Wallerstein Ten-Year Follow Up Essay
In a functioning marriage there is a continual reinforcement that children receive. However, when parents’ divorce that reinforcement is taken away and reflects in the stability the child feels. When parents’ divorce it can be because of the lack of love and companionship and that separation causes the child to compete with that continuing need. Mothers and fathers must fill the void that divorce makes and maintain an emotional connection to create a parenting structure that will keep the child from being psychologically harmed. The study of Mothers and Their Children showed that a mother’s continual care and availability during the first couple of years after a divorce is extremely important. In the Wallerstein Ten-Year Follow Up, the children
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of the divorce reflected on their feelings towards the mother and father. When it came to mothers, many of the children, who are now adults, reflected being close to their mother. Often showing concern and appreciation through their struggle. Yet, as time passed they felt anger because of the physical and emotional inaccessibility over the years. In the conclusion many of the children were very close to their mothers, very aware of their loneliness and unhappiness, or lacked an emotional connected with them because they were distant and worried about their own happiness. One of the studied children, Linda, recalls having to rely on herself growing up while living with her mom. Another child, David, recalls praying for his mother to be married again because she seemed happier when she was married.
This structure is even more crucial when a father or mother abandons that parental responsibility.
Specifically, they state when a father abandons the child, they can feel low self-esteem and abandonment or estrangement in a study done in the Journal of Instructional Psychology, they were trying to determine the effect of a preschool child’s personality with the loss of their father due to divorce. The study concluded that there were several psychological effects like depression, lack of confidence, guilt, and low sociability. Within a cognitive context, children became less interested in social relationships, initiative, and motivation. The loss of the role model identity in a father contributes to the lack of confidence. All in all, they had less faith in their own abilities. They also yearned for compassion and care, but did not receive any. When it came to financial support, anger was the first thing most felt because the fathers had the capacity to financially support but did not do so. For fathers who did frequently visit, their emotional state stayed in place. In the Wallerstein Ten-Year Follow Up, it was clear that father remains a significant psychological presence in the children’s life. All but one child maintains an intense awareness of their fathers absent or presence. The strongest feelings were from children whose fathers infrequently visited. One of the children, Lindsay, told of us letters she wrote back and forth from her father. She wrote of her feelings
and struggles to him. All their contact was brief and erratic. However, their relationship didn’t grow or diminish. Robert, whose father never maintained contact, recalled having small Christmas’s because his father never provided child support. This made him resent his father for never giving, when he was capable.
of the divorce reflected on their feelings towards the mother and father. When it came to mothers, many of the children, who are now adults, reflected being close to their mother. Often showing concern and appreciation through their struggle. Yet, as time passed they felt anger because of the physical and emotional inaccessibility over the years. In the conclusion many of the children were very close to their mothers, very aware of their loneliness and unhappiness, or lacked an emotional connected with them because they were distant and worried about their own happiness. One of the studied children, Linda, recalls having to rely on herself growing up while living with her mom. Another child, David, recalls praying for his mother to be married again because she seemed happier when she was married.
This structure is even more crucial when a father or mother abandons that parental responsibility.
Specifically, they state when a father abandons the child, they can feel low self-esteem and abandonment or estrangement in a study done in the Journal of Instructional Psychology, they were trying to determine the effect of a preschool child’s personality with the loss of their father due to divorce. The study concluded that there were several psychological effects like depression, lack of confidence, guilt, and low sociability. Within a cognitive context, children became less interested in social relationships, initiative, and motivation. The loss of the role model identity in a father contributes to the lack of confidence. All in all, they had less faith in their own abilities. They also yearned for compassion and care, but did not receive any. When it came to financial support, anger was the first thing most felt because the fathers had the capacity to financially support but did not do so. For fathers who did frequently visit, their emotional state stayed in place. In the Wallerstein Ten-Year Follow Up, it was clear that father remains a significant psychological presence in the children’s life. All but one child maintains an intense awareness of their fathers absent or presence. The strongest feelings were from children whose fathers infrequently visited. One of the children, Lindsay, told of us letters she wrote back and forth from her father. She wrote of her feelings
and struggles to him. All their contact was brief and erratic. However, their relationship didn’t grow or diminish. Robert, whose father never maintained contact, recalled having small Christmas’s because his father never provided child support. This made him resent his father for never giving, when he was capable.