Children and divorce

            In Joseph Adelson's article "Splitting Up" Adelson reacts to the findings of sociologists that have done research on divorce and the effects it has on children. One of the sociologists that Adeson's reacts to is David Popenoe, who suggested that the reason society has avoided the whole issue of divorce is because a good proportion of society is divorced. Adelson agrees with this statement and explains that the matter of divorce has become so popular that society is more comfortable to talk about it among each other. The main idea of Adelson's article is reacting to the study of how divorce affects children over time. He tells us that research findings have shown that children of divorced families do poorly in high school compared to those in two parent homes. Adelson also reports that these children are two to three time more susceptible to psychological and sociological problems, commit more crimes, are more likely to experience abuse, and have problems in there adulthood such as depression and trouble with marriage. Adelson also reports that these sociological findings may not be just the result of the divorce it self, rather the ways in which the families are forced to function after the divorce.
             "Divorce American Style" by William A. Galston covers the harmful results of no-fault divorce laws and fault divorce laws on, minor children, women of long-term relationships, and society as a whole. Galston also talks about how children are directly affected by divorce. Galston uses the research done by two sociologists who identified three reasons a child might become harmed in a divorce; the loss of extra income to the child, dwindling visitation from the non-custodial parent to the child, and not being able to stay in contact with close neighborhood friends. Galston talks about three goals that are points of intervention that can reduce the risk of having a divorce and a few ideas on how they might prevent divorces from occurring.