HDFS 2950 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Joint Custody, Stepfamily, Job Sharing
20 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Parents: co-regulation: letting children take charge of moment-by-moment decision making, benefits of authoritative parenting strategies. Siblings: rivalry, companionship, assistance, emotional support. Only children: higher self-esteem, academic achievement. About 20-35% of lesbians and 5-15% of gay/ couples are parents. Lesbian/gay parents are as committed to and effective at parenting as heterosexual parents. Children of same-sex and opposite-sex parents develop similarly. A major concern of lesbian/gay parents is that their children will be stigmatized by parents" sexual orientation. About 40% of u. s. births are to single mothers: more than double the percentage in 1980, steady decline in teenage parenthood since early 1990s. Increases financial hardship, adjustment problems in children. Instability, conflict, drop in income o: parental stress, disorganized family life, affected by children"s age, temperament, sex. Improved adjustment after two years o: more problems among boys, children with difficult temperaments, affected by extent of father"s involvement. Divorce mediation: increases out-of-court settlements and parents" cooperation in child-rearing.
