Essay #2 Research Topic Reflection

Posted by Jaden Fabro on

How does age affect a person’s response to their parent’s divorce? In other words, how will a child’s reaction differ from a teenager or an adult? This question came to mind when I saw a large billboard that advertised divorce attorneys. At the time, I had thought that divorces were uncommon since the majority of people I knew had whole families, so I didn’t understand why such a large ad would be needed for what I thought would be a small number of people. However, when I got home and decided to search up how common divorce was in America, I was surprised to find that fifty percent of marriages end up in divorce. 

 

This is an important issue that may seem private at first, but upon closer inspection, can be seen as a public one. For one, it involves various institutions outside of the family, such as the state. It also raises policy issues that can include property division, custody, and child support. Beyond immediate consequences, I am also very interested in how this separation in the household will affect the children in both the short and long term. Since children are generally seen as the hope for the future, I believe that in order to really help them succeed, we need to understand the effects of private issues like divorce.

 

For a more objective view on this issue, I plan to go through web articles, magazine publications and news sites, as well as CCNY’s databases for scholarly articles regarding this topic. I could also possibly ask social workers if they’ve noticed any effects divorce may have had on people they know, or even just ask around for personal experiences, which can help me understand this topic on a more personal level. To start off, I could use social media platforms, like Instagram and Twitter, where minors and young adults tend to poke fun at these types of personal issues.

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Jaden Fabro

https://resistance2020.commons.gc.cuny.edu/author/jfabro/

Comment ( 1 )

  1. Ayesha Abdul-Fattaah
    Hi Jaden, My parents separated when I was 9. For me personally, I was happy, because they had a very abusive relationship. However, because I was never really exposed to a healthy dynamic when it comes to romantic relationships, I have to do a lot of internal work to make sure I do not perpetuate the harmful behaviors I was exposed to as a child. Their relationship traumatized me, it is sometimes still very hard to trust people who show that they love me. I used to view loving someone and being affectionate as corny, it made me unhealthily independent. I internalized the idea that you cannot rely on people, as they will disappoint you and no relationship lasts forever, so people will just leave you. Like I said, I had to do a lot to unlearn this ideas, and stop living in survival mode. It is interesting that most of the families around you are "whole", that is the opposite with me. I think there are a lot of things that play into why people get divorced. Like unresolved trauma, making relationships difficult to manage. Or the age when one marries. Some groups of people automatically have access to resources that other groups of people do not have access to. I know with the issue of police brutality, what makes communities safer is not more cops, but more resources. This is part of why heavily policed places like poor black neighborhoods are more crime ridden than wealthy white neighborhoods. I wonder if, because of lack of resources, black communities experience more divorced families than white communities, or if there is any correlation between divorce and being of a different race and class. Also, in the case of my parents, they were never married in the first place. Do most couples in America marry? Are marriage rates increasing or decreasing as the years go by? Why do people marry? I think you chose a very interesting topic and can discover a lot for your essay. If you want to ask me any questions for your essay, you can email me at ayeshaabdulx@gmail.com. Thank you for sharing! - Ayesha

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