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In society today, divorce has become more prevalent than ever causing children to be ripped out of their normal environment instantly. “Each year, over 1 million American children suffer the divorce of their parents; moreover, half of the children born this year to parents who are married will see their parents divorce before they turn 18” (Rector, R, & Fagan, P 2000). Divorce, a life changing event leaves children with negative psychological effects, such as’ depression, low self confidence, behavior problems, and difficulty maintaining a parent child relationship. “On average, parental divorce is associated with an increased risk for a variety of psychological problems among children” (Emery, 1999b; Hetherington & Kelly 2002; McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994). Many parents are misinterpreting the disastrous result of divorce with a self-centered mind frame, and their child will not have any negative effects.
Negative confrontations between parents have an extreme effect on a child trying to understand divorce. “A large body of research demonstrates that conflict between parents is associated with an increased risk for psychological problems among children in all family’s, whether the parents are married, separated, or divorced (Ahrons & Miller, 1993; Ahrons & Tanner, 2003; Amato & Keith, 1991; Emery, 1982, Johnston & Roseby, 1997; Otto, Buffington-Vollum, & Edens, 2003). With the consistency of intense arguments causes extreme amounts of anxiety for a child, especially a child who tries to normalize their surroundings with their parents. “The pain experienced by children at the beginning of a divorce is composed of: sense of vulnerability as the family disintegrates, a grief reaction to the loss of the intact family (many children do not realize their parent’s marriage is troubled), loss of the non-custodial parent, a feeling of intense anger as the disruption of the family, and strong feelings of powerless” (Wallerstein, JS., 2003). Therefore,...