Section 3: Inappropriate Boundaries in Divorce
The divorce rate in the United States is 50% for first time marrying couples. Many couples who remain married are unhappy and at risk for poorer mental and physical health (APA, 2004). An estimated 14.4 million parents lived with 23.4 million children while the other parent(s) lived somewhere else (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013). Growing up in a divorced home is a new normal and represents a unique developmental path. Social workers need to be prepared to work with families of divorce. Having experienced divorce as an adolescent and recently as a father with 3 children I know I can help families walk this path. I can empathize with them and help them avoid or repair the negative consequences of divorce through my personal experiences and growth.
Divorce brings major change to a families’ dynamics. …show more content…
An example would be where parents are unwilling to make disparaging comments about the other parent or discuss certain topics in front of their children (e.g., financial matters, sex, disargreements) (Peris, 2005).
We know diffuse family boundaries can lead to enmeshment between parent and child. Enmeshment has been shown to contribute significantly too many families’ dysfunction and may be especially harmful to the healthy development of adolescents. Studies show a correlation between enmeshment and adolescents’ emotional dysregulation (Kivisto, 2015).
Emotional dysfunction is witnessed in many forms of adolescent functioning including the ability to process or cope with an emotion and its effect on the adolescents’ larger goals. Parents are the primary source for children to learn emotions and emotional regulation. When adolescents aren’t allowed to form their own self-identity because of restricted autonomy and family enmeshment adolescents have difficulty with emotional and social adjustment (Kivisto,
The divorce rate in the United States is 50% for first time marrying couples. Many couples who remain married are unhappy and at risk for poorer mental and physical health (APA, 2004). An estimated 14.4 million parents lived with 23.4 million children while the other parent(s) lived somewhere else (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013). Growing up in a divorced home is a new normal and represents a unique developmental path. Social workers need to be prepared to work with families of divorce. Having experienced divorce as an adolescent and recently as a father with 3 children I know I can help families walk this path. I can empathize with them and help them avoid or repair the negative consequences of divorce through my personal experiences and growth.
Divorce brings major change to a families’ dynamics. …show more content…
An example would be where parents are unwilling to make disparaging comments about the other parent or discuss certain topics in front of their children (e.g., financial matters, sex, disargreements) (Peris, 2005).
We know diffuse family boundaries can lead to enmeshment between parent and child. Enmeshment has been shown to contribute significantly too many families’ dysfunction and may be especially harmful to the healthy development of adolescents. Studies show a correlation between enmeshment and adolescents’ emotional dysregulation (Kivisto, 2015).
Emotional dysfunction is witnessed in many forms of adolescent functioning including the ability to process or cope with an emotion and its effect on the adolescents’ larger goals. Parents are the primary source for children to learn emotions and emotional regulation. When adolescents aren’t allowed to form their own self-identity because of restricted autonomy and family enmeshment adolescents have difficulty with emotional and social adjustment (Kivisto,