Children of Divorce: Can We Meet Their Needs?

The high incidence of divorce, coupled with its profound consequences, suggest that the psychological needs of the children involved, the degree to which these needs are being met, and the measures that might be taken to better meet them must be explored. This paper outlines some of the service needs of children of divorce, examines existing systems for the delivery of services, and assesses the extent to which the systems are meeting those needs. It concludes that existing services are essentially inadequate and describes the major characteristics of a model program designed to deal appropriately with the specific needs of children of divorce. Research to develop and evaluate services and programs is urged.     

Children's Reactions to Parental Separation and Divorce: The Views of Children and Custodial Mothers

Children in two age groups, middle childhood and adolescence, were asked to describe how they felt when their parents separated. Although most children reported negative feelings, others reported neutral or positive feelings. Mothers' reports of their children's reactions also revealed a good deal of diversity. When asked to describe how they felt at the time of the interview, most children claimed to have accepted the situation. However, a small group of children, mainly of primary school age, reported continuing distress.     

Nonmarried Aging Parents' and Their Adult Children's Characteristics Associated with Transitions Into and Out of Intergenerational Coresidence

Abstract

Using data from the 1993-1995 waves of the Asset and Health Dynamics among the Oldest Old (AHEAD), this study focuses on analyzing elderly parents' and their children's characteristics associated with the transitions into and out of intergenerational coresidence. Multinomial logistic regression results show that transition into coresidence was primarily initiated by the parents' old age and deteriorating health and/or health-related crises. Transition out of coresidence into parents' institutionalization was also likely to have been triggered by the parents' health problems. In addition, other things being equal, divorced/separated or never-married parents were more likely but African American and Hispanic parents were less likely to have moved into an institution over a 2-year period. Children in the newly coresiding pairs and those of institutionalized parents were more likely to be married than children in the continuously coresiding pairs. The implications of these within-group differences for social work practice are discussed.     

Children after Divorce: Whose Rights? Whose Responsibility?

Concern about the increasing welfare bill for supporting parents and the growing number of mothers and children living in poverty after divorce or separation has recently led Governments to seek new strategies to enforce maintenance payments. A major emphasis in these arguments has been that noncustodial parents (usually fathers) have a responsibility to provide economic support for their children, and that children, mothers and the community have a right to expect this support. At the same time, there has been an increased concern by fathers for their rights to custody and access to their children after divorce or separation. These two concerns, however, have tended to be treated as separate issues, and little attempt has been made to examine the possible interaction between the two, or to examine systematically the respective rights and responsibilities of mothers, fathers, children and the community. These issues are examined here in the context of an analysis of interpersonal rights and responsibilities for financial support and child care.     

Children's Voices: The Views of Vulnerable Children on Their Service Providers and the Relevance of Services They Receive

This paper describes and analyses the views of vulnerable childrenof eleven years and under on the relevance of services theyreceived. The two research questions posed were, first, whatare effective practices for engaging with vulnerable children;and, second, how can the voices of vulnerable children be usedto influence the development of policy? The first question wasaddressed through a systematic review of existing literatureon effective strategies for interviewing vulnerable childrenand revealed that few studies that focus on interviewing youngchildren are designed to address effectiveness. As yet, notall young children are asked for their views by those makingdecisions about their lives, though their involvement increaseswith age. The second question was addressed through focus groupsand interviews which revealed that children hold many validviews related to their roles and relationships with serviceproviders and decisions being made concerning their lives. Itwas concluded that whilst children’s lived experienceof services they receive could contribute to the creation ofmore democratic communities in which children and their familiesparticipate, it remains to be seen whether the new Green Paper,Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003), increases their sense of autonomyor merely extends the degree to which they are controlled.     

Play and Social Interaction in Children Following Divorce

This paper presents the results of a longitudinal study of the effects of divorce on play and social interaction in children. Forty-eight middle class white preschool children from divorced families and a matched group of forty-eight non divorced families were studied at 2 months, 1 year and 2 years after divorce. In the first year following divorce disruptions were found in both play and social relations for boys and girls from divorced families. The adverse effects had largely disappeared for girls by two years after divorce; however, the effects were more intense and enduring for boys. The play patterns of children from divorced families, in comparison to those of children in non divorced families, were less socially and cognitively mature when measured shortly after divorce. Limitations and rigidity in fantasy play were particularly notable. In the year following divorce both boys and girls showed high rates of dependent helpseeking behavior and acting out, non-compliant behavior. This again was more enduring in boys than girls. Even when the behavior of boys from divorced families had improved they were viewed and responded to more negatively by peers and teachers than were children from non divorced families or girls from divorced families.     

Mothering Mothers: An Exploration of the Perceptions of Adult Children of Divorce

It is clear that divorce shapes children's and adolescents lives in a variety of ways and that these are largely negative – they have worse physical and psychological health, they are less well‐off financially and have an increased likelihood of themselves divorcing. Aside from outcomes which are easily measurable, less is known about the ways in which divorce impacts on long‐term relationships ‐ particularly those between children and their parents. This exploratory paper looks at the relationships between divorced mothers and their adult children and finds that, like other studies, their relationships are marked by intimacy, but unlike other studies, this intimacy is neither enjoyed nor embraced. The participants report that their mothers were damaged by the separation, that their anger is ongoing many years afterwards. It is argued that these factors, amongst others, contribute to the ambivalent relationships some of the participants perceive they have with their mothers today and their uncertainty about caring for them in the future.     

Lone Parents and Civil Law: Their Experience of Problems and Their Advice-seeking Behaviour

The percentage of dependent children living in lone‐parent families has more than tripled in Britain over the last 30 years. Though there is much diversity within this lone‐parent population, there are common experiences and characteristics. Lone‐parent families tend to be headed by women, to be poor, on benefits and experience problems with ill health and disability. This paper examines lone parenthood in the context of the experience of justiciable problems (problems for which there is a potential legal remedy), drawing upon a large‐scale survey of 5,611 people representative of the population of England and Wales. The survey included 223 lone parents, who were likely to be female, to be living in rented accommodation, to be on a low income, to be economically inactive and to be in receipt of benefits. Lone parents were significantly more likely than others to have experienced a justiciable problem. Lone parents sought advice for their problems more often than others, particularly from solicitors, even after controlling for problems experienced. Lone parents were more likely than others to receive legal‐aid funding. Lastly, lone parents found trying to resolve problems particularly stressful, though they tended to believe that their life had improved as a consequence of doing so.     

Facilitating Factors for Nonresident Parents' Financial Provisions for Children in Hong Kong

This study examines the facilitating factors for nonresident parents' financial provisions for children among the Chinese in Hong Kong. It found that financial provisions from nonresident parents are subject to economic and ideological as well as relational factors. The results call for the enhancement of active parenting of nonresident parents in a context of cooperative and supportive parental relationship, as well as for adequate employment support to poor nonresident parents. Findings of the study support the recent law reform on creating a less adversarial divorce system that is more conducive to a culture of settlement and cooperation, and on a shifted emphasis from parental rights to both rights and responsibilities of divorced parents.     

Quality Indicators: Disabled Children's and Parents' Prioritizations and Experiences of Quality Criteria when Using Different Types of Support Services

Correspondence to Dr Wendy Mitchell, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK. E-mail: wam1{at}york.ac.uk Summary Current health and social care policy seeks to develop and refinestandards of service quality. However, policies have so farlargely focused upon statistically based service output indicators.Recognizing the importance and yet limitations of this, especiallyin services for disabled children and their families, this paperdraws upon qualitative and quantitative data to explore indicatorsthat are meaningful and relevant to disabled children and theirfamilies. Results demonstrate the need to look beyond a genericfamily-based perception of service quality, as children andparents value different aspects of service quality and prioritizedifferent indicators when using different types of services.Although some indicators are regarded as ‘core’quality indicators, irrespective of service type, others areonly prioritized for specific types of services.     

Adult Children and Their Parents

Although the strong preference among older people is for independent living, a variety of problems can lead parents to move in with adult children. This living arrangement entails distinct social-psychological characteristics. By drawing on theoretical constructs from sociology and social psychology this paper explores these characteristics. By drawing on theoretical constructs from sociology and social psychology this paper explores these characteristics in terms of feelings related to the loss of freedome, the children's sense of irredeemable obligation and the parents' sense of irredeemable obligation and the parents' sense of irreplaceable loss. Based on this analysis, recommendations are made regarding attitudinal changes which can increase both parents' and children's degree of satisfaction with this living arrangement.     

Foster and Residential Children's Perceptions of Their Social Environments

University of Oxford, Department of Social and Administrative Studies, Barnett House, Wellington Square, Oxford OXI 2ER. Summary This paper compares foster and residential children's perceptionsof their social environments (placements). The exercise formedpart of a larger examination of care practice in special fosterhomes and Children's Homes. The application of a combinationof quantitative and qualitative techniques showed that the fosterchildren's perceptions of their placements generally comparedfavourably with those of the residential children.     

The Trouble with Access: a Study of Divorcing Families

Summary This paper explores issues concerning access between non-custodialparents and children following marital breakdown. The literatureconcerning access is reviewed, with reference particularly tothe problem of evaluating the possible benefits of a clean breakbetween non-custodial parent and the children at the time ofseparation. The findings of a research study, in which probationofficers reported on issues concerning custody and access in65 cases on which they were preparing welfare reports, are reported.The study highlights the generally problematic nature of access,discusses the behaviour problems exhibited by the children atthe time of the breakdown, and points to the importance of outsidehelp at an early stage in the divorce process.     

Post-Divorce Family Relationships as Mediating Factors in the Consequences of Divorce for Children

In this study, the psychological structure of the family after divorce is seen as mediating the impact of divorce upon children. Divorce affects primary bonds with parents, presents challenges to conceptions of social reality, and creates stress which interferes with normal development. The effects of divorce upon child behavior (peer relations, stress, aggression, work effectiveness at school) were examined through two contrasting research strategies: 1) a comparison of the behavior of children in divorced and intact families, and 2) analysis of the association between family processes and child outcomes in intact and divorced families. Family processes examined were: (a) the affective relationships between the father and mother, (b) the affective relationships between the child and each parent separately, and (c) for divorced families, the amount of contact between child and non-custodial parent. For divorced and intact groups combined, the relationships among family members appeared to be more potent influences on child behavior than was marital status. The negative effects of divorce were greatly mitigated when positive relationships with both parents were maintained. The child's relationship with the non-custodial parent (father) was as important as the continuing relationship with the mother. Implications for research and for public policy are discussed.     

Intergenerational Continuities and Their Influences on Children's Social Development

The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive review of the recent efforts by psychologists to explore intergenerational continuities and their influences on children's social development. A primary criterion for inclusion in the review was use of three generations of subjects represented in the research, although two generation studies were included to supplement or expand upon the conclusions drawn from three generation studies. The following domains of research were reviewed: (1) literature regarding the repetition of child abuse across generations, (2) research examining the intergenerational continuity of attachment status, (3) investigations of the continuity of parenting and childrearing behavior parents experienced with their own parents, (4) research examining intergenerational continuities in parenting involving non-human primates, and (5) investigations of intergenerational continuities in both peer and sibling relationships. Across all literatures reviewed, evidence was found for intergenerational continuity with gender of parent affecting results. Two primary mechanisms for transmission appear to be cognitive schemas of relationships and modeling. A paradigm is proposed describing possible means of intergenerational transmission of influence on the social development of children.     

Disabled Children's Experience of Permanency in the Looked After System

Research with seven local authorities in England provided dataon the ‘care careers’ of 596 foster-children overthree years (Sinclair et al., 2005). One part of this studylooked at the experiences of disabled foster-children comparedto non-disabled foster-children. The research aimed to identifyif there were any particular difficulties in pursuing permanencyfor disabled looked after children. This article introducesa concept developed by the author from this work: the idea thatdisabled children may be at risk of experiencing a ‘reverseladder of permanency’; being less likely than their peersto receive permanent placements such as adoption and returnhome. The results of the study partially supported this hypothesis,reinforcing existing findings and highlighting some new ones.Foster-children with learning but not other impairments wereless likely to be adopted. All disabled children were less likelyto return home and therefore remained in foster-care for longer.Disabled children who were adopted, or who returned home, didso after a greater delay compared to non-disabled children.By contrast, children who were ‘clearly disabled’achieved a greater degree of permanence within the care system.The article concludes by considering the implications of suchfindings for policy and practice.