Socioeconomic Factors and Negative Behavior in Children
Due to the prevalence of divorce and non-marital childbearing in the United States, over half of all children are likely to spend at least part of their childhood living apart from one or both of their biological parents. Of these children, 90% will live primarily with their biological mother ("Single Parents" ). Children who grow up with one parent are 1.5 times more likely to be idle (out of school and work), 3 times more likely to have children out of wedlock, and 2 times as likely to drop out of school (Popenoe 56). These statistics, coupled with the fact that teen suicide has tripled, SAT scores have declined nearly 80 points, and 38% of the nations' poor are children, are the main reasons why fatherless families are of great concern to the well-being of our children and ultimately our nation (Popenoe 53). No one disputes the fact that two biological parents, committed to each other and the nurturing of their child, provide the ideal family structure. This traditional, or nuclear, family has been around as long as historical evidence can reach, and serves the emotional needs of children and parents in a competitive and impersonal world ("Nuclear Family"). Researchers have noted an increase of negative behavior in disad
Public support, which includes welfare, Medicaid, and food stamps, become the main source of income for many single parents. Many single mothers turn to welfare to escape poverty, but have little success. In most states, the combination of Medicaid, food stamps and welfare provide a benefit that is only 70% of poverty level. Oftentimes, there is incentive to remain on public assistance because the expenses associated with work, such as transportation costs, health care, and clothing, may make working not much more advantageous than welfare (Dowd 24). The effects of less-than-adequate income can be seen in the environment where these children are raised. The high cost of housing forces single mothers to settle in poor neighborhoods, which have a higher rate of crime and gang activity. These neighborhoods tend to have a higher level of tolerance and establish certain negative behavior as acceptable ("Juvenile Delinquency"). Children reared in such an environment will tend to learn their behavior from their peers if they are not receiving adequate attention at home. Edwin Sutherland, an American sociologist, defines this by his "differential association theory", where he contends that people whose environment provides the opportunity to associate with criminals will learn these skills and will become criminals in response to strain ("Criminology"). Proponents of two-parent families claim that mothers and fathers play distinct and important roles in the socialization of children, with the mother contributing to the child's interpersonal development, while the father acts as the disciplinarian. Douglas Downey, a sociologist at Ohio State University, published a study in the Journal of Marriage and the Family where he concluded that there is little difference in a child's well being when raised in a single mother or single father home (Downey). His research gives weight to the argument that socioeconomic status plays a more important role than family structure in determining the negative behavior in children. Children reared in poverty exhibit negative behavior. In single pare
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1417
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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