Chapmon 1

Annotated Bibliography

Does divorce only have negative effects on children?

Madison Chapmon
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
March 5th, 2015

Chapmon 2

Annotated Bibliography
Harris, Sarah. "The True Impact of Divorce on Children." Herald Sun 30 Dec. 2013. Web.
March 1. 2015.
This Herald Sun newspaper article elaborates on the harms that divorce can do to
children. This isnt always the case when it comes to children suffering with their parents
divorce, but often times parents fail to realize the effects that their unhappiness can have
on their children and this newspaper article shows evidence of what some children have
done and are doing as a result of their parents divorcing. A poll was taken on a handful of
children who have suffered from divorced parents and one fifth of those children who
were surveyed felt that it was pointless to confide in their mothers or fathers because they
were too wrapped up in themselves. Although its only occurring in a small number of
the children of divorced parents, according to this article some of those children turn to
alcohol and drugs because they feel like they have nobody else to turn to. In more
extreme cases, some of the children even began harming themselves and in extreme
cases, began to consider suicide. Almost a third of the children polled were devastated by
the divorce and some even felt as if their parents no longer loved them. This article
explains how some kids felt after their parents divorced; some felt that they were
responsible for their parents in some way after their relationships broke down and that it
was their job to look after them. This article is a reliable source because it shows useful
and actual evidence of how divorce negatively affects the wellbeing of the children. It
includes useful data as well as actual quotes of some children who have suffered from
depression due to divorced parents, which will allow me to include up-to-date statistics
on my topic in my paper. The author of this article was not bias, she just chose to

Chapmon 3

elaborate on some of the worst case scenarios that have taken place with children of
divorced parents in the past and could possibly take place in the future as well. I will be
using this newspaper article because I feel that the Herald Sun is a well-known newssource and this information can help me explain the negative affects that divorce can
have on children.

Karuppaswamy, Nithyakala. "The Effect of Divorce on Children: What Makes a Difference?"

Purdue.edu. 2006. Web. 3 Mar. 2015.
This website discusses how the effects that divorces have on children arent necessarily
always bad. These researchers do not believe that divorce always brings pain to children.
On this website they explain that of course some divorces can be totally unexpected and
disastrous, but others may help the children as well as the parents grow as people and
learn how to take control and be mature about these situations when they take place.
Some children may have negative reactions when suffering from a divorce, but some may
have positive reactions. This website explains in detail what causes the negative
reactions on children and what may cause positive reactions instead, depending on the
situation that caused the divorce. Things such as the level of conflict between the
parents, how the parents adjust to the divorce, as well as information the children are
given about the divorce can all be contributing factors to the reaction that a child has
when his or her parents become divorced. Karuppaswamy goes in depth while
addressing these issues on this website. I feel that this website is a reliable source
because she wasnt bias about the affects divorce can have on children. She simply stated
that whether or not the outcome of the divorce will be negative or positive depends on the

Chapmon 4

situation surrounding the divorce. She also provided me with elaborative information by
explaining why divorce doesnt always have to negatively affect the children. I will be
using this sources information in my paper to include the positive affects that divorces
have been shown to have on some children.

Stevenson, Betsey, and Justin Wolfers. "Marriage and Divorce: Changes and Their Driving
Forces. "Journal of Economic Perspectives. 21.2 (2007): 27-52. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
This peer-reviewed article documents key facts on divorce and marriage by comparing
and showing trends from the past 150 years as well as by using outcomes across
demographic groups and different countries of the world. Divorce rates in the United
States have shot up over the past 150 years but for the past 25 years they have started to
fall back down. Marriage rates have also been falling and the importance and values of
marriage have been changing. The author of this article presents evidence of some of the
driving forces of divorces and separations including home production technologies and
internet-matching websites that are now being introduced to the human population,
including people who are NOT single. The author addresses the impact divorce has on
children by stating that children of divorce households are worse off than children of
intact household. Although the author doesnt talk about how the children of divorced
parents wouldve ended up, he is implying that there is a possibility that the children of
divorced parents wouldve ended up even worse if their parents were to stay together.

Chapmon 5

The author suggests that the difficulty for future studies will be establishing the link in
divorce decisions and the outcome of the children. He implies that the type of parents of
the divorced households could possibly be different than those of the households that
dont actually end up divorced. Therefore, this articles position is that knowing what
type of parents the children have and whether they are choosing the right decision or not
will determine the affects it will have on the children. This article touches on the recent
changes in family forms and how they are in need of a reassessment of theories of the
family. By this, the author is trying to show that some families need to focus more on
their family and less on unimportant things such as money and social media. This article
seems to be a good source because the author isnt bias about the effects that divorce can
have on children, but he too feels as if it depends on what the situation at home it. I will
use this article to go further into depth when describing the affects divorces have on
children and how they are not necessarily negative for every child. This article has
provided me with evidence relevant to my topic as well as good points to bring up in my
paper.

Wallerstein, Judith S, and Joan B. Kelly. Surviving the Breakup: How Children and Parents Cope
with Divorce. New York: Basic Books, 1980. Print. Feb 27. 2015.
This print book source of my choosing is addressed to many individuals including those
individuals who are interested to know more about how societal problems, such as
divorce, unintentionally affect children as well as the parents suffering from divorce.
This book includes legitimate data on families suffering from divorce and it even includes
five-year follow up data from some of the families. It was really interesting to see data

Chapmon 6

from individual families and I think this will be helpful information to include in my
paper. By recording this information over her years of studying the affects divorce has on
children, the author was able to compare the changes and the continuities of the children
and the parents over time. The authors explains the negative impact that divorce has on
children and what is required to reconstruct these children after going through such a hard
time. She discusses that these children have a long road ahead of them until they reach
stability after suffering of divorced parents. This book states that time is an issue
regarding how long instability in a home lasts, but a childs unhappy awareness of a
parents distress can extend for years after the divorce takes place, which is the case in a
lot of divorces. The information presented in this article is regarding the relationships
children have with their parents and how it affects their happiness. She implies that when
children see their parents expressing some type of emotion (happiness, sadness, anger,
etc.), it will most likely cause them to feel the same emotions as their parents do. The
authors opinion seems to be focused on how divorce usually has negative effects, but it
also includes actual data showing how families have overcome these divorces as well as
advice on how to overcome them. This data will be useful in my paper because it has
data recorded over a time period of 5 years that includes the progress families have made
after suffering with divorce. I will be using this source to further my information
included in my paper about how to overcome depression when suffering from divorce as
well as the ways that divorce can negatively affect the lives of children.