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Write term paper on the subject Sociology on topic ' family'
Grandparents play a prominent role in the lives of their grandparents. They can take the role of mentors, caregivers, companions, and any type of support towards their grandchildren. While some of the grandchildren spend a great deal of time with their grandparents, others live far away and hardly get to see their grandparents. The relationship between the grandchildren and grandparents changes with the increase in maturity, circumstances like separation of parents or aging of grandparents.
Grandparents are frequently a grandchild's strongest association with family legacy. Grandparents are free from the everyday child rearing so that they can give a unique time towards the continuous play. Grandchildren particularly appreciate finding out about the "great old days" and what their guardians resembled when they were little. By telling fun family stories and singing senseless tunes, grandparents are fortune troves of cheerful recollections, effectively going down their family legacy to this inquisitive era.
Parental separation is the main criterion that has the potential of changing the grandparents’ roles along with the quality and strength of their relationship with their grandchildren. Some of the incidences have shown an inclination in the involvement of grandparents with their grandchildren due to their adult grandchildren seeking assistance towards coping with the separation of their parents. Some cases have seen that the resident parent along with their child moves in with their grandparent during the separation while in some cases this involvement halts abruptly.
This study explores the relationship between the grandparents and their grandchildren and also determines the impact of the parental separation on this particular relationship between the grandchildren and the grandparent. This study underlines the importance of the grandparent and grandchild relation and how the mere presence of the grandparents benefits the development of their grandchild especially when the children are going through the difficult circumstances like separation of their parents.
The research paper hypotheses were derived from the framework that was developed for explaining the relationship between the grandchildren and grandparents “Relative values… The best interests of the child?” (Chesterman et al., 2005)
Kornhaber (1996) recommends that the primary role of grandparents can be situated on a continuum ranging from the symbolic tothe instrumental as well as interactive at the extreme side of the ends. Grandchildren can experience direct and indirect impacts from their grandparents (Tomlin,1998). Direct impacts allude towards the impacts that happen as an aftereffect of direct contact with their grandchildren, whereas the indirect impacts, being less transparent, identify with the support provided from the grandparents to the parents as imperative role models and for providing advice as well as information.
The caring of grandparents towards their grandchildren provides a fundamental service towards both the parents as well as their parents of the children. When the people in middle generation i.e. the parents divorce, various relationships disrupt including the ones with their grandparents. The problem aggravates when the parent with primary custody does not value the relationship between the grandparent and the grandchildren and does not facilitate it effectively. And even in cases when the intention is not directed towards hampering this relationship in question, both parties might neglect the essence of the relationship. The dissolution of marriage requires the reorganization of the whole family life. The mediating role of the grandparent-grandchild relationships is very critical and after the reorganization of the family, the grandparents takes the role of parents in some cases.
The relationship between grandparents and grandchildren becomes important when the parents separate and get divorced. If the relationship is harmonious then the grandparents can provide their grandchildren with support, stability and nurturance towards the grandchildren; sometimes the grandparents also support their grandchildren financially.(Dench & Ogg, 2002; Ferguson et al., 2004). The grandparents can act as a support by negotiating the relationship difficulties betweentheir grandchild and his parents and can act as a buffer when the family is undergoing stress (Ross et al., 2003).
Lussier G et al. performed a survey with around 155 young participants where the parents and children were interviewed regarding their grandparent-grandchildren relationship. The views of parents and children were studied and examined and it was found that the children who were closer to their grandparents had fewer adjustments problems following the divorce of their parents, and all these children found a solid support in their grandparents.
Similarly, Henderson et al. (2009) studied 344 young people trying to find answers concerning their alteration after parental partition and their association with maternal grandmothers. They presumed that those youths who saw themselves as having solid associations with their maternal grandmas felt upheld amid times of anxiety. The security being offered by the relationship with their grandmothers preceding divorce supported their mental well-being and adjustment factors positively in later years. That is, solid associations with maternal grandmas appeared to help these grandchildren to adjust towards the separation of their guardians.
The grandparents act as a stabilizing factor in the lives of their grandchildren. The grandparents have the capability for normalizing the situation towards their grandchildren so as to distract and reassure them. This way the grandparents are regarded as an anchor in the lives of their grandchildren by providing them stability during the times of uncertainty. The grandparents, during these circumstances, have an urge to shelter their grandchild thus giving him all the care and nurturance. Therefore, it can be considered that the grandparents play an effective role during the process of parental separation.
Dench and Ogg's (2003) analyzed the 1998 British Social Attitudes study proposing that grandchildren's' states of mind towards grandparents and their inclusion in the family are positive. Their review of 941 youngsters of age group 10-12 years in the UK established that when kids were asked to represent the most essential family relationships in a diagram, a larger lot put their grandparents in the internal circle representing their most close contacts (Bran-nen et al., 2000)
Further, a study in the US reported that the grandchildren having stronger ties with their grandparents were seen to show fewer depressive symptoms compared to the youngsters and adolescents with weaker ties with their grandparents especially in the case of grandchildren coming from a single parent family (Ruiz and Silverstein, 2007).
It has been proved that a secure connection or "closeness" acts as a protective element connected with better modification amongst those youngsters who experience stressful circumstances, for example, parental division and separation (Lussier, Deater-Deckard, Dunn and Davies, 2002; Sims, 2009).
Henderson, Hayslip, Sanders and Louden (2009) recommended that the attachment theory gives one clarification towards the possible worsening of the child and his parent relationship and inclination in maternal grandparent-grandchild connections after their parental separation. They further considered that maternal grandparents specifically might be in a position so as to compensate for the grown-up guardian's emotional as well as physical inaccessibility (Dolby, 2007).
Although, as Henderson et al. additionally states that, the assumptions concerning the effect of parent divorce on grandchild-grandparent connections need to consider various contributing elements. These incorporate the planning of the studies after the divorce or separation, the degree of family disturbance, the grandchildren’s age, the degree of closeness of separation and also the grandchild's pubertal status (Clingempeel, Colyar, Brand and Hetherington, 1992; Hetherington, 1989).
Grandparents always play themost important role in the family life, and their responsibilities are increased during the difficult circumstances when the family faces any issue of change. The relationship between the grandparents and their grandchildren can severely be affected by the situations like divorce or separation. The grandparent act like a stability provider who act as an anchor in the difficult situations by providing utmost care and nurturance to their grandchildren when they need it the most.
This study presented insight towards the relationship between the grandparents and their grandchildren further helped to determine the various impact of the parental separation on this particular relationship between the grandchildren and the grandparent. Further, this paper underlined the importance of the grandparent-grandchild relationship and how the presence of the grandparents in difficult situations especially divorce or separation of the parent benefits the development of their grandchild. Various studies and researches have proved that the grandparents play a vital role during the parental separation by providing care towards their grandchildren so as not to halt their physical and mental well-being.
Chesterman, L., Farrow, G. & Nugee, R. (Eds.) (2005). Relative values… The best interests of the child? Harlow: Grandparents Association.
Komhaber, A. (1996). Contemporary grandparenting. California: Sage.
Tomlin A. Grandparents’ influences on grandchildren. In: Szinovacz ME, editor. Handbook on Grandparenthood. Greenwood Press; Westport, CT: 1998. pp. 159–170.
Dench, G. & Ogg, J. (2002). Grandparenting in Britain. London: Institute of Community Studies.
Ferguson, N., Douglas, G., Lowe, N. et al. (2004). Grandparenting in divorced families. Bristol: Policy Press.
Lussier, G., Deater-Deckard, K., Dunn, J. and Davies, L. (2002). Support across two generations: Children's closeness to grandparents following parental divorce and remarriage. Journal of Family Psychology, 16(3), pp.363-376.
Ruiz, S. and Silverstein, M. (2007). Relationships with Grandparents and the Emotional Well-Being of Late Adolescent and Young Adult Grandchildren. Journal of Social Issues, 63(4), pp.793-808.
Henderson, C. E., Hayslip, B., Sanders, L.M., & Loudon, L. (2009). Grandmother Grandchild relationship quality predicts psychological adjustment among youth from divorced families. Journal of Family Issues, 30(9), 1245-1264.
Brannen, J., Heptinstall, E. and Bhopal, K. (2000) Connecting Children: Care and Family Life in Later Childhood. London: Routledge Falmer
Dolby, R. (2007). The Circle of Security: Roadmap to building supportive relationships. Watson, ACT: Early Childhood Australia.
Clingempeel, W. G., Colyar, J.J., Brand, E., & Hetherington, E.M. (1992). Children's relationships with maternal grandparents: A longitudinal study of family structure and pubertal status effects. Child Development, 63, 1404-1422.
Hetherington, E. M. (1989). Coping with family transitions: Winners, losers and survivors. Child Development, 60(1), 1-14.