The Effects of Parental Absence on the Social and Mental Development of Children - Research Paper Example

Parental Absence 1 Running head: Effects of Parental Absence The Effects of Parental Absence on the Social and Mental Development of Children Name Institution Parental Absence 2 Abstract Previous studies on parent-child relationships have shown that the interaction between parent and child have significant effects on the latter's mental and social development. But what happens when parents are taken out of the picture? The aim of this research paper is to show the causes of parental absence and its effects on the development of children. Studies regarding the subject have shown that parental absence during children's early years, whether due to divorce and incarceration have a significant effect on children and may affect them even in adulthood. The studies also revealed that parental absence can affect the gender development of children. Parental Absence 3 The relationship between parents and their children are very important. In a way, one can say that children are an extension of their parents. In the field of biology, it is common knowledge that children inherit biological traits from their parents through the X and Y chromosomes. These traits are passed down from parent to child, and when the child grows up and becomes an adult passes of his/her genes to the next generation. But unlike animals, the relationship between parents and children surpasses biology. Previous studies regarding the development of children have showed that various parenting styles can have a significant effect on children. In other studies, it is revealed that the psychological and social status of the parents have an effect on their children. In this regard, it is clear that the actions of a parent have a significant effect on children, and their actions may affect children in the years to come, and even into adulthood. But what happens if parents are taken out of the picture? Studies have shown that children who grow up with one parent absent or both parents absent developed differently in the mental and social fields from children who grew up with both parents present. Literature on the subject has also revealed that the absence of parents due to incarceration or divorce also has an effect on the mental and social development of children due to the traumatic experiences involved with these events. With this in mind, it is clear that parents have a significant effect on children regardless of whether they are present or absent, and that the relationship between parents and children are really important. Parental Absence 4 Causes of parental absence Two causes of parental absence have been the focus of this research paper. The first cause is parental absence due to incarceration, while the second is parental absence due to divorce. Results of studies show that children are not only affected by parental absence in general, but also the cause of parental absence due to the various traumas involved. Parental absence due to incarceration According to Ross D. Parke(2002 ) at present, incarceration is one of the leading causes of parental absence in the the United States of America. According to surveys conducted in 2000, there is approximately 3.6 million parents incarcerated in one way or another. Among these number, 1.1 million are incarcerated in local, and federal jails. The current number of incarcerated parents have grown at alarming rate from 452,500 parents in 1991 doubling in number to 737,400 in 2000. Meanwhile, according to the same research, the estimated number of children with incarcerated parents in 2000 are 2.3 million. The number of children with incarcerated parents was 936,500 in 1991 and have risen for over a third of the number to 1,531,500 in 2001. It has been noted in the study that although the number of incarcerated parents have grown, the number of children grew at a slower pace. The statistics detailed above show the the magnitude of the problem. Of the children with incarcerated parents 58 % were below 10 years old, with M= 8 years old. Effects on children Incarceration is not a single or discrete event but a dynamic process that unfolds overtime. To understand the impact of the incarceration process on children it is necessary to Parental Absence 5 consider separately the short term effects of the arrest and separation of the child from the parent, the impact of the unavailability of the parent to the child during the period of incarceration , and the effects both positive and negative of reunion after the incarceration period (Parke 2000). As stated above, incarceration of the parent has an effect on the child due to the unavailability of the parent to the child. The effect of parental absence due to incarceration can be divided into short term and long term effects. It was revealed in a study involving 30 children , that children who saw their mother being arrested were subjected nightmares and flashbacks of the incident( Park,2000). It was also noted in the study that more than half of the children who experienced the event were below 7 years of age. Another short term effect stated in the previous study, involves the explanation of the event to children. According to the study, children who were kept in the dark regarding information about their parent's incarceration have the tendency to become more anxious and fearful. Meanwhile, long term effects on the child involves the loss of emotional bond between mother and child, resulting in the child having emotional and behavioral problems. Other long term effects discovered are poorer relationships and the loss of cognitive abilities due to insecure attachments. Also, it was noted that 70% of children with incarcerated mothers had psychological problems such as: depression, eating disorders, anxiety and guilt. Parental absence due to divorce According to Wauterickx et al.(2006) “divorce , together with its causes and implications, continues to be an interest field for research. The breakup of the marital bonds concerns not only the partners but also the children. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the consequences Parental Absence 6 of divorce on children, in both the short and long terms”. As stated above, divorce is also one of the leading causes of parental absence, which can have long term implications on the children. According to the above study, research involving adults who suffered parental absence due to divorce during childhood were significantly different from children whose families were intact. This shows that parental absence due to divorce has a significant effect on the development of children into adulthood. Evidence from the above study shows that divorces often leave the children involved with poor interpersonal skills. It has also been found out that these children are attracted to other children with the same rebellious character(Wauterickx,2000). Another effect of divorce on children, is the immediate decrease in social status. This can have a negative effect on the behavior of children. The effects of parental absence on children's education Aside from psychological and emotional development, the mental development of a child is also important. Previous studies regarding the education of children revealed that the cognitive development of children are affected by different factors like the language used, teaching styles, and the media used for instruction. Another important factor that has a significant effect on children's education are the relationship between parents and children. Thus, it becomes easy to see that parents have a stake at the educational development of children. At this point, the readers should realize the importance of parents to the the educational development of children, and that children whose parents are absent won't have this factor in developing their cognitive abilities. The importance of parental support in children's education According to research done by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network , family factors and experiences are important Parental Absence 7 in predicting children's educational progress. For the study, 641 children were tested to find out if parental support during the children's early years would predict each child's math and reading at grade 3, and in 54 months. The results of the study would then be compared if the children achieved some measure of self reliance. In the study, it was found out that in boys, the higher the level of the mother's support, the higher the level of the boy's self reliance within the classroom environment. On the other hand, the amount of support showed by the father, was shown to be relative to the slope of self reliance. What this means is that the greater the support showed by the father, the greater the increase in the boy's self reliance for grades 1 to 3. It was also noted in the study, that the boy's self reliance in grade 1 will carry over to grade 3, and those children with higher self reliance in the early years showed higher grades in reading and math. On the other hand, the test results for girls showed that there were no significant relation between self reliance and parenting, but results still showed that self reliance in the early years such as grade 1 affected math and reading achievement in grade 3. Findings of the study were consistent with previous studies that said that, fathers support were important in building boy's self reliance, which was important for the boy's transition into adulthood. It was also stated in the study that fathers who were sensitive during the child's early years encouraged the development of confidence and competence in children in preparation for the outside world. As shown by the study above, the support of parents are important in developing competence in children not only in school, but even later on in life. But what about children whose parent's are absent? According to the study, the support of the father is very important in the early years for boys, even more important than the mother. This finding can be compared to Parental Absence 8 the study regarding the incarceration of parents wherein there are more incarcerated fathers than mothers. What this means for the children is lesser self reliance in the early years, and thus leading to lower grades and competence. The effect of parental absence on children's gender development Aside from the educational impact of parental absence to children, another significant aspect of parental absence is gender development. One of the widely circulating beliefs is that parents are the role models for their children. Early on in life, children try to emulate their parents actions. In this regard, it is important to see the role of parents in shaping the gender development of children. Paternal absence Fathers play a very important role in children's gender development. According to Jelani Mandara(2006), the general trend is that boys who were raised in fatherless families were more passive and showed more feminine and less masculine characteristics. It was also noted in the study that boys whose fathers were absent were less inclined to participate in competitive or physical play, than those children whose fathers were present. In studies conducted using 40 boys arrested for delinquency, it was found out that the 20 of the boys whose fathers were absent were more feminine than 20 of the boys whose fathers were present. The study also showed results that indicate that the the father's relationships with sons may trigger an increase in confidence and masculinity levels. The relationship may also give the child higher hormone levels, leading to the rough play, and confidence showed by boys. Meanwhile, in another study conducted to test the gender development of boys, 40 boys who were in junior school were asked to rate each other's level of masculinity. It was found out in the study that the boys whose fathers were absent Parental Absence 9 rated the boys whose fathers were present higher than the boys whose fathers were present rated them. What the study suggested, according to the research, is that boys looked up to other men as role models. In the study conducted by Jelani Mandara(2006), involving one hundred and six 15 year old adolescents, of which 53% are and 4% are boys, results showed that boys whose fathers were absent reported higher femininity that those boys whose fathers were present. On the other hand, results from the tests involving girls showed that girl's whose fathers were absent showed lesser femininity. Fortunately, a good side effect revealed by the test involving girls is that, the female subjects with absent fathers had a higher level of self perception than their counterparts. It was also found out in the study that boys and girls whose fathers were absent shared similar gender roles in the household. Other findings One of the findings in the study that was unrelated to the subject of gender, but was related to the subject of parental absence is the effect of parental monitoring of children which applied to high risk neighborhoods. It was found out that children who were monitored by their parents in high risk neighborhood were subjected to less stress, thus their bodies were slower to develop. On the other hand, children who were not monitored by their parents in high risk neighborhoods were subjected to stress, thus their bodies developed faster. The effect of parental absence on children's social interaction Most of the studies stated earlier were about the effects of parental absence on the psychological and mental development of children, and effects which were intra personal. The final part of this research paper will involve the interpersonal skills of children whose parent's Parental Absence 10 are absents, and the effect of parental absence on children's social development. The effect of paternal absence on children's peer relations According to Beaty(1995), one of the most increasing occurrences or trends in the American family is paternal absence. As stated in previous studies(Parke,2000), the causes of parental absence can be incarceration, divorce, employment and death. In the study regarding the effect of paternal absence to peer interaction of children, it was stated by the author that the trauma involved with parental deprivation can cause irreversible emotional damage to children. The emotional damage on children, according to the study seems to be long term or short term depending on the age of the child when the event resulting in the absence of the parent happened. It has been noted in the study, that those children at the age of five or less, that were subjected to the trauma of parental loss suffered interpersonal problems, than their adolescent counterparts. According to the author, this is due to the mental maturity of adolescents compared to younger children. Effects According to the research conducted, children who were below the age of five suffered from long term effects which impaired the child's social abilities. It was also stated n the study that boys whose father's were absent showed a preference for toys that were not usually identified with their sex. Because of this, the boy's interaction with his peers were impaired, due to the latter's preference for company of the same sex. Conclusion In the course of the research paper, several aspects of parental absence and the causes of parental absence were tackled. Studies in the subject has showed that the relationship between Parental Absence 11 parents and their children are important, and that the absence of the parent have an effect on the psychological, mental, and social development of children. Evidence has also been presented that supported the theory, that parental absence has an effect on the gender development of children. On the other hand, the limitation of the studies presented in the research paper are the studies focus on boys. It seems that little has been found out about the effects of parental absence on girls. Another topic that might be of interest regarding the absence of parents to children, is the effect of the absence of children to their parents. References Parke, Ross D., & Clarke-Stewart, Alison K. (2001). Effects of Parental Incarceration on Young Children. National Policy Conference. 1-20. Beaty, Lee (1995). Effects of Paternal Absence on Male Adolescents Peer Relations and Self Image. Retrieved July 18,2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2248/is_n120_v30/ai_17856540/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1 Mandara, Jelani (2005, August). The Impact of Father's Absence on African. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, Retrieved July 18,2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2294/is_3-4_53/ai_n16083877 Wauterickx, Naomi, Gouwy, Anneleen, & B racke, Piet (2006). Parental Divorce and Depression: Long Term Effects on Adult Children. Journal of divorce and remarriage. 45, (2008).Mothers and Fathers Support for Child Autonomy and Early School Achievement. Developmental Psychology. 44, 895-907. Read More