Developmental effects Children who experience divorce often times have difficulty coping with the traumatic and life changing event. This difficulty can lead to severe negative developmental effects for both boys and girls as they enter adolescence. Teenagers often cope with this stress in three very different ways: regression, pseudo maturity, and delinquency (Kalter, 1987). Those who develop regression revert back to an earlier developmental state, often middle childhood. Behavior, interests, and even appearance of these individuals all remain similar to those prior to adolescence. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum are those individuals who develop a pseudo maturity. These youths act and appear much older than they are and have
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Boys often have a hard time developing a sense of masculinity when a father figure is not present in the household. Sons who do not have a close relationship with their fathers often idealize their fathers and have unrealistic expectations on masculinity. Father-son relationships often lack emotion when the father is distant. Another problem that boys face is the distance of both parents. Now that the mother has to work fulltime, she often has less time to spend with her children. This is twofold for boys who may also be covertly emotionally rejected by the mother, who takes out her anger towards the father on the son. In this case, boys must cope with the physical distance of the father as well as the emotional distance of the mother (Kalter, 1987). Other times, mother-son relationships are strained due to hierarchal conflict. If the father was the main disciplinarian before the divorce, sons have a difficult time respecting the mother as the disciplinarian after the divorce. Boys have trouble respecting the mother as the figure head and often view submission as …show more content…
Unlike boys, girls often do not face identity problems until years after the divorce has actually occurred. In the teen years, daughters of divorced parents experience “lower self-esteem, precocious sexual activity, greater delinquent-like behavior, and more difficulty establishing gratifying, lasting adult heterosexual relationships” (Kalter, 1987, n.p.). Compared to sons, daughters are more likely to internalize the effects of the divorce, as well as believe the father’s absence is due to personal rejection. Girls are more likely to believe this rejection is due to them not being good enough, whether physically or intellectually for their fathers’ attention. Sometimes daughters have difficulty with finding a suitable feminine role model. If a girl believes that her mother was rejected by her father due to her inadequacy as a mother or a spouse, the daughter will also look upon her as an unsuitable model for what femininity should be. Daughters greatly benefit in this area by having a father figure present to reassure her lovability as she develops as a
Boys often have a hard time developing a sense of masculinity when a father figure is not present in the household. Sons who do not have a close relationship with their fathers often idealize their fathers and have unrealistic expectations on masculinity. Father-son relationships often lack emotion when the father is distant. Another problem that boys face is the distance of both parents. Now that the mother has to work fulltime, she often has less time to spend with her children. This is twofold for boys who may also be covertly emotionally rejected by the mother, who takes out her anger towards the father on the son. In this case, boys must cope with the physical distance of the father as well as the emotional distance of the mother (Kalter, 1987). Other times, mother-son relationships are strained due to hierarchal conflict. If the father was the main disciplinarian before the divorce, sons have a difficult time respecting the mother as the disciplinarian after the divorce. Boys have trouble respecting the mother as the figure head and often view submission as …show more content…
Unlike boys, girls often do not face identity problems until years after the divorce has actually occurred. In the teen years, daughters of divorced parents experience “lower self-esteem, precocious sexual activity, greater delinquent-like behavior, and more difficulty establishing gratifying, lasting adult heterosexual relationships” (Kalter, 1987, n.p.). Compared to sons, daughters are more likely to internalize the effects of the divorce, as well as believe the father’s absence is due to personal rejection. Girls are more likely to believe this rejection is due to them not being good enough, whether physically or intellectually for their fathers’ attention. Sometimes daughters have difficulty with finding a suitable feminine role model. If a girl believes that her mother was rejected by her father due to her inadequacy as a mother or a spouse, the daughter will also look upon her as an unsuitable model for what femininity should be. Daughters greatly benefit in this area by having a father figure present to reassure her lovability as she develops as a