
divorce_n_3529920.html>.
"Marriage & Divorce."Pardon Our Interruption. N.p., n.d. Web. Apr. 2017.
<http://www.apa.org/topics/divorce/>.
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Teenagers. N.p., n.d. Web. Apr. 2017. <http://www.rescueyouth.com/visitation-
rights-effects-divorce-children/>.