Analysis of Parenthood - Term Paper Example

Analysis of Parenthood Executive summary The paper analyzes the notion of parenthood from different perspective, putting emphasis on ethical issues that are involved. It is suggested that the right to parenthood is largely defined by the society. In addition to that science may support people who are willing to become parents, but are not able to do so. What is more important is there is a set of aspects that make a person fit or unfit for parenting. The text involves analysis of ethical concepts such as rights based approach and utilitarianism. Introduction It would not be a mistake to point out that the social environment should be regarded as one of the irreplaceable prerequisites for the development of the human inner potential. However, any society consists of smaller units, known as families. While families choose not to give birth to children, the majority regards this as their primary function. Nevertheless, the concept of parenting is not as simple as it seems: there are numerous ethical aspects that are involved in it beginning from the very right to being a parent and up to what makes a person qualify as a parent. Discussion of ideas To begin with, it would be advantageous to analyze the idea of right of parenthood. If one takes a close look at the history of the development of the social environment, one can not help noticing that the public has always defined the limits of parenthood. In other words, this category is not objective and is largely influences by the peculiarities of social life. For example, closer to the end of the previous century, right to parenthood was not seen as an exclusive right of heterosexuals, but this scope was enlarged to cover homosexuals as well (Hanscombe, 1983, 134). In any case this issue should be viewed from different perspectives: a legal right that every citizen is entitled to as well as a moral right of a person. It must be noted that there are numerous families who are willing to become parents, but are not able to because of various reasons. While there may be biological obstacles, such as lack of fertility, same sex couples are also experiencing a desire to have a child. The latest technological advancements suggest that theoretically it is possible to give birth to a child that will be genetically to two same sex parents (Newson, 2005, 185). In other words, the society actively supports all kinds of families that would like to act as parents. Nevertheless, this support does not mean that there should be a universal right to become a parent, as there may be certain aspects that make a person unfit for this role. For example, the applicable law as well as public opinion suggests that those individuals who are experiencing some kind of addiction or are not mature enough should not be recognized as parents (Schepard, 2004, 15). In other words, if a person is not independent enough in various meanings of this notion, one should become a parent. Speaking of the way a person may be recognized as a one who qualifies for a role of a good parent, one should point out that this is primarily carried out through personal determination as well as public opinion. Indeed, there is no license to become a parent, but when a person is mature enough and when one feels the need to pass one’s experience, such individual may be seen as a valid candidate for being a parent (Winfield, 1998, 141). In this case a family will have a high chance of become a successful one. It is beyond any doubt that parenting is a rather difficult activity in many terms, including finances. That is why one of the prerequisites for becoming a parent is securing a stable source of income. In spite of the fact that one can hardly define how much money a good parent should make a year, the answer might operate with different categories: a parent should be able to satisfy the needs of a child on every stage of one’s development (Mayer, 1997, 155). Indeed, it would not be correct to connect parenting expenses only with the first years of life of a child since as the latter grow older the responsibility of a parent to support him or her remains. As for the moral standards that should be maintained by parent, one should point out that they include promotion of socially acceptable values, appreciation of the world and other individuals as well as other humanistic concepts. Thus, family should become the environment that encourages a child to adopt these values (Murray, 2002, 42). In other words, parents should be role models for a child so that the latter would take after the former and carry on the tradition. However, there might be cases when a parent might lose right to his or her child. There may be different examples of it, most of which would focus on inability as well as lack desire to carry out one’s parenting function (Haker, 2006, 45). In addition to that, any aggressive and harmful actions towards a child might result of losing this right as domestic violence may have extremely harmful impact on a family and should be coped with immediately. Nevertheless, the final decision regarding losing the right to a child was made by a court and should be backed up legally. Considering the idea of parenting from an even broader perspective, one might also take into account the situation of adoption of a child who comes for a different cultural background. Thus, it is quite understandable that raising a child of a different ethnicity or race may be difficult both for the parents and a child. That is why it is generally suggested that parents should think carefully about making such an important step as it will inevitable bring some negative consequences for the child. However, there is no strict prohibition to do so. A variation of a similar situation may be seen when a child of a different religion is adopted. In this case, the latter should be provided with opportunities to practice one’s religion since this may be regarded as an irreplaceable aspect of one’s personal development. Indeed, this will allow a child to enter the environment that will fill some blacks that his or her newly found parents are not able to. In other words, the differences between the religion of parents and children should not be viewed as an obstacle on the way of their communication, but as a way to enhance it, allowing a child to satisfy one’s spiritual needs. Finally, a key to successful as well as ethical parenting involved answering a question about the amount of attention that a child needs to become a successful human being. It must be noted that there are two stages of development of a child which differ in the need for attention. On the early stages, parents should provide excessive amount of care and attention so that a child would be able to develop necessary physical abilities. However, as he or she grows older, parents should gradually decrease the amount of attention, allowing one to make own decisions about life and gain experience. Analysis of ethical concepts A careful examination of the idea of parenthood might include many different ethical concepts. For the purposes of this paper only two of them will be highlighted. The first one is rights bases approach which argues that parenting is a irreplaceable right of every mature individuals and no one, including the government, should not be allowed to take this right away. Contrary to that, Utilitarianism holds a completely different approach. According to it, a person should be recognized as a parent if one is able to have a positive impact on the child’s life and the more a person is able to be useful to a child, the more chances one has to be recognized as a parent. Evaluation and rationale As one can clearly see, parenthood is a rather debatable notion since there is a considerable number of aspects that should be taken into account while analyzing it. Nevertheless, one of the most important ones is parental integrity which stands for the desire of a person to become a good parent as well as devote all one’s efforts to achieve this good. In other words, only a true determination to become a good parent should be regarded as the key aspect of this concept. Conclusion Having examined all the evidence, one is able to point out the following: there are surely many different approaches to parenting, each of which is able to present valid support of its position. That is why there may not be a singly, one dimensional analysis of parenting since this category involved at least two individuals with unique vision of the situations. However, the society does hold some general guidelines for the people who are willing to become parents, most of which are focused on the genuine desire to benefit a child and his or her development. References Haker, H. (2006). Reproductive Autonomy in Light of Responsible Parenthood. Harvard Divinity Bulletin, 34(1), 44-52. Hanscombe, G. (1983). The Right To Lesbian Parenthood. Journal of Medical Ethics, 9, 133-135. Mayer, S. (1997). What money cant buy: Family income and childrens life chances. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Murray, T. (2002). What Are Families for? Getting to an Ethics of Reproductive Technology. The Hastings Center Report, 32(3), 41-45. Newson, A. (2005). Artificial gametes: New paths to parenthood? Journal of Medical Ethics, 31, 184-186. Schepard, A. (2004). Children, courts, and custody: Interdisciplinary models for divorcing families. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. Winfield, R. (1998). The just family. Albany: State University of New York Press. Read More