The debate on the merits of kinship parenting over foster parents for children whose biological parents are unable to provide an effective nurturing environment or are absent continues to draw discussions with research showing that children with kinship caregivers have a better internalizing and externalizing skills while they also displayed better adaptive behaviors when compared to their counterparts under foster parentage (Harnett, Dawe & Russell, 2014). Similarly, social work policy continues to incline towards kinship parentage which offers far greater benefits than foster caregiving. Several studies focusing on the impact of grandparents raising grandchildren have tied the health and financial position of the grandparents to the type of care that the children will receive as well as the psychological outcome of the care (Whitley & Fuller-Thomson, 2017; Lee & Blitz, 2016). Ostensibly, the physical and mental health of the grandparents links to the overall wellbeing of the children. In assessing the impact of this form of parenting to the grandchildren, the social, emotional and behavioural factors become colossal (Doley, Bell, Watt & Simpson, 2015). Agendas on social policy also sought to determine the economic cost of raising these children and the link between these costs and the parenting outcomes for the children (Purcal, Brennan, Cass & Jenkins, 2014).
Social Aspect
About 2.7 million grandparents are raising their grandchildren in America, up from 2.3 million grandparents in 2000 (Lee & Blitz, 2016). These figures are a testament to the pivotal role of grandparents in shaping the social aspect of these children. (Doley, Bell, Watt & Simpson, 2015). asserted that children living with their grandparents exhibited lower rates of social problems as compared to children under foster care. These findings resulted from a three year follow up study with children under foster care and those under the care of grandparents. Several factors explain the better performance of children under grandparents care such as the time that the children spend with the grandparents, the kinship ties, and overall parenting skills.
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Communication and Socialization
The ability of a child to effectively communicate in different environments is a vital indicator of their social skills. Communication with peers either at home or in school settings applies as an indicator of the level of social development of children. The ability to manage conflict in their immediate environment was observed to be better refined in children living with grandparents (Lee & Blitz, 2016). However, grandparents tend to have communication difficulties with children who are placed under their care at an advanced age such as in teenagehood. This observation points to the role of grandparents in shaping the socialization abilities of the child from a young age.
Emotional Factors
Custodial grandparents often encounter varied forms of psychological distress in the course of raising grandparents. The psychological well-being of parents impacts on the emotional wellbeing of the child such that continuous emotional distress for the grandparents results in emotional instability for the child (Doley, Bell, Watt & Simpson, 2015). Factors such as age, income and parenting ability imperil the comfort of the grandparents while raising these children often leading to emotional distress. The problem is multidirectional as observed by Doley, Bell, Watt & Simpson (2015) since grandparents caring for children with emotional and conduct inadequacies were also at greater risk of depression and anxiety problems.
Studies on the emotional stability of the children raised by grandparents have been inconclusive. Lee & Blitz (2016) posited that children who are primarily cared for by their grandparents exhibit emotional issues and often require support in school. Complains over anxiety and depression were higher in children living with their parents as compared to other children. Although there lacked a direct correlation between the levels of distress that the grandparents go through while raising these children (Whitley & Fuller-Thomson, 2017), the custodial environment of the children is a major factor in the emotional problems encountered by these children. Furthermore, children under the care of grandparents are “more likely to be recipients of mental health services (Harnett, Dawe & Russell, 2014, p.412). The grandparents’ inability to meet the emotional needs of the children likely emanates from the generational detachment as well as the emotional distress suffered by the primary caregiver. Parental stress by the grandparents is by no means farfetched provided that parents significantly contribute to the emotional stability of their children.
Behavioral Aspect
Harnett, Dawe & Russell (2014) postulated that children placed under kinship caregivers have fewer internalizing and externalizing issues as well as excellent adaptive behaviours. These desirable behavioural characteristics can partly be explained through the level of emotional distress that the grandparents experience while raising the children. Grandparents with higher levels of distress reported higher cases of problematic behaviour in their grandchildren than grandparents with less emotional distress (Doley, Bell, Watt & Simpson, 2015). Although situations that precipitate emotional distress in grandparents may be dissimilar to those that cause stress or anxiety in children, the children portray stress through behavioural problems. This is not to imply that the relationship between grandparent distress and issue with grandchild behaviour are unidirectional. Consequently, Doley, Bell, Watt & Simpson (2015) suggest the conceptualization of the problems through a three-generational family setup. Ideally, the behavioural problems in grandchildren depend on the living situation of the child as well as the conditions that the child was exposed to before and after birth while still living with their parents.
On the positive side, the highlighted merits of grandchildren behavioural characteristics point to the strengths of parenting style. The strong internalizing and externalizing ability of the children is a result of excellent parenting practices which result in proper adjustment for the child (Doley, Bell, Watt & Simpson, 2015). The adjustment process is assisted by the less emotional stress by the grandparents while raising the child. Conversely, poor parenting practices precipitate inadequacies in the child adjustment process. The poor adjustment can lead to family dysfunction hence greater emotional distress for the grandparents. Adaptive behaviour is also significantly affected by the parenting ability of the primary caregiver. Excellent adaptive behaviour portrayed by children under the care of their grandparents is due to proper parenting practices. Although grandparents may face greater challenges than foster parents or biological parents while raising the child, they are better placed to identify a child's strengths and weaknesses owing to their parenting experience (Doley, Bell, Watt & Simpson, 2015). In the absence of greater parenting stresses, the grandchildren stand a better chance of developing excellent adaptive abilities.
Economic Cost
Social policy agendas often assume homogeneity in the incomes and economic levels of grandparents tasked as primary caregivers of grandchildren, thus leading to erroneous decisions on how this form of parenting impacts on the children (Purcal, Brennan, Cass & Jenkins, 2014). Understanding the economic side of this topic, where research has largely focused on the psychological and behavioural aspects, paving the way for a formulation of effective social policies on parenting.
Income
The inverse relationship between the income of grandparents and age underlines the need for social support for older custodial grandparents raising grandchildren (Purcal, Brennan, Cass & Jenkins, 2014). Although some grandparents may have private pension plans, they main still experience strain on finances due to the extra financial responsibility. Grandparents with even less income have the toughest duty of raising the grandchildren. The level of income of the grandparents can possibly influence the externalizing ability of the children. For instance, children raised in poor neighbourhoods are likely to get involved in petty crime and exhibit poor social skills.
Employment
Parenting responsibility can possibly inform the decisions of grandparents to change their working schedules to work to either create more time for the grandchildren or increase their incomes (Purcal, Brennan, Cass & Jenkins, 2014). Grandparents who spend more time at home with the children provide excellent parenting practices that have positive outcomes for the grandchildren. Conversely, spending less time with grandchildren may result in negative social, emotional and behavioural development (Lee & Blitz, 2016). The correlation between grandparent emotional distress and the grandchild overall development becomes apparent in the assessment of the nature of employment (Doley, Bell, Watt & Simpson, 2015). A stressful working environment for the custodial grandparents will result in poor development for the grandchildren.
Discussion
The increasing number of children under the care of grandparents adds a claim to the importance of extensive research on how these form of parenting determine the parenting outcomes for these children. Research on the topic will improve the approach to social work agendas relating to children under custodial grandparents. The positive social development of children raised by grandparents is among the contributing factors to the preference of kinship parentage over foster parenting (Doley, Bell, Watt & Simpson, 2015). However, the stresses of playing multiple roles of worker, parent and parental caregiver, while struggling to maintain a healthy social life can negatively impact on the grandchildren (Lee & Blitz, 2016, p. 382). Excellent parenting practice, therefore, focuses on keeping the emotional distress low while at the same time ensuring the excellent physical, emotional, social and behavioural development of the children.
Although positive social development is among the various strengths of children raised by grandparents, reported emotional issues are higher in this group. Implying that most grandparents do not meet the emotional needs of the children, hence there is a need to support these children emotional through other avenues. Furthermore, reduction of stressors to the grandparents will be helpful in shaping the behavioural development of the grandchildren under their care.
References
Doley, R., Bell, R., Watt, B., & Simpson, H. (2015). Grandparents raising grandchildren: investigating factors associated with distress among custodial grandparent. Journal of Family Studies, 21(2), 101-119. doi:10.1080/13229400.2015.1015215
Harnett, P. H., Dawe, S., & Russell, M. (2014). An investigation of the needs of grandparents who are raising grandchildren. Child & Family Social Work, 19(4), 411-420. doi:10.1111/cfs.12036
Lee, Y., & Blitz, L. V. (2016). We're GRAND: a qualitative design and development pilot project addressing the needs and strengths of grandparents raising grandchildren. Child & Family Social Work, 21(4), 381-390. doi:10.1111/cfs.12153
Purcal, C., Brennan, D., Cass, B., & Jenkins, B. (2014). Grandparents raising grandchildren: impacts of lifecourse stage on the experiences and costs of care. Australian Journal Of Social Issues (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ), 49(4), 467-488.
Whitley, D. d., & Fuller-Thomson, E. e. (2017). African-American Solo Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Representative Profile of Their Health Status. Journal of Community Health, 42(2), 312-323.
