Single Family Vs Single Parent Family

Marriage and having a family is still one of the goals of many. Growing old with a significant other and raising a family may seem as the normality in our society. However there are some life circumstances that might change that perspective, and a dual parent family might become a single parent household. Death of a spouse, divorce, or even the decision of never marrying, may be the reason of a single parent household. There are similarities and a few differences between single parent families depending on each unique situation. Single parent households due to divorce will go through an emotional stage of turmoil, single parent household due to death will deal with the grieving process, and a single parent household due to never marrying …show more content…
Both, in a divorce or death related single parent household, either parental figured will need to re-evaluate their role. The family dynamic changes, signs of guilt might be a part of their new emotional stage, and having to rearrange their roles within the family could be a stressful and confusing process. Additionally, in both situations the parental figure will eventually have to deal with the decision of moving on. This will be another task that will affect the family as a whole. This is where the differences in these two situations might arise. Moving on after a divorce has different emotional outcomes than moving on after a death of a spouse. After a divorce a person might have commitment anxiety, this may get in the way of making new relationships, specially if as a result of a divorce the person was left feeling insecure (Casimong). In a death of a spouse, the surviving spouse might have feeling of guilt or even betrayal if they move on into a romantic relationship (Anderson & Sabatelli 2010). Additionally, society might play a big role in the sense of guilt or betrayal if a spouse move on too quickly after the death of a spouse (Casiming). The surviving spouse will be able to move on once they have successfully coped with the grieving process and are able to talk about it without …show more content…
In this situation the parent might be used to being in charge of everything, including finances, household chores, and working. However, there is a new set of responsibilities when they become parents, this includes more expenses, finding care for the new child, and even the need to find a new job depending on their current job demands. There is, nonetheless, a similarity to a divorce single parent household. Although the parent in this case is not married, there might be a father figure in the picture. In this case, just as in the divorce household, there needs to be a set of rules clearly established. This might contribute to stress and even legal advice might be pursued. There is also a similarity to a single parent household due to the death of a spouse. In this case, being single can be frown upon by society, while at the same time it might be frown upon by society to become involved romantically while being a single parent.
Conclusively, every single household deal with similar challenges, but at the same time they have unique responsibilities depending on each situation. Weather a single-family household was caused by death, divorce, or simply deciding not to married; there is a adjustment or re-evaluation stage. Nevertheless, after figuring out what they will do with their new family dynamic, they will then deal with different aspect of