The health of families is an evergreen topic, especially in modern society. Despite being the basic unit of society, families experience various problems that make their survival and development a major issue. Statistics indicate at least 50% of marriages in the United States end up in divorce or separation (Schweizer, 2020, p. 1). Children tend to be the most affected victims of unstable families. In most cases, these issues not only affect children in their childhood but pose significant consequences in their adult life, which may undermine how they establish and maintain relationships. This paper discusses three major issues affecting families in America: financial constraints, domestic violence, and infidelity.
Economic hardships tend to pose significant emotional distress to family members, especially parents, making it difficult to concentrate on other important family issues, such as caring for the children. This stress detaches the emotional connection between spouses and their children (Jimenez Law Firm, 2021). Many parents experiencing financial constraints are likely to spend most of their time looking for livelihood than being with their families. Therefore, children are likely to be starved of parental love, thus making them vulnerable to emotional disorders. Additionally, a lack of finances undermines the family’s ability to meet its basic needs, such as providing quality education for children, and other expenses, such as quality medical coverage (Jimenez Law Firm, 2021). The inability to meet basic needs lowers the family’s quality of life and makes the family susceptible to health issues, such as depression.
Domestic violence is another significant issue affecting many families in the United States. Despite vibrant campaigns to end domestic violence, this issue remains common in modern society. Although victims of domestic violence can be of any gender, women remain the most affected by this vice (Gulati & Kelly, 2020). According to research data, at least one in every four women is affected by domestic violence compared to one in every nine men (Gulati & Kelly, 2020). This issue is estimated that at least ten million people are affected yearly (Gulati & Kelly, 2020). There are various types of domestic violence in the United States, including elderly, intimate, and child abuse. Intimate partner abuse is the most common form of domestic violence in the United States, accounting for at least 15% of all reported violent crimes (Gulati & Kelly, 2020, p. 10). Domestic violence has often been perceived as a psychological need to establish superiority and dominance in the family.
This stereotypic behavior affects both the emotional and physical health of victims. For instance, it is reported that the accessibility to a firearm in a domestic violence scenario increases the chances of homicide by at least 500% (Gulati & Kelly, 2020, p. 2). Survivors of domestic violence tend to develop psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which taints their ability to relate effectively with other family members and society. Although children may not be the direct victims of domestic violence, they are likely to be the most affected psychologically and behaviorally. Children from families experiencing domestic violence tend to experience sleeping difficulties and low self-esteem. As a consequence, such children may exhibit poor performance in school. Furthermore, such children may engage in drug and substance abuse to reduce the emotional stress they may be experiencing due to domestic violence. Children exposed to long-term domestic abuse may feel responsible for fixing their family problems, which may overburden them emotionally and physically.
Other than domestic violence and financial constraints, relationship issues, such as infidelity, affect many families in the United States. Infidelity is one of the leading causes of divorce. It is estimated that at least 55% of divorce cases are caused by infidelity (Yuan & Weiser, 2019, p. 2). This issue tends to create secondary problems such as lack of commitment and gender-based violence, affecting children and the entire family. Couples who have extramarital affairs are likely to be less involved in the matters of their families because they are preoccupied with sustaining their affairs. Additionally, infidelity is likely to cause guilt which may affect the relationship between the parent and their children. Moreover, children whose parents experience marriage instability due to extramarital affairs are likely to develop withdrawal symptoms and reduce their trust in their parents (Yuan & Weiser, 2019). Such children may experience anxiety and anger, affecting their ability to establish and maintain relationships.
Families experiencing these issues will likely disintegrate without proper mechanisms to address these issues and subject children’s future to limbo. For instance, financial constraints may lead to frequent arguments and conflicts between parents due to the inability to meet family needs leading to separation (Conroy et al., 2018). Additionally, increased domestic violence is likely to increase emotional distress and physical injuries to the victims and children of the affected families. Increased emotional and physical stability among families due to domestic violence is likely to increase the rate of homicides and suicides in the United States (Conroy et al., 2018). Lastly, unresolved relationship issues are likely to increase the rate of divorce and undermine the emotional connection between the parents and children. Such children are likely to develop trust problems making their adulthood relationships problematic. Without addressing these issues, affected children are likely to grow into adults who are less committed to relationships making future families equally problematic. Children experiencing these problems develop negative perceptions towards marriages and tend to avoid establishing families to shun such problems.
Addressing these issues requires a collaborative approach involving all the affected parties, including parents and children. This approach should include raising awareness among families about how these issues affect children and threaten families’ survival in the present and future. For this mechanism to be effective, the issues need to be addressed at both the individual and societal levels. At the individual level, affected families need to be subjected to psychological therapy to enable them to resolve family issues in an understanding manner. Therapies play a significant role in changing one’s perception regarding critical issues that one may be experiencing (Conroy et al., 2018). In this regard, violent and unfaithful people are likely to change their behavior to consider their families. At the societal level, there is a need to increase awareness of the need to end domestic violence and infidelity to promote peaceful coexistence in the family. Furthermore, society needs to be educated on effective ways of managing their finances and ways of addressing the issue of financial constraints without affecting children and other members of the family.
There is a need to implement state policies against domestic violence to discourage potential perpetrators from engaging in such heinous acts. These policies should toughen penalties for domestic violence as a deterrence. Other policies should include offering financial aid to families experiencing financial difficulties. These issues need to be introduced into the education system to allow children to learn how to handle such issues and gain an understanding of maintaining families efficiently.
References
Conroy, A. A., McKenna, S. A., Comfort, M. L., Darbes, L. A., Tan, J. Y., & Mkandawire, J. (2018). Marital infidelity, food insecurity, and couple instability: A web of challenges for dyadic coordination around antiretroviral therapy. Social Science & Medicine, 214, 110-117. Web.
Gulati, G., & Kelly, B. D. (2020). Domestic violence against women and the COVID-19 pandemic: What is the role of psychiatry? International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 71, 101594.
Jimenez Law Firm. (2021). Finances and Divorce rates in America | Why financial problems lead to divorce. The Jimenez Law Firm. Web.
Schweizer, V. (2020). Divorce: More than a century of change, 1900-2018. Washington, DC, National Center for Family & Marriage Reasearch-Bowling Green State University.
Yuan, S., & Weiser, D. A. (2019). Relationship dissolution following marital infidelity: Comparing European Americans and Asian Americans. Marriage & Family Review, 55(7), 631-650. Web.