SINGLE-PARENT

FAMILIES

Stephanie Cheng

BACKGROUND
What kind of family is consider as a single-parent family?
A household that has only one parent(mother or father) to raise one
or more children.
How do members in these families separate responsibilities?
The mother or father is in charge of remaining the family in
function, which are: earning money, buying daily necessaries,
cooking for the family, etc.. The children are in charge of helping
their mother or father to remain the family in function, such as
following orders from the parent, finishing their homework, taking
care of themselves, etc..

BACKGROUND(CONT.)
How do the people in the society view them?
Most individuals believe that single-parent households are poor, full
of conflicts, and are mostly African Americans or Latinos.
How do the single-parent households view themselves?
They often feel that they are being left-behind by the society because
people rarely pay attention to them. They also feel that they have no
chance to raise up their social class because they dont have extra
money to save or spend and they have no time to spend on the family
or even decorate themselves.

THE DIFFERENT BETWEEN

NOW AND THE PAST
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 12% of the U.S. children live
in a single-parent homes in 1970. In 2000, more than 30% of the U.S.
childrens parents are divorce.
What causes it to change?
In the past, people have a more traditional behavior and they believe
that couples should not be divorce because marriage is a sacred
union. But now, people start to adopt new thinking and concepts as
the technology improve and new generations start to grow up. As a
result, more couples are being divorce and continue to find their true
lover.

CONFLICT THEORY
In the family where that is only one guidance, the father needs to
play the mothers role and the mother has to play the fathers role
at the same time. Although single-parent families are common in
the modern world, children in those families are likely to develop
more problems than the usual children.
Some of the problems will be:
Self-conscious
Anxious
Jealous

SELF-CONSCIOUS
Sometimes, a couple divorce when their
kids are still young. These kids may receive
less attention from the parent and less time
to spend with their parent as they grow up.
When their friends and the friends families
are playing together and look so happy, it
reminds them how their parent treat them
and they wish their parent can pay more
attention to them. They start to feel sad
about their situation and they also start to
think why their parent and family are
different compare to their friends.

ANXIOUS
Parents in those family often have less time to spend with their kids.
Some single-parents will even beat their children up whenever they are
mad and under pressure. As a result, those kids dont know how to
communicate with others correctly. They often have less friends
because they dont want others to hurt them and sometime they dont
trust their friends. Violence in those family will affect the children
negatively and the children themselves will grow up with a more
extreme mind and attitude.

JEALOUS
Jealousy does not always happen in the children, it
will also occur in the parent.
Children raise by single parent often feel difficult
to receive what they want in sense of substances
and spirit. At the beginning, kids in these condition
may feel envy of other people getting what they
want; but as time flow, they begin to feel jealous
and may start to steal stuffs from others.
Single parents will also feel jealous of other
parents because they have to play both roles and
have to spend twice the effort compare to other
parents. More free time, more earning, and less
pressure are some of the examples that a single
parent will feel jealous about the regular parents.

FUNCTIONALIST
Although members in those family may face negative experiences in
the family or society, there are also positive things that can be
happen.
Personal growth: at the beginning, single-parents will question
themselves about how they keep can the family in function and do
they have enough ability to take care of the whole family.
A more colorful life: members will experience both negative and
positive situations more than a regular individual will face. As a
result, they observe more from different experiences and know
different knowledge from different fields.
More attentive: because these children need to take care of
themselves, they have experiences on others needs. They know
how to take care of others and they know what other people truly
want and think.

MY EXPERIENCES
In my family, my twin cousins live with us since theyre three-years-old
because their parents are too busy to earn money. Their parents did not
visit them until they turn to adults and finally live with them. My cousins
both have a extreme mind because they do have anyone beside them
all the time and teach them how to react and what to do since my
parents have to take care of three of us at the same time. One of my
cousin often runaway from home and they often beat each other up
because they cannot communicate and they believe that fighting is the
best way to communicate.
Compare to them, my brother, sister, and I have not fight with each
other since weve born. I think this is because my parents always take
care of us and teach us how to be a good person. I also feel that
communication is important in all kinds of family because people need
to make interactions with people in order to survive in the society.

WORK CITED
Hornberger, Laurel B., Ramon B. Zabriskie, and Patti Freeman.
"Contributions Of Family Leisure To Family Functioning Among
Single-Parent Families." Leisure Sciences 32.2 (2010): 143-161.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 June 2015.
Parke, Mary, and Washington, DC. Center for Law and Social
Policy. "Are Married Parents Really Better For Children? What
Research Says About The Effects Of Family Structure On Child
Well-Being." (2003): ERIC. Web. 17 June 2015.
Sang Min, Lee, and Jason Kushner. "Single-Parent Families: The
Role Of Parent's And Child's Gender On Academic Achievement."
Gender & Education 20.6 (2008): 607-621. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 17 June 2015.