Effects of Divorce on Children in Single-parent Homes
Christa Rhoades
Psy101
Argosy University
Abstract
I come from a very broken home. My mother has been through two divorces, and my brother struggles from the first one to this day. He has unresolved issues that are potentially poisonous to his environment. I have lived in a single parent home for many years at times of hardship. I speak from experience when I say the damage that divorce does to children can be shocking and sometimes devastating.
“The children in a divorcing family know that nothing will ever be the same again, and their previously secure world is in a state of change”(Parker, 2009, para 4). The effects of divorce on children can be devastating. I am speaking from personal experience when I say that it is tough to grow up with divorce and to grow up in a single parent home. Children can be affected emotionally, behaviorally, and mentally.
When the divorce occurred, my brother chose to stay with his father, and I stayed with my mother. He was emotionally hurt at first. But as the years went on, he grew angrier, resulting in disrespect and hatred towards people. It is extremely important that you express the feelings of anger you are carrying or they will eat you alive. The best way to deal with anger is to know exactly what you are angry about and then choose the most suitable way to express your anger to the person that has made you angry (2009, para 7). Now, in his adolescence and just before entering his adulthood, my brother has no regard for education; he dropped out of school. He has no respect; He would rather not live at home, than accept a consequence
With his behaviors, he shows me that he is incapable of resolving his issues alone. I do not believe that he is even aware of his actions at times. I can see there is a problem behaviorally(fighting and arguing about every little thing), mentally (with thinking that he is above everyone, and he can treat them however he...