Children of Single Parents: Destined for Failure?

From my online research, I found many other blogs written about the struggle of being a single parent in the states today. One blog in particular, written by a student at NYU, caught my interest as it talked about the prejudices held against single parents. It discussed The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) that was passed in the U.S. in 1996. President Clinton passed the act as a welfare reform plan to increase employment among welfare recipients as well as “promoting responsibility” among single parents, especially in the way of paying child support. (HHS Fact Sheet. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Washington. 29 Apr. 2008)

Though the PRWORA had noble intentions, it also contained nonfactual stereotypes about single parents and their children. The act stated, “The negative consequences of an out-of-wedlock birth on the child, the mother, and the society are well documented.” The author of this blog went on to say this.

“The Personal Responsibility Act went on to make unsupported claims. It declared that unwed single mothers produced children who were more likely to commit crimes, have difficulty in school, and have emotional and behavioral problems. One can also deduce from the statement, ‘Marriage is the foundation of a successful society,’ that the Act aimed to attack divorced single parents as well as unwed single mothers. This Act served as a direct attack on the rising number of single parent families in the United States that ‘threatened’ to recreate what the American Family looked like (Dowd 1997: 3-4).” (Jones, Katherine. "Stereotypes Plaguing the Single Parent Household." Associated Content. 6 Sept. 2007.)

Jones’ blog, as well as the quotes from PRWORA, make it clear that the single parent household is still a target for judgment even in today’s politically correct society. However, it is not just the parents who are being stereotyped, but their children as well. It is assumed a child will grow up to follow a similar path to his parent(s). It is also assumed that a child raised in a single parent household is always unhappy and deals with abandonment issues and insecurities.

From a site listing references and quotes on issues of family structure, I found some shockingly judgmental quotes about domestic violence, crime and poverty. They are basically saying, if you are a child raised by a single parent, you’re automatically destined for a future as a violent, broke criminal.

"The strongest predicators of domestic violence are single parent households, unmarried couples (often a biological mother and her children with a boyfriend unrelated to the children either by birth or by acceptance of responsibility), and unsupervised or under supervised foster care situations." (Elshtain, Jean Bethke. "Family Matters: The Plight of American's Children." The Christian Century. July 14-21, 1993, pp. 710-712)

"The absence of marriage, not race, is the major factor in explaining crime rates and poverty. The rise in crime is tied to the disintegration of marriage. The impact on the child is significant and can be permanent. Out of wedlock birth and growing up in a single parent family means that the child is more likely to suffer from poorer health as a newborn (if a very young mother), an increased chance of dying, retarded cognitive and verbal development, lower educational achievements, lower job attainment, increased behavior and emotional problems, lower impulse control, retarded social development, etc. The root cause of these ills lie not in poverty, but in the lack of married parents. ( Fagan, Patrick F. "Rising Illegitimacy: America's Social Catastrophe." Heritage Foundation. FYI No. 19, June 29, 1994.)

This is Jay's son Brendon. Brendon's two years old and he's been raised his whole life by one parent.

Methodology

In my conquest to understand the true identity of single parents and the culture they represent, I will follow a specific methodology in doing my research and getting my answers. I have already brainstormed my own ideas of the stereotypes surrounding this subculture, but I want to ask others what their first impressions of this group of people are. I will then research some statistics in relation to these preconceived ideas.

Aimee Shafner has already interviewed a single mother raising three daughters. I will use the answers this mother gives to start my real research of a specific person representing this subculture. Hopefully she has given some feedback on stereotypes and what her life is actually like in relation to what others assume. I eventually want to interview the single dad I know from my home town, and I’m hoping to get some answers different from the single mothers…or perhaps their lives are more similar than I expect.

In doing my research I’m going to stay as open minded as possible. I think it’s really good that I’m working with Aimee in this project because we will get two different points of view from the two very different individuals we’re interviewing. I’m also going to try and stay as objective as possible when interviewing Jay, (my friend from home) because this blog is not only for my own education of this culture, but also for the education of anyone that reads it. While my own feelings and reactions will be recorded in this blog I feel is equally if not more important to keep it insightful and informative to any person who reads it.