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Wiki Project on Divorce Lucy Garcia is a 45-year-old married Caucasian female who lives in Wisconsin Il, with her husband James and their three children. They live in a middle-class neighborhood in a single-family home. Lucy is Catholic and attends church regularly. Lucy suffers from depression and anxiety and has recently started on medication prescribed by her primary care physician (PCP). Lucy works part-time at the local elementary school as a lunchroom and recess supervisor. Lucy is in individual therapy and attends a depression support group once a week. Lucy is the primary caretaker of their children. Lucy has limited social supports but does have one close friend she identifies as a person she can rely on that goes to her church. James Garcia is a 48-year-old bi-racial Hispanic male who lives with his wife and 3 children in a middle-class neighborhood in Wisconsin, Il in a single-family home. James grew up Catholic but does not attend church regularly. James drinks daily but does not believe that he is an alcoholic. James works full-time as a Real Estate Banker. James is involved with his children but is not the primary caretaker. James coaches his son John’s baseball team which he enjoys. James does not have any mental health concerns and has a strong social support system with childhood friends as well as buddies from work. Chase Garcia is a 15-year-old Bi-racial Hispanic male who is questioning his sexuality and thinks he may be gay. He is scared to come out to his family for fear they will be angry with him as they are Catholic. Chase recently had some trouble in school with fighting. One more fight and the principal states that he will be suspended for 3 days. He is having trouble concentrating in school which is affecting his grades. He is currently failing math. Cindy Garcia is a 12-year-old Bi-racial Hispanic female who is shy and quiet. Cindy wears glasses and braces and is being bullied at school. She has a good friend she sits with at lunch but does not have many friends. Despite the bulling at school, she is an honor student and likes to read. Lately she is having a hard time remaining focused, and her teacher often finds her gazing out the window. Due to the bulling, Cindy has been giving her mother a hard time about going to school. John Garcia is a 10-year-old Bi-racial Hispanic male who love baseball, and his dad is the coach. He is academically average and has a lot of friends. He was diagnosed with ADHD when he was little and is taking medication. Although he is often non-compliant with his medication and gives his mother a hard time taking it. He likes to be outside but also likes to play his video games and gets on his older brother’s nerves.

Scope of the Issue In the United States, it is estimated that 43% to 50% of first marriages end in divorce and 50% of American children will experience the divorce of their parents (Oren & Hadomi, 2020). Marital separation and divorce are stressful life events that put a strain on all members of a family, especially that of the children. Divorce is a process, one in which usually includes tension and confusion, conflict, stress, stigmas, and more (Oren & Hadomi, 2020). When there are children involved in this process, they can experience a range of psychological, social, academic, and health issues because of the divorce (Stanton ,2020). As in the case of the Garcia’s, Allen & Hawkins (2017) provide research that confirms that 50% of individuals over the age of 35 and in long-term marriages will divorce. Concluding that a divorce would be the best option is one of the most stressful and difficult decisions one must make over the life course (Allen & Hawkins, 2017). The Garcia’s understand that their decision to divorce has caused stress on their family and have decided to seek therapy to ease some of the emotional turmoil. The children in this case are 15, 12, and 10 respectively and although the father is a part of their life, he has not been the primary caregiver. Once divorced, roles change and the one that has had the most control over the children’s day-to-day activities will not likely continue as joint legal decision-making and equal parenting is created (Burns, 2021). Although this family does not all attend church, they were all raised Catholic which may affect the way that they experience divorce. Lucy attends church regularly and may see the divorce as a failure in the marriage or something that she did wrong. Just as in death, there are stages in a divorce which include denial, anger, bargaining, and depression (Aanstoos & Garland, 2021). While Judy may experience denial and depression, James might be experiencing anger and try to bargain to avoid the divorce. Divorcing creates overwhelming fears of inadequacies as they try to navigate different roles that the other spouse had previously had such as primary caretaker of the children, financial responsibilities, and social arrangements. Children are keen to the actions and behaviors of their parents during the process of a divorce and according to Iqbal et al. (2021) the environment created under these circumstances affects the children in all aspects of growth throughout childhood. Parent’s decision to end their marriage and divorce directly affects the mental health of the children, which in turn affects their behavior in and out of the classroom. One researcher states that those children affected by divorce are sad in class and are reluctant to take part in social activities, they often avoid adjusting to the learning environment and like to remain alone (Iqbal et al., 2021). We can see this behavior in the middle child Cindy as she is shy and does not have many friends. Iqbal et al. (2021) also states that the children of divorce also seen to have abnormal communication and physical actions such as hitting, pushing, and show annoyance behavior to their peers. This correlates with Chace’s behavior in school in which he has been in trouble for fighting and will likely have disciplinary actions upon further negative behaviors. The Garcia children are not alone with the emotions that they are experiencing as many children from divorced homes are affected by the stress of parental divorce. It is important for the Garcia family be able to listen to each other, express their emotions, and mediate in a setting that is appropriate and that can provide them with interventions needed to address all their concerns. Divorce is not an event that has a clear beginning and end, it is a process that involves grief, uncertainty, anger, and feelings of conflict and stress which must be handled with care to avoid serious psychological damage to the children.