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Section 16 Question 16 | Test | Table of Contents
The Childs
Point of View Schlesinger
(1982) asked 40 children, averaging 14.9 year old and who had lived in a single
parent household for an average of 4.7 years, their perceptions of the advantages
and disadvantages of living in a single parent household. It is most interesting
that the same items appeared on both lists: It is clear from the above lists that single parenting status can lead to diametrically opposed outcomes. The child may perceive that the loss of a parent can increase or decrease the number of friends. Responsibility can be seen as a blessing or curse. The Mothers Point of View Brandwein, Brown, and Fox (1974) noted that single parent mothers are at a disadvantage from several points of view. First, economic power is quite limited. Economic discrimination against women has been extensive documented. The majority of men do not continue support. The courts are reluctant to take legal action against nonpaying fathers. Second, the single parent mother commands less authority in society. They are taken less seriously and are less respected than men. Third, single parent mothers are less likely to obtain homemaking services. The Fathers
Point of View Smith (1976) indicated that single fathers tend to adjust well if there is anticipatory socialization, prior experience in child rearing, education in child development, previous participation in household responsibilities, prior participation in child discipline, and prior experience in nurturing the children. Bray and Anderson (1984) in discussing the problems of single parents regardless of sex of parent, noted that role overload was a common problem. Money was a constant problem. Groceries, meals, child care, and discipline all were demanding. Such parents also felt more intensely the fear, hurt and anger of the children, without the buffer of another parent. Because there is not another parent to serve as a buffer or source of social support, single parents are more vulnerable to the hurt and anger experienced by their children. Such potential enmeshment may increase the pain of parenting and lead to inappropriate problem solving. Keshet and Rosenthal (1978) studied 128 fathers with children under seven. These fathers were typically noncustodial, upper middle class professionals. They remained very active and in close contact with their young children. Their initial reaction to single parenthood was the feeling of having failed their children, regardless of whether they had initiated the separation. They experienced significant fear in learning the new roles. They felt overwhelmed at the thought of assuming the parental role on their own and questioned their competence as caretakers. Frequently, the fathers did not know their childrens likes or dislikes. They found planning, organizing, and anticipating the needs of the children to be difficult. Ten fathers were studied more extensively. Fathers with less flexible work schedules felt more negative about child care. Initially, the fathers were dependent on the mothers for child care activities. It was not unusual for the mother to initially plan the fathers time with the children and to monitor the activities. Gradually, the father became more independent of the mother. The father then monitored the childrens reactions for validation of competence as a parent. Initially he often gave his children too much power in this transition. The father learned to take care of himself in order to create a comfortable environment for the children. While the Keshet and Rosenthal study provided some information about single parenthood for fathers, it did not study custodial fathers and their role strain. In a study that did look at single parenthood in custodial fathers, Mendes (1976) studied 32 fathers, including 4 who were separated, 7 who were widowed, and 22 who were divorced. Mendes found that whether the father had chosen to be a single parent or not was the most salient factor in differentiating the fathers experiences. Seekers of single parenthood had strong, positive feelings about being parents. These fathers had been involved in child care from their childrens infancies. All but four of the fathers reported the mothers as inadequate. Mendes further broke the seekers into two groups, the aggressive seekers and the conciliatory seekers. Aggressive seekers (i.e., those who had obtained custody in an assertive manner, often in disregard for the wishes of the mother) were under 35 and had children of preschool age. Keeping the child had important symbolic meaning for the fathers. This often stemmed from the fathers own traumatic childhood experiences. (This author has noted that the most painful and vigorous responses to divorce and separation from children have occurred in parents who themselves experienced painful separations as children. The parents cannot tolerate doing to the child that which was done to them.) Often the most aggressive fathers seeking custody are those who felt abandoned themselves as children. Conciliatory seekers were typically over 30, and several were in their mid40s. Most of the children were preadolescents. Most had sought custody while still living with their wives. The men were characterized as having few friends or close relationships. The wives had initiated the separation. The rejection by the wife was a narcissistic blow that weakened an already low self-confidence in their ability to establish and maintain a love relationship. By being custodial parents, these men were able to avoid the social isolation that would have occurred had the mothers obtained custody. They enjoyed being single fathers. The fathers who did not seek custody were labeled assenters. They agreed to custody, but had not initiated the process. They were older than the seekers, an average of 41 years old. Children ranged from preschool to adolescence. Widowers were included in this group. They did not necessarily enjoy being fathers. Relationships ranged from poor to excellent. Relationships typically change dramatically from the previously intact family. One particularly angry group of assenters was a group of men who had been deserted by the wife (labeled aggressive initiation by Mendes). These men felt a sense of responsibility toward the children, guilt for former neglect of the children or wives, and fear of retaliation. If the preseparation relationship between the father and children was poor, the relationship was worse after the separation. These fathers had less interaction with their children and felt considerable anxiety about the father role. Five fathers were categorized as in the conciliatory initiation category. Three of the fathers had always had good relationships with their children. All five maintained friendly relationships with their former wives. This study
raised some interesting questions about how single fatherhood started and had
implications for father-child relationship postseparation. The study, however,
was based on a very small sample, and breakdowns into four subgroups makes the
ability to generalize very limited. While suggestive for further research, caution
should be used before assuming that the data could be used for practice. One study
that would be enormously useful would be a longitudinal study of how the children
developed over time as a function of the type of single fatherhood. Update Sangeet, O., & Singh, S. (2022). Experiences of single-parent children in the current Indian context. Journal of family medicine and primary care, 11(7), 3790–3794. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_2455_21
QUESTION
16 |