The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce
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The conventional wisdom or paradigm concerning children of divorce maintained that children of divorce were better off away from bickering parents and an unhappy environment after divorce. In The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce, Judith S. Wallerstein, et al., (2005) shatter this paradigm in the third work based on their study of 131 children of divorce since 1971. These children are now between the ages of 28 through 43 and the impact of childhood divorce on their development and present lives has not been good. As Wallerstein, et al., (2005, p. xiii) notes, ôàour book hit a raw nerve in America. It broke through an almost conspiratorial silence about the true nature of divorce in our culture.ö This review will provide a summary of WallersteinÆs main conclusions as well as a critique of some of the workÆs weaknesses. A conclusion will provide what stimulated me about the contents of this book.There are a number of arguments provided by Wallerstein, et al., (2005) that illustrate that for children of divorce, divorce is a life-transforming experience. As one child in the study insists, ôThe day my parents divorced is the day my childhood endedö (Wallerstein, et al., 2005, 26). One of the biggest challenges faced by children of divorce is the loss of family structure. This support mechanism, once lost, greatly undermines the emotion and psychological development of children of divorce. This challenge is compounded by th
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st. They have nowhere else they can find outö (Wallerstein, et al., 2005, p. 132).
Wallerstein, et al., (2005) also argues that divorce promotes a loss of continuity in relation to family history, as well as undermining a structure during childhood that is needed for sound emotional and psychological development. The authors argue that the combined impact of these effects of divorce lead to ôsleeper effectsö and ôpowerful ghostsö that continue to impact children of divorce in later life when they form their own romantic and marriage relationships. In fact, such children often exhibit erratic and self-defeating behavior as adults, run from conflict and avoid relationships outright, and seek out either unreliable partners or those that are dull but provide them assurance they will not leave (Wallerstein, et al., 2005). As the authors say about one girl in the study, Paula, ôHer life story captures her continuing rage and the dramatic, self-destructive ways she found to express itö (Wallerstein, et al., 2005, 160).
The evidence of the impact on children of divorce has been increasing over the past two decades. Such evidence demonstrates that the impact of divorce on children leads to a number of emotional, psychological, and
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Approximate Word count = 1410
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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