alth Statistics, 1989).
A great deal of misery lies behind such statistics for all parties concerned with divorces, and a great deal of societal cost is also involved. Both misery and cost are applicable to those victims of divorce who have the least control over the situation. These victims are the minor children of the divorce partners.
An unstable family life, an absence of effective parental involvement, and economic deprivation are but a few of the factors affecting the children of divorce partners. Academic performance, cognitive functioning, social development, and physical and psychological security are but a few of the aspects of a child's life which may be adversely affected by divorce.
In a study of the effect of divorce on school aged children, Forehand, McCombs, Long, and Brody (1988) found that continued conflict between the divorce partners had an adverse effect on school aged children in the contexts of social development, cognitive functioning, and the ability to externalize. In such situations, many young people seek the acceptance of street gangs to replace the family (Barden, 1990). Another factor involved in the decision of many young people to join street gangs is the experience of child abuse at home (Hoff, 1990). The perpetrators of child abuse in the United States are typically (50 percent) those adults who are closest to the child. In approximately 30 percent of the cases, the abuser is the mother, while the father is the abuser in about 20 percent of the cases, and the remaining 50 percent of cases of abuse are perpetrated by a variety of persons, such as baby sitters, boy friends or live in lovers of the mother, and so forth (Kaplan and Sadock, 1990). Approximately 50 percent of child abuse cases occur in households receiving public assistance, while the remaining 50 percent occur in higher income households.
Psychiatrically, abusers of children are typically unstable, immature, chara...