This paper will provide an overview of the effects of divorce on children of all ages. It will focus first on legal and emotional aspects of divorce, will then turn to the changing family structure of the 1990s, will analyze some of the variable influences on divorce trauma, and will conclude with a discussion of the basic sets of therapy available for children, as well as contemporary legislation passed to protect children from the problems associated with divorce.
As divorces increase, so do the resultant problems and effects associated with such trauma on children. Some consider one of the single most serious problems faced by schoolchildren today to be that of psychological problems from parental discord, abuse, or divorce (Morgenthau, 1990 91). Young children are the most profoundly affected, and over 60 percent of psychological problems reported in children from 5 to 12 can be traced to or associated with parental problems (Stanley Hagen and Anderson, 1989). Additionally, older children are affected as well, particularly those who experience parental discord resulting in divorce in late adolescence (Cain, 1990).
In the 20th century, the legal aspects of divorce have undergone a gradual change in both policy and structure. This is particularly evident in the changing grounds listed in many contemporary divorce decrees, as the proportion of divorces granted on specific grounds declined. According to national data, between 1867 86 and 1965, adultery declined as grounds for all divorces from 24.6 percent in the late nineteenth century to only 1.4 percent of all divorces granted in 1965; desertion declined from 44.1 percent to 13.8 percent; and drunkenness decreased from 7.8 percent to 0.3 percent. Ironically, the percentage of divorces granted on the grounds of cruelty increased from 16.3 percent to 41.7 percent (cited in Emery, 1988, p. 23).
There have been serious effects on children of divorcing and divorce...