Response Essay

1) What I found interesting from this chapter was the section the pertained to the effects of divorce on children. According to the textbook (p.351) it states that almost half of all divorces occur within families that have children. It states that some people try to dismiss the concept that divorce has no effect on the children involved, but in fact, there are long-term social, emotional, and psychological effects.   Some consequences of children products of divorce are on a micro-level, such as personal copings skills, or their impeding relationship with the noncustodial parent.   Others are on the macro level, such as the custodial parent’s financial and economic situation after the divorce.
2) I found this topic interesting as you really do not want to interview children as you risk further implications. The judicial system as well as the children’s families does not want to further deteriorate these children’s mental and physical well beings so they cannot interview or question them. This relates to my family as we ourselves are a blended family and both my husband and I deal with the implications of dealing with the children from the parent perspective as well as the other implications. I was also a product of divorce and ended up with my grandparents adopting me as their own. My father ended up remarrying and having children with his other wife and I see the implication that is has on my three brothers. They have social and coping issues from dealing with the stress not only from the divorce, but from the volatile situations that they dealt with that lead to the divorce. One has been in and out of the legal system and been in juvenile homes, while one has had similar issues but also deals with mental anguish that his mother put him through trying to make him choose sides. This leads me to believe it is not only the divorce that traumatizes the child but the situation that they are placed in afterwards. They have to deal with a parent that is trying to please...