assignment 7

1. Journal Article.
The article that I found and used for this assignment is called Parental Divorce and Children’s Adjustment. It was found on Ebsco and is from the Perspectives on Psychological Science, Vol 4(2), Mar, 2009. pp. 140-152. http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/ehost/detail?vid=8&hid=2&sid=c2fadeff-658e-48ef-875a-e2252bfdfc60%40sessionmgr10

2. Describe what the divorce statistics mean.
According to the reading by Li, unloving parents can be hazardous to a child’s emotional state and can also cause behavioral problems in the child. The article by Jennifer Lansford also agrees with the statement by Li because, in the article, she states that children experiencing parental divorce are at risk for a variety of negative developmental outcomes.

According to Landford, some of the statistics she found include:
· 25% of individuals whose parents divorce have long-term social, emotional, and psychological problems in adulthood.
· 18% of children whose parents divorce have more marital discord as adults than do children whose parents stayed together

Although there were only a few statistics in this article, I found the first statistic to go against all the other research. It is so common to blame behavioral problems of children on a divorce or on an argument by the parents; however, if only 25% have problems in the long run, then the remaining 75% turns out to be fine, with maybe a problem here or there. Overall, though, children coming from divorced parents do not always have the same problems as another child with divorced parents.

3. Discuss whether or not the research/statistics seem accurate or useful.
This article is definitely useful, especially as a potential teacher or child service worker. Most teachers tend to comfort the child whose parents are going through a divorce, which is the right thing to do; however, if that same child starts misbehaving, the teacher will simply excuse it because of the hard times that he/she is going through. It is imperative to remember that 75% of children from divorced parents do not, in the long run, have developmental problems and therefore, should not be treated differently in the classroom.

4. How could the article be improved.
I think the article could have been improved by including more statistics and more evidence to support the notion of children misbehaving.