The family trends in the United States are changing at a high rate with regard to parenting and family size. Cases of divorce and remarriage are rampant everywhere in the whole of the United States. According to statistics, 42% of adult Americans, which constitutes to approximately 102 million USA citizens, are in a step relationship. With the rising numbers of step families in the United States, different impacts and issues have befallen both the parents and children in the step families. The step families impacts and issues range from child upbringing to property ownership and they greatly constitute to the behavioral patterns of children brought up in step families. The impacts of step families are also greatly felt in Canada with an approximate of one third of adult Canadians being step parents. This sociological analysis paper will evaluate the step families impacts and issues within the USA parents and a comparison with the Canadian parents.
Parent-child Ties in Step Families
The number of children who face the issue of parent-child ties is rising in the United States of America and is expected to keep on rising due to the high rate of divorce cases across the States (King, Boyd & Thorsen, 2015). According to King, Boyd and Thorsen (2015), the parent-child ties among step families are compromised compared to parent-child ties among two-biological parents’ families in the United States of America. Parent-child ties play very vital role in determining the well-being of children at all stages of growth. A considerable number of divorce cases involve parents with children who are below the age of 18 years (King, Boyd & Thorsen, 2015). Therefore, the children in the divorced family remain under care of their mothers, who in most cases end up remarrying. The growth and behavioral patterns outcome for children in step families are worse compared to those from two-biological parents’ families.
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The same trend of growth and behavioral patterns outcomes among step families in Canada follow the same trends as those of United States of American step families (Teska, 2018). Parent-child ties among step families in Canada have recorded negative impacts on the well-being of children involved. Children brought up in step families tend to be ruder than children brought up in a two biological-parent families (Teska, 2018). Due to the poor parent-child ties among children in step families, they are quick to engaging in fights and chaos when they are with their peers. This trend of children from step families being vulgar and chaotic in nature has featured in a similar manner between American step families and Canadian step families. The possibility of children from step families engaging in crime activities at later stages of their lives is also high compared to children from two biological-parents’ families, in both Canada and the United States of America.
The change in behavioral patterns for children brought up in step families can be largely attributed to lack of parental care and guidance especially from the fathers’ side (King, Boyd & Thorsen, 2018). The role played by a father is very crucial in shaping the behavior pattern of a child and helping the child become a responsible citizen in the future. However, due to the weak parent-child ties, this has not been the case. Children in step families largely miss on the contribution of parents in shaping their behavioral patterns. The trend of children from step families becoming unruly is unlikely to improve in the near future. In fact, both the United States of America and Canada are likely to witness more unruly generations in the coming decades because the issue of step families is on the rise in the society. As more step families are coming up, so is the trend of unruly generations due to poor parental care among the children.
Academic Performance for Children in Step Families
Instances of divorce result into a series of emotional and psychological issues which in most cases force the divorced parents to remarry or cohabitate. The remarrying and cohabitation in turn result into a multitude of psychological disorders among the children while trying to cope with the reality of living without one of their biological parents (Perry-Fraser & Fraser, 2017). One area of the children’s development that is largely interfered with when a couple divorces is academic performance. A steady excellent academic performance has been recorded among children from two biological parents’ families than from step families in the whole of the United States of America. Most children in step families in the United States of America have a difficulty in coping well in their studies and most of them end up performing dismally (Perry-Fraser & Fraser, 2017). The dismal performance recorded among children from step families can be largely connected with the discomfort they undergo due to the lack of parental love.
Scholarly sources have cited parental love as one of the key determinant to a child’s academic performance across the United States of America (Skolnick & Skolnick, 2014). Parental love is comparatively higher among children from intact families than those from step families, probably because the attention of one parent in step families is usually missing. As a result of missed parental love and attention among children from step families, their concentration in studies is negatively impacted. Once children find themselves in step families, a consequent drop in academic performance is witnessed aver time. This trend of poor academic performance for children from step families is evenly distributed across the whole of the United States of America (Skolnick & Skolnick, 2014). Also, the trend of poor performance is common among children in all stages of academic levels. All these changes in academic performance are attributed to the impact caused by the menace of step families in the United States of America.
A comparison of academic performance for children from step families in both United States of America and Canada depict a similar trend. Canada is also facing the same issue of children performing dismally due to the impacts caused by step families. According to Teska (2018), 12% of all children at the age of school going were living in step families as of the year 2016 (Teska, 2018). The research by Teska (2018), further identified that academic performance for these children from step families was poor compared to that of children from intact families. Failure to get full attention from parents, especially, their step father was pointed as the main factor leading to the dismal academic performance among the children from step families in Canada (Teska, 2018). Since of children from step families receive full parental attention only from their mothers and then lack of paternal care is greatly interfering with their academic performance.
There is a need to ensure that children whether from intact families or from step families receive full attention of the parents at their disposal. A child’s mental stability which is needed in academic studies can only be gotten from full involvement of their parents. Children who lack parental love and care of one parent will always lag behind in his or her studies. Children from step families who don’t enjoy full care from their parents will always come second to their peers who enjoy full parental care from their parents. The trend of dismal academic performance among children from step families is one the rise in the United States of America and is likely to keep on rising over the coming decades. There are currently no signs of divorce cases dropping in the United States of America; an indication that formation of step families will continue sky rocketing in the coming years. More step families will mean more children being brought up in these step families, resulting into more dismal academic performance due to the negative impacts resulting from the step families.
Change of Family Position
A normal family comprise of the father, mother, and children who are well understood across the family structure in the United States of America (White, Martin & Adamsons, 2019). Family position in the United States of America has greatly been interfered with the rising cases of divorce and remarriage. According to White, Martin and Adamsons (2019), change of family position has great negative impacts on the development of children. Many developmental stages of children who experience family position changes are affected and many of them end up affecting their adult lives. In events of divorce, children are forced to adapt to a new life with a new male parent, who might not fully fit in the position of their biological father. The freedom that the children had with their biological father is shuttered by the intrusion of a step-father. The psychological development of the children in step families is therefore interfered with, to even adversity in some cases.
Canadian culture also recognizes a similar family structure as the United States of America and gives much attention to family position (Mostafa, Gambaro & Joshi, 2018). The partner breakup and intrusion of another parent figure has been cited to affect children who find themselves in such situations. In most cases where the new parent figure is harsh on the children, some even become traumatized. Their relations with their age mates and other members of the society become highly questionable because they mostly turn hostile and chaotic. Although Canada has a relatively lower number of children who are in stepfamilies, the trends displayed with regard to change in family position are generally similar to those displayed in the United States of America. The experience the children have to go through in referring to a different man as their father is really traumatic, especially for the much grown children. In some cases, some grown children never come into good terms with their step fathers, a situation which has a negative impact to their psychological and social relations with other people.
Change in family position comes with change in relatives, a situation which is hard to cope with even for adults. The American culture recognizes the position of an uncle in the society (Mostafa, Gambaro & Joshi, 2018). The issue of family position is changed by divorce which results into step families and children being forced to live with different relative from the ones they were used to. The whole situation does not feature well for any child whether in the United States of America or in Canada. As of the other issues resulting from step families in both the United States of America and Canada, the issue and impacts of family positions are expected to keep on rising over the next twenty years. The rise in issues and impacts of family position change resulting from step families is utterly attributed to the ever rising cases of divorce and remarriage in both the United States of America and Canada.
Step parent- Adolescents relationships
Most parenting difficulties are experienced during the adolescence stage of growth by both boys and girls (Salazar, 2015). It is during the adolescence stage that most children become unruly and demand for more freedom in their daily activities. Adolescence stage has also been noted as a crucial stage in life which greatly shapes the future of children in the United States of America. According to Salazar (2015), upbringing of adolescences in step families is more difficult than upbringing adolescences in two biological parented homes. Adolescents tend to develop negative attitudes towards their step parents which in most cases influence their academic and general relations with their peers. In most cases adolescents find it difficult to freely associate with their step parents unlike younger children who in most cases adapt easily to step parenting. As a result, most activities that adolescents involve in are negatively impacted. Adolescents need more recognition due to advancing psychological developments, which is not provided by the step parents.
Psychological development among adolescents requires full parental care and support because of its delicacy (Cassoni & Caldana, 2012). Since full parental care and support is not assured from step families, then the relationships between adolescents and step parents is always at loggerheads. It is at this stage that most adolescents develop the attitude of hatred and self-denial which might persist to later stages of life. Adolescents who grow up with the attitude of hatred and self-denial in the United States of America end up becoming unruly and irresponsible members of society. According to Cassoni and Caldana (2012), cases of suicide are also eminent among adolescents who are brought up in step families. Lack of full care and parental support interferes with the psychological development of the adolescents who might turn into unethical behaviors in the society. Adolescents from step families who do not get full parental support and care to sail them over the adolescence stage also find it hard to concentrate in their studies and in most cases perform poorly.
In a country like Canada where the rate of step families resulting from divorce and early pregnancies is high, the impact of adolescence is similarly felt like in the United States of America (Teska, 2018). Adolescents in Canada experience similar psychological developments as their peers in the United States of America although a slight change might be depicted due to different geographical locations. Parenting adolescents in Canada from step families has great influence on the future lives of the adolescents. There is a general deficiency of full parental care and support for the crucial adolescent stage which in most cases result from minimal care provided by step fathers. Adolescents who don’t receive the necessary attention from their step fathers find it hard to cope well with the step fathers. As a result, the daily activities of these adolescents are negatively affected by the sense that they are not valued in the society. Canadian adolescents who are brought up in step families also perform dismally in most fields than their peers from intact families. All this can be attributed to the impacts resulting from being brought up in step families.
Adolescent stage is a very crucial development stage in life of a child and should be handled with full parental care, guidance, and support. If parental care and support lacks in adolescent stage then the psychological development of such an adolescent will definitely be negatively affected and might result into adverse results in future stages of life. The United States of America is experiencing a rise in the number of adolescents in step families and should therefore devise dependable ways to handle cases of adolescents who do not receive full care and support from their parents. The impacts felt in the United States of America due to the issue of step parent-adolescents relationships in the step families is unlikely to improve in the near future. More divorce cases are being filed in the USA courts on a daily case with consequent remarriages being witnessed. As a result, more and more children reach the adolescent stage while still under the care of a step parents in the step families. Therefore, more adolescent-related cases due to the impact of step families will keep on rising in the United States of America.
Financial Support in Step Families
According to the United States of America constitution, a child below the age of eighteen years is entitled to full financial support from his or her parents (Skolnick & Skolnick, 2014). Therefore, even after a divorce the father to the children is required by the law to keep on providing for his children. Since in most cases divorced women opt for a remarriage, then the step fathers are also expected to provide for the step children. In several occasions, step fathers find themselves in dire financial incapacitation and most decide to stop their support to their children. As a result, children in step families are more vulnerable to financial crisis than children from intact families where both the biological father and mother are living together. Provision of essential social amenities like education and healthcare provision might become a menace to the children in step families. When the step fathers withdraw their support for the children, then life becomes hard for them and most of them end up not receiving essential social amenities.
The impact of financial support in step families is also felt in Canada as most children in step families do not receive the financial support they would have received under the care of their two biological parents (Teska, 2018). A decline in financial support provision for children in step families in the whole of Canada is prominent as compared to families which have both biological parents in full participation. The outcome of children from step families in terms of schooling and other essential children basic needs is lower than it would have had the children been under full care and support of both biological parents. The Canadian law also requires that after a divorce, the father should continue providing for his children. Although this law is adhered to in most cases, the kind of financial support realized is much lower than it would have been had the parents not divorced. As with the case of most step families issues and impacts they have on children, the issue of financial support is unlikely to lessen in the near future. The next two decades in the United States of America is expected to witness more and more divorce cases and remarriage due to societal influence. Therefore, more children in the step families cropping up every day will continue to suffer from inadequate financial support from their parents.
Conclusion
The issue of step families is more profound in the United States of America than in any other period and is expected to keep on worsening over the years. Therefore, impacts and issues arising from step families will also keep on rising. The consequent result is that children who find themselves being raised in step families will continue to experience the negative impacts resulting from step families. The next two decades in the United States of America is expected to witness rapid increase in divorce and remarriage cases, leading to more step families.
Annotated Bibliography
Cassoni, C., & Caldana, R. (2012). Parenting Style and Practices in Stepfamilies. 5: 105–111.
This article by Cassoni and Caldana evaluates on the different styles and ways which parents in step families employ to bring up child in the United States of America.
King, V., Boyd, L., & Thorsen, M. (2015). Adolescents’ Perceptions of Family Belonging in Stepfamilies. 77(3): 761–774.
King, Boyd and Thorsen (2015) discuss on how adolescents view the aspect of family belonging in step families they are brought up in.
Salazar, M. (2015). Blended Family Dynamics and its Impact on Behavioral Communication and Overall Success. pp. 1-52.
This article generally sheds light on the impacts of step families on behavioral and communication patterns among children in step families.
Teska, J. (2018). Blended Families: Psychosocial Issues. pp. 1-16.
This article evaluates on the psychological developments of children in step families for both USA and Canads.
Mostafa, T., Gambaro, L., & Joshi, H. (2018). The Impact of Complex Family Structure on Child Well ‐ being: Evidence from Siblings. 80(4): 902-918.
This article is a research on how step families’ issues impact the well-being of children in the United States of America.
Skolnick, A., & Skolnick, J. (2014). Family in Transition: Seventeenth Edition. pp. 1-489.
This book discuss on the expectations of a family which has transited into a step family in the United States of America.
White, J., Martin, T., & Adamsons, K. (2019). Family Theories: An Introduction. pp. 1-368.
This article discusses on general family theories which are applicable in any family unit.
References
Cassoni, C., & Caldana, R. (2012). Parenting Style and Practices in Stepfamilies. 5: 105–111.
King, V., Boyd, L., & Thorsen, M. (2015). Adolescents’ Perceptions of Family Belonging in Stepfamilies. 77(3): 761–774.
Mostafa, T., Gambaro, L., & Joshi, H. (2018). The Impact of Complex Family Structure on Child Well ‐ being: Evidence from Siblings. 80(4): 902-918.
Salazar, M. (2015). Blended Family Dynamics and its Impact on Behavioral Communication and Overall Success. pp. 1-52.
Skolnick, A., & Skolnick, J. (2014). Family in Transition: Seventeenth Edition. pp. 1-489.
Teska, J. (2018). Blended Families: Psychosocial Issues. pp. 1-16.
White, J., Martin, T., & Adamsons, K. (2019). Family Theories: An Introduction. pp. 1-368.
