Single Mother Care Essay Example For Students

Single Mother Care Essay Comparing its structure and function as it was in 1960 with what it had becomein 1990 can highlight the dramatic changes in the American family. Until 1960most Americans shared a common set of beliefs about family life; family shouldconsist of a husband and wife living together with their children. The fathershould be the head of the family, earn the familys income, and give his name tohis wife and children. The mothers main tasks were to support and enable herhusbands goals, guide her childrens development, look after the home, and seta moral tone for the family. Marriage was an enduring obligation for better orworse and this was due much to a conscious effort to maintain strong ties withchildren. The husband and wife jointly coped with stresses. As parents, they hadan overriding responsibility for the well being of their children during theearly years-until their children entered school, they were almost solelyresponsible. Even later, it was the parents who had the primary duty of guidingtheir childrens education and discipline. Of course, even in 1960, familiesrecognized the difficulty of converting these ideals into reality. Still, theydevoted immense effort to approximating them in practice. As it turned out, themother, who worked only minimallywas the parent most frequently successful inspending the most time with her children. Consequently, youngsters were almostalways around a parental figure they were well-disciplined and often veryclose with the maternal parent who cooked for them, played with them, and sawthem off to and home from school each day. Over the past three decades theseideals, although they are still recognizable, have been drastically modifiedacross all social classes. Women have joined the paid labor force in greatnumbers stimulated both by economic need and a new belief in their capabilitiesand right to pursue opportunities. Americans in 1992 are far more likely than inearlier times to postpone marriage. Single parent familiestypically consistingof a mother with no adult male and very often no other adult person present-havebecome common. Today at least half of all marriages end in divorce (Gembrowski3). Most adults no longer believe that couples should stay married becausedivorce might harm their children. Of course, these contemporary realities havegreat consequential impact on mother-child relationships and child development;even from an early age. Survey research shows a great decrease in the proportionof women favoring large families, an upsurge in their assertiveness aboutmeeting personal needs, and an attempt by women to balance their needs withthose of their children and the men in their lives (Burgess Conger 1164). A clear and increasing majority of women believe that both husband and wifeshould be able to work, should have roughly similar opportunities, and shouldshare household responsibilities and the tasks of child rearing. A majority ofmothers of preschool children now work outside the home. A growing minority ofyoung married women, often highly educated and career oriented, are choosing notto have any children and have little interest in childrens issues-yet one moreindication of the dramatic transformation of American families that has beentaking place in recent decades (Bousha Twentyman 106). It is unavoidablethat those mothers who work simply are not there as much for their children. Infact, in many cases the relationship between the contemporary mother and herchildren is similar to the age-old traditional role of the father and hischildren. Often, the mother is indeed a strong-minded disciplinarian in theevening after work?but she is very frequently not much more than that. Tovery ch ildren, care is a nursery or some school of others with caregivers. Tothe pre-adolescent youth, care is either a baby-sitter, nanny, or just phonecall to mom after workif even that much. In some of the more positive cases,this creates an early sense of responsibility and independence for the child. The Fault In Our Stars Book Review EssayConclusively, it is difficult to blame mothers for their inability to developand maintain relationships with their children as strongly as in previousdecades. The pressures of a full-time career coupled with full-time motheringmay be too much for anyone to handle wholly and effectively. It is for thisreason that responsible parents seek the assistance of day care centers,professional baby-sitters, and so forth. But it is also for this reason that therelationship that exists between mother and child today has changed sodrastically. BibliographyAragona, J., Eyeberg, S. Neglected children: Mothers reports ofchild behavior problems and observed verbal behavior. Child Development 52(1995): 596-602. Bousha, D., Twentyman, C. Mother-child interactionstyle in abuse, neglect, and control groups: Naturalistic observations in thehome. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 93 (1997) : 106-114. Burgess, R. L., Conger, R. D. Family interaction in abusive, neglectful, and normalfamilies. Child Development 49 (1998) : 1163-1173. Egeland, B., Erickson, M. Psychologically unavailable care giving. In M. R. Brassard, R. Germaine, S. N. Hart (Eds.), Psychological maltreatment ofchildren and youth. New York: Pergamon, 1997 (pp. 110-120). Gembrowski, Susan. A Portrait of Families Today. Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 1992 : 3. Giovannoni, J. M., Becerra, R. M. Defining child abuse. New York: FreePress, 1996. Zajonc, R.B. Feeling and thinking: Preferences need noinferences. American Psychologist 35 (1998) : 151-175. Psychology