The Effects of a Maritally Disrupted Environment on the Latency Stage Child

This study looks at the deficits which the latency stage child, from a maritally disrupted home, experiences in facing the challenge of formal education. The issues surrounding the maritally disrupted child's environmental and internal resources as compared to the non-maritally disrupted child are reviewed through current published scholarly studies. The conclusions reached were: (a) latency stage children from maritally disrupted homes fare far worse than latency stage children from two parent homes; (b) the single, most crucial factor for the child of the maritally disrupted home is being able to successfully progress through the educational system with free access to both parents; (c) empirical and hypothetical data show that current judicial and societal norms are ineffective in assisting the child from the maritally disrupted home to succeed in the formal educational system.