Causes and the Effects of Divorce on Children
Introduction
Marriage is a legal companionship involving two people of the opposite gender, a male and a female. It is regarded as one of the precious and beautiful things almost everyone expects to have in life. However, due to frequent differences and misunderstandings between couples, this relationship may be so rough and unbearable for the two of them. Therefore, a resolution of divorce may be inevitable.
Divorce is the final termination of a marriage, dropping the legal roles and responsibilities in that marriage and dissolving the union of the matrimony between the husband and the wife (OKOLIE, Okwu, and Ugo, Pg 2, 2020). It is normally regarded as the solution to hard marital relationships regardless of the consequences on the couple, children, teens, and the community
.
Causes of Divorce
The age of marriage of the partners affects how the union lasts. Regarding Eyo, Pg 3 2018, those who engage in marriage at their adolescent ages are most likely to divorce. Ideally, such people have not grown emotionally and experientially at adolescence; thus, they are likely to make unsound marital choices and consequential divorce. Marriage at the teenage age is very habitual between the lower class members, especially among the illiterate society members. This situation has led to increased divorce rates due to financial strain, poor relationship management skills, and an inability to solve family misunderstandings and conflicts.
Frequent domestic violence is also positively related to higher cases of divorce. In marriages where either the man or the woman experiences violence from their spouse or the in-laws, divorce chances are high. Home-based violence cases are reportedly high in modern society and are associated with drug abuse, persistent disagreements, and unresolved misunderstandings.
Addiction to substances can also lead to divorce cases. People get used to drugs, behaviors, or even other people. These addictions can ruin someone’s life. As addictions gain more control of the person’s life and he/she may find themselves at the verge of losing their job, marriage, or even friends. Additionally, the person starts to show unacceptable behaviors in a marriage, such as unfaithfulness, unco-operativeness, and failure in performing his marital duties, which may lead to divorce.
A change in someone’s status influences his/her lifestyle according to a study on the Behavioral Patterns of People and Social Problems. Eyo, Pg 3, 2018 states that a small upgrading in someone’s life may bring new friends, social status, and even new lifestyles. In some cases, when one of the parties in a marriage fails to meet the new lifestyles, he/she may be divorced to give room for marrying a partner who can fit in that new lifestyle.
Effects of Divorce on Children
The problem of change. Children whose parents have divorced often get confronting questions from their peers, especially in their early grade school levels as to why they have only one parent at their home, and this may be hard to answer. The children will also have to adapt to initial relationships and constrained interactions of a single parent. Eyo, Pg 4, 2018 states that children from divorced marriages will have to bear the parental misunderstandings even after the divorce as the parents try to win the children’s trust and love at the cost of his/her fellow partner, and this has makes it difficult for the child to adjust to that kind of life.
The children suffer from psychological problems. Children whose parents have divorced feels pulled out when with his/her fellow peers, particularly when the peers are talking about their parents. This lowers their self-esteem, and they may end up into depression as they envy their peers’ lifestyles, whose parents stayed together. They may end up carrying this problem into their companionship.
Children become prone to social problems. Children whose parents have divorced become more vulnerable to social problems (Eyo, Pg 4, 2018). With the inadequacy in their raising, these children may opt to join other peers and adults who may expose them to vices that are dangerous to their lives and those of that of the community at large.
The children lack a balance in their training and caretaking. Children are usually expected to be taken care of and taught by both of their parents, each offering the traits that may be lacking in the other parent’s life. However, children from divorced marriages are trained and taken care of by one parent who may pass his/her flaws to the children.
Conclusion
Although divorce may seem to be one of the best ways to solve a quarrelsome marriage with its benefits being perceived by the divorcees and other family members, its adverse results on the children involved surpassing the benefits. The community should, therefore, get rid of or minimize divorce cases to almost no cases.
Work cited.
OKOLIE, Ugo C., Okwu A. ONYEMA, and Ugo S. BASEY. “ANALYTICAL STUDY OF CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF DIVORCE AS PERCEIVED BY STUDENTS IN SOUTH SOUTH GEOPOLITICAL ZONE OF NIGERIA.” Balkan Social Science Review 15.15 (2020): 25-47.
Eyo, Ubong E. “Divorce: Causes and Effects on Children.” (2018).