Family Disintegration: Causes and Problems
Family Disintegration is when a family group made up of parents and children is destroyed for various reasons, mainly divorce or family problems between the parents who are the parents. In the following article you will know everything about what Family Disintegration is , what are the causes and what are the solutions for this.
What is it and what effects does family disintegration have?
A great phenomenon that is related to sudden changes in family dynamics becomes family disintegration, this is a type of phenomenon that has been especially studied by medical psychologists since the 1980s; moment in which a very important kind of transformation of the social organization of the family occurs.
What is Family Disintegration?
The family, comes to be understood as the intermediate social unit between a person and a community, this is one of the protagonists in our cultural organization worldwide. Its function has come to be understood in a traditional way in terms of satisfying economic needs, as well as educational, subsidiary and also cultural needs; through which values, beliefs, diverse knowledge, criteria and roles, etc. are created.
This usually occurs through a very interactive and systematic relational dynamic between the members of a family, that is, between people who share a certain form of kinship. In this same sense, the type of process by which the previously established organization of a related group of people is significantly modified is known as “family disintegration”.
Family Disintegration or Dysfunctional Family?
The modification or also the family separation is not usually necessarily something negative; this means, in many cases it is a type of agreement or a situation that is the one that ensures the physical or psychological well-being of the members.
Family Disintegration: Causes, Consequences, Solutions
Family disintegration refers to the estrangement of a couple who has children and the consequences of family disintegration that this type of event causes tend to be many. When one of the main members of the family unit leaves, a kind of destabilization is generated in the functioning of this group. This type of problem has become increasingly serious and severe in developed societies.
Due to the rate that tend to be increasingly high with respect to divorces and separations, there are increasingly many more families in which the family nucleus is being disintegrated. The main affected by all this are usually children, although all the people who are involved tend to suffer a series of negative consequences.
Causes
The most basic way of family disintegration is usually the abandonment of the home by some of the parents, be it father or mother. However, this type of event can even occur for a number of different reasons. So below we will see some of the most frequent.
Divorce
Undoubtedly, one of the main factors that has been most influencing the increase in cases of family disintegration is usually the enormous rate of divorces that are produced in Western countries. In recent times, more and more married couples are making the decision to separate and thus continue their own path.
The causes for the increase in divorces are usually many and these at the same time are very complex. For example, the appearance of laws that can allow separation without any type of consequence that is negative in a serious way, which would be one of the most important.
Likewise, the entry of women into the world of work and with it their economic independence from their husbands has also allowed some of them to end relationships with which they are not very comfortable. This is what would help explain why more than 70% of divorces and marital separations are initiated by women.
Infidelity or Abandonment
The cases in which 1 of the members of the couple, that is, of the parents, becomes unfaithful to him, meaning that he is with another person who is not his wife or husband and then leaves him, have also increased a lot in recent decades. Generally, this is what can be even more traumatic for children than a divorce that is amicable. This brings many consequences in the family environment and above all in children.
Death of one of the parents
In the case of the death of one of the parents while the children are very young, they will suffer many of the consequences of a kind of family disintegration caused by other types of reasons. Although of course it is usually impossible to control these situations, it is necessary to be aware of how this can affect the smallest of the house, the children, in terms of the death of one of the parents.
Emigration
Due to the economic instability of some countries, certain family members make the decision to go live in another country in order to get money to support their children. In this case, although there are no severe emotional conflicts between the parents, a series of negative consequences can still be produced if the situation is very poorly managed.
Domestic Violence
One of the main and most serious reasons for the appearance of family disintegration is usually violence. When one of the adults or parents assaults the other, children can become psychologically marked. In these cases, it is generally required that both parents receive professional help, both psychological and spiritual.
Addiction
Finally, the loss of one of the parents due to an addiction of any kind is also what can be a very traumatic kind of event for the children of the homes. Having a father who is an alcoholic or a mother who is addicted to gambling often brings about all sorts of very negative emotions and dangerous situations in a child’s life.
Impact
Undoubtedly, although the main members of a family group that are the parents separate, they also suffer, the most affected by family disintegration are usually, as we have already said, the children. Large amounts of studies are those that point out that these situations are the ones that bring all kinds of severe consequences to the lives of the little ones. So below we will look at some of the most important of these.
Violence and Crime
Various investigations are those that suggest that the children of broken families tend to be more violent and also more aggressive than all those who have grown up in an environment that is safe. In addition, they also tend to have many more problems with the law. This is what seems to be especially true if the member who leaves the family is the father, for reasons that are still not entirely clear to the son or daughter.
addictions
Another of the most severe problems of the children of dysfunctional families is that they can fall much more easily into addictions such as alcohol or drugs. This is, without a doubt, one of the greatest dangers of these situations for society as a whole.
Psychological disorders
The children of broken families are the ones who tend to develop mental problems such as depression or even anxiety, in many of them they are usually older than those who have grown up in stable families. In the most serious cases, this can even lead to self-harm or even suicide.
relationship problems
Children often learn to relate to others by observing their parents. In the event that the interaction between them does not become the best, the children will grow up without knowing exactly what it is like to behave with other people. This often seems especially true in the case of relationships with the opposite sex.
Economic difficulties
Finally, losing one of the parents is what usually tends to cause the family to go through much more financial difficulties than usual. This has all kinds of negative consequences that are added to those of the family disintegration of a home.
Solutions
The increase in cases of family disintegration, and also the negative consequences that these situations have, have come to sound the alarms of the great experts of all kinds. Thus, like psychologists, like sociologists and also social workers who try to find a good solution to this great problem. For what must be done is an integration and not disintegration of the family .
Emotional education
Teaching people to be able to understand what they feel, as well as understand others and working on these 2 points can have many great benefits. In the case of family disintegrations, this is what could work both to prevent some of them and to avoid some of its most severe consequences.
Some of the experts usually propose including this type of topic as a subject of study that is mandatory in all schools and institutes, in order to educate the next generations from the beginning.
New Family Models
With today’s high divorce rates, many experts agree that more traditional relationships are no longer working particularly well. For this reason, it is necessary to start looking for other models that allow us to manage to raise children without them having to suffer when a type of divorce or a much more serious conflict occurs.
Achieve Greater Economic Stability
One of the main reasons that are most cited as the cause of divorce is the appearance of economic problems in the couple. This, within a society in crisis and also in which jobs tend to be less and less stable, is becoming a particularly common kind of situation. For this reason, some of the experts and specialists are the ones who recommend couples not to have children until they have an economic situation that is stable and secure.
Professional Help
On certain occasions, family disintegration and all its consequences cannot be avoided simply with the couple’s own efforts. In these cases, it is necessary to have the help of a professional who is specialized in these issues, so they can be very useful. As well as seeking spiritual help from a pastor or a minister of God to guide him regarding the word of God on these cases, since God can restore his family.
Family Disintegration: Modalities and Effects on Children
The effects caused by the disintegration of a family on the most defenseless of the family nucleus, these are the children, who in many cases are little known and underestimated. Today, a problem that is truly evident and that is not usually given the necessary attention is family disintegration.
Modalities of Family Disintegration
In today’s society, the concept of disintegration can have different kinds of peculiarities and, with it, be able to give rise to different versions. Therefore, next, we will show you some of the moments that can occur in the family environment.
This, generally, tends to be a temporary feeling that can even be solved with some signs of love and dedication on the part of the parents. In this way, the child will be able to continue with his normal life without her mental health being greatly affected.
It is logical that, whatever the reason or the situation, the child will suffer at first, since he is afraid and will feel insecure that his parents can finally separate permanently and his family will never again. will be united again. Some of the modalities of family disintegration are:
- An Amicable Separation with Joint Custody
- Unpleasant Breakup and Custody Issues
- Divorce with Family Violence
Effects of Family Disintegration on Children
The most ideal thing would be to opt for the protection of all children above all else and also to try that this situation will not affect them too much, but rather that it be as little as possible. It is necessary to ensure at all times that the relationship with the 2 is normal and the routine is not going to be altered, something that is going to be vital.
Otherwise, it is certainly very possible that the problem of family disintegration is going to affect them in such a way that it causes damage that is almost irreversible and also makes them adopt a kind of behavior such as:
- Childhood Regressions
- sleep problems
- loss of appetite
- Stress or Anxiety
- school failure
- Repetition of Violent Actions.
Diversity in Family Models
As a form of organization and also of a social group, the organization and also the particular dynamics of the family is the one that responds to a class of series of norms and values that are characteristic of a society and a historical moment in a concrete way.
Traditionally, any family member who did not follow the traditional model was considered dysfunctional or disintegrated. Today, the above is what coexists with the recognition of families that are single-parent families and families that are structured from the complexity of sexual identities, which among other things is what allows rearranging at a structural level what is the social organization of the family.
Studies on its Psychological Effects
The various negative effects of family disintegration on children have been specially studied. Broadly speaking, research has revealed that family disintegration is what makes it difficult to satisfy all the needs that a family is expected to fulfill.
In the medium and also in the long term, and at a psychological level, these studies have been proposing, for example, that family disintegration usually has the effect of a kind of low self-esteem, sensations and also behaviors of helplessness, in that way as the difficulties in being able to establish sexual-affective bonds. In the same way, it has been possible to investigate social behavior and also its relationship with family disintegration, such as, for example, the increase in violent behavior or excessive withdrawal.