Divorce's Impact on Family Dynamics, Children, and Childcare Settings

This essay examines the multifaceted impacts of divorce on families, children, and childcare settings, with a specific focus on the Canadian context. It highlights the emotional and psychological challenges faced by both parents and children, including increased stress, behavioral changes, and potential mental health issues. The study also explores the critical role of early childhood educators in supporting children navigating their parents' separation, emphasizing the need for educators to maintain a neutral stance, manage challenging behaviors, and facilitate healthy development within the childcare environment. Furthermore, the essay underscores the importance of clear policies and professional boundaries to effectively manage parental interactions and custody issues in childcare facilities. The content is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools for students.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Sociology
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1SOCIOLOGY
Introduction- Divorce can be described as a major cause that leads to the change in
family patterns also rise in the family diversity. Divorce is also known as dissolution or the legal
end of marriage union. The most basic and fundamental impact of divorce is the decline in the
relationship between the child and the parent. After a divorce takes place different problems arise
and the and the stress tends to destroy, weaken or even damage the child parent relationship for
the mothers that are divorced (Emery, 2013). This study will discuss the impact of divorce on
family, child and child care setting. It will also provide an insight about the how the early
childhood educators are responding to the issue of divorce.
Impact of divorce on family, child and childcare setting- It is important to mention that
the divorce impacts family to a great extent and each of the individuals in a family suffers from
both the long term and short term effects. It has been founded in studies that the divorce carries
with it negative effects of extended family members, parents, spouses, teens and children. At the
same time, the divorce impacts the well-being of the society as well as the career of the people.
Social sciences have revealed that divorce impacts the adulthood of a child and it hampers the
next generation of the child (Hetherington &Arasteh, 2014). Divorce is also associated with the
increasing rates of becoming disruptive, neglecting participation, hyperactive behaviour,
impulsive behaviour, aggressive, withdrawal from family and friends, high cases of depression.
It is important to highlight that the 40 percent of the parents become so stressed with divorce that
it impacts the child rearing behaviour (Hetherington &Arasteh, 2014). It has been noticed that
the parents experiencechanges in behaviour from being a rigid person to a permissive person,
and to an emotionally dependent person. Studies have revealed that the children of divorced
families indulge into suicidal activities and chances of dropping out of school increases
(Marripedia.org, 2019). Drug usage is also seen to rise among the children whose parents are

2SOCIOLOGY
divorced. The divorced parents that have adult children face mental health problems and it is
higher in comparison to the one that are not divorced. Even the children that are aged above 5
years are vulnerable to the emotional conflicts that take place due to divorce and separation of
the parents (Marripedia.org, 2019).
Response of early child educators- The early child educators are found at the frontlines
when a child experiences separation and divorce between their parents. The child educators
provide the support to the children that are upset, and often indulge into providing care to the
children that are stuck between the dispute of the two parents. The early child educators do not
indulge into the active custody issues between either of the parents. Rather, the early chid
educators take a neutral stance and support the child so that development of the child is
facilitated within the child care setting. The early childhood educators have learned to manage
their behaviour and also how to manage the behaviour of the children (Childcarecanada, 2019).
At the same time the parents are also asked by the early childhood educators to set the limits on
the parents regarding the way they behave with the concerned chid. It is a challenge for the early
childhood educators to value the involvement of the parents and also help the parents to develop
the parenting skills. It is important to mention that to support the professional boundaries, the
role of early child educators is vital. The facility operators are also advised to carry out the
development of the policy statements that are required to manage the parents and the custodies
when there is an issue of divorce and separation between the parents. The policies that are
developed include the aspects of setting limits on the reports for both the content and quantity;
observations, when the parents can pick up the child and subsequently attend meetings (cps.ca,
2019).

3SOCIOLOGY
Conclusion- from the above discussion it can be concluded that, divorce is detrimental for
both the parents and the child. The parents face and children undergo an emotional turmoil and
the both the parents fight among themselves regarding the custody of the child. However, it is
important to note that the children are the most affected from the separation or divorce of the
parents. The early child educators are the only individuals that deal with situations and it
effectively handles and takes care of affected children under such circumstances.

4SOCIOLOGY
Reference
Childcarecanada.org. (2019). Child Care for Canadian Children and Families. Retrieved from
https://www.childcarecanada.org/sites/default/files/op1.pdf
cps.ca. (2019). Supporting the mental health of children and youth of separating parents |
Canadian Paediatric Society. Retrieved from
https://www.cps.ca/en/documents/position/mental-health-children-and-youth-of-
separating-parents
Emery, R. E. (Ed.). (2013). Cultural sociology of divorce: An encyclopedia. Sage Publications.
Hetherington, E. M., &Arasteh, J. D. (2014). Impact of divorce, single parenting and
stepparenting on children: a case study of visual agnosia. Psychology Press.
Marripedia.org. (2019). Effects of Divorce on Family Relationships [Marripedia]. Retrieved
from http://marripedia.org/effects_of_divorce_on_family_relationships