Perspectives on Family and Society

Introduction

The family structures in Ireland have changed over the decades. The traditional families consisted of two married parents. Although still dominant, other forms of family structures are rising and count for a significant minority. The rise in divorce rates and separation has increased by 22.3%. The role of the family plays an important aspect in the life of the children. The children existing in the married family structures have greater advantages compared to those living with one parent. However, as the family structures change has caused an increase in the aspects of child neglect and abuse. The crisis of homelessness in Ireland has risen due to increased child abuse and neglect. The children are being exposed to the distressing fights between the adults and drug use which causes trauma. The problem of homelessness in Ireland has grown over time, with many children experiencing homelessness. The incidences such as stabbings and attempted suicides have affected the children psychologically. This study aims to analyze the issues with family structures, neglect, domestic violence, and trauma in children and the interventions and policies available in Ireland.

Types of Family Structures in Ireland

Married Families

Married families in Ireland are associated with several benefits, especially when it comes to children’s upbringing. Married couples are more likely to be more financially stable and provide their children with better physical and mental health. Commission on the Family (1998) depicted that children not raised in married families are more likely to have psychological and behavioral problems (p. 45). Observing this from the socialization perspective shows that married families are ideal for raising children. The parental responsibilities can be shared and hence improve the children’s wellbeing. The children living in lone parents’ houses have hindered supervision. It happens when it comes to the input of the male parent. The disrupted families have the transfer of social capital being restricted when it comes to the co-parent social capital. Cousins (2006) stipulates that a male parent at home is important because it provides the children with a male role model at home (p. 17). This is because the single mother families experience difficulties bringing the boys’ children due to a lack of same-sex role models. The fathers provide the children with emotional and financial needs.

However, married families do not provide maximum benefits for the children or an optimum environment for their development (Daly, 2004, p. 63). The children living in violent families experience more psychological problems when the parents are engaged in aggressive behaviors. These violent behaviors affect the children until their adulthood. The children adopt the aggressive behaviors of their parents and learn to handle the disagreement in an aggressive manner (Baron et al. 2000, p. 87). Therefore, although married families are ideal for the upbringing of the children, the problems of families such as domestic violence pose more harm to the children.

Divorced and Separated Families

The children experiencing parental separation and divorce are at a higher risk of emotional and behavioral problems. The children, after divorce or separation, experience more adverse outcomes in their education. Ferguson and Hogan (2004) explained that separated and divorced families experience parental conflict before and after the separation (p. 22). The conflicts affect the children negatively. The changes that occur after divorce are stressful for the children, and in some cases, the loss of contact with the parents results in stressful situations and adverse behaviors.

Widowed Families

These are families that experience the loss of a single parent. It presents the children with serious developmental challenges, which increase the risk of poor mental health outcomes. However, these problems are not apparent immediately. The widowed families have a high likelihood of strained financial and psychological outcomes (Booth and Crouter, 1998, p. 78). Therefore, the stress in divorced and widowed families experiences the same aspects of stress and mental problems.

Never Married Families

The never-married families are those that include cohabitating and lone-parent families. The number of children living in cohabitating families is increasing in Ireland. However, the children have negative outcomes due to the instability in the families (Clark et al. 2005, p. 67). Such parents have fewer resources and hence higher levels of depression compared to married parents.

Family Violence and Abuse in Ireland

The problem of family violence, abuse, and neglect in Ireland has increased. The Irish children and teenagers experience high rates of abuse, neglect, and violence that can turn to suicide. According to Laslett et al. (2020), Ireland has the second-highest rate of children dying from intentional injuries in Europe due to abuse and problems from the families (p. 358). The problems with the families are that they are experiencing many financial problems due to the economic crisis. The result is an increase in the number of people living below the poverty line. The increase in the risks of all forms of violence leads to childhood maltreatment, abuse, and suicide (McLafferty et al., 2018, p. 44). The causes of family abuse and neglect in Ireland are majorly economic deprivation and maternal depression.

The family income is a major determinant of the way families live and bring up their children. Lack of financial stability explains the disparity in the outcomes of the families (v et al., 2019, p. 37). The increasing economic hardships put single-parent families at higher risks of being subjected to economic disadvantage. It is a problem that produces poorer developmental outcomes due to the disadvantages of the family structure. Poverty is a problem that is associated with the problem of poor developmental issues of children into adulthood. Crowley (2017) explains that poverty places single-parent families at higher financial risks due to lower-income (p. 303). The children thus experience poor health, poor education, and poor living standards. The unmarried parents in Ireland are more in the lower-income groups. Single parents are unable to sustain their children when they have more children in the families. Families with both parents are more likely to enhance their levels of income and avoid economic deprivation.

Maternal depression can negatively affect families (Elliffe and Holt 2019, p. 592). The problem is that parental depression results in loss of family resources and influences the children’s emotional and behavioral outcomes. According to McLafferty et al. (2018), single-parent families report higher levels of maternal depression compared to families with both parents (p. 40). The children being raised in a home where the parent is depressed negatively assessed their behaviors because they have low tolerance levels.

Child Abuse in Ireland

There are different forms of child abuse that have been reported in Ireland. They include neglect, emotional, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. The problem of abuse occurs in the family, community, and institutional setting. The abuser can be a person the child understands or a stranger.

Neglect

Child neglect is the most common of abuse occurring to children in Ireland. The levels of chronic neglect are harmful to the development and the welfare of the children in the long term (Bland et al. 2018, p. 128). Neglect occurs when the children are not adequately cared for, and they are harmed physically and developmentally. The omission of care and inadequate provision of food, clothing, and medical care constitute neglect. According to Dubowitz et al. (2019), the level of neglect and the number of children living in government facilities is increasing (p. 104027). Neglect in Ireland results from poverty, misuse of substances, domestic violence, and mental illnesses. The features of child neglect include leaving a child without supervision, lack of food, non-organic failure to thrive.

Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse refers to the systematic emotional and psychological ill-treatment of the children when they are in a relationship with the caregiver and the child (Kwok et al. 2019, p. 104031). The emotional problems result from the children’s lack of attention, affection, and approval. The insecurities of the children are thus not considered as the parents are incapacitated. Emotional abuse occurs when the parents are unaware or unable to meet the emotional needs of the children (Wang et al. 2019, p. 934). Some of the emotional abuse problems in Ireland include rejection, lack of love and comfort, lack of attachment, and lack of proper stimulation.

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse occurs when a child is hurt intentionally and is put at risk of being physically hurt. The main concern is that physical abuse results in damage to the child’s health (Carr et al. 2020, p. 665). Physical abuse includes physical punishment, pushing and throwing, excessive force in handling, and beating. In Ireland, the Children First Act of 2015 was meant to abolish reasonable chastisement in court proceedings (Case and Haines 2021, p. 14). The aim was to ensure the parents and caregivers do not use the excuse of disciplining the child as a defense for physical abuse. The change in the law results in parents’ prosecution and ensures that physical cruelty is punished by law.

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse occurs when another person uses a child for their gratification. The incidences of the child being involved in masturbation, fondling, oral or penetrative sex are all forms of sexual abuse (Crowley 2017, p. 307). Child abuse includes the sexual act intentionally performed in the presence of a child, sexual intercourse in the child’s presence, or molesting a child sexually.

Emotional Trauma in Children in Ireland

The numbers of domestic violence in Ireland show that one in four women have been in a relationship where they have been abused. It means that the children grow in families where there is a lot of domestic violence (Sloan et al. 2020, p. 104619). Domestic violence is the abuse that is a pattern of incidents that threaten the safety of family members. The incidents of domestic violence may be physical, sexual, emotional, or financial. Domestic abuse nowadays can occur through social media or mobile phones. The incidences of domestic violence where the children witness are more destructive to their emotional stability. According to Dubowitz et al. (2019), children in families that live in families that experience domestic violence experience problems of being beaten (p.104027). Sexual and emotional abuse also occurs in this family setting.