Adoptive Results for Children Raised by Homosexual Parents - Research Paper Example

 Adoptive Results for Children Raised by Homosexual Parents Introduction Through the legal and controversial discussions over homosexual marriage, a significant debate has emerged over the capabilities of homosexual parents. Are children raised by homosexual parents at a disadvantage for developing healthy emotional and social relationships when compared to children who are raised by heterosexual parents? In a nation wide study of children raised by homosexual parents, Dr. Mark Regnerus of the University of Texas at Austin argues that children of homosexual parents on average are worse off than children raised by heterosexual parents. Dr. Regnerus study of approximately fifteen thousand young adults ranging from eighteen to thirty-nine years old compared and configured the data for children of lesbian moms separately from children of gay fathers. (CITE) When the outcomes of children raised by homosexual parents was compared to the outcomes for children raised by heterosexual parents, the children of homosexual parents deviated from the social norm ninety-six percent of the time. Three areas where children of homosexual parents showed the greatest deviation from children raised by heterosexual parents where in cohabitation rate, public assistance, and unemployment. The cohabitation rate for children of lesbian mothers is twenty-four percent and the cohabitation rate for children of gay fathers is nine percent higher than the cohabitation rates of children raised by heterosexual parents. Children of lesbian mothers are sixty-nine percent and the children of gay fathers are fifty-seven percent more likely to received public assistance at some point in their life than children raised by heterosexual parents. In addition, children of lesbian mothers are twenty-six percent and the children of gay fathers are seventeen percent more likely to be unemployed than children raised by heterosexual parents. (CITE) Therefore, children raised by homosexual parents are more likely to suffer from attachment problems, receive welfare, and be unemployed. Numerous professional associations, the homosexual movement and most media houses are of the assertion that a child eventually turns out to be okay regardless of the sexual orientation of the parents that bring him up provided he is loved with roughly an equal measure as other children. It was traditionally argued that children raised by homosexual parents experienced problems growing up that eventually affected their school life, social life and, by extension, adult life. The traditional argument stressed that the child took up the characters of the parents which they exhibited in their carrying out of parental duties. Supporters of parenting that is inclined to homosexual parents have however produced numerous supportive evidence that indicate that no significant differences could be found, albeit statistically, between the children raised in heterosexual households and those raised in homosexual households. Ideally, their assumption is that parenting situations have more or less the same influence on children regardless of the sexual orientation of the parents that take up the duty of raising and bringing up the children. However, the evidence produced to support the theory of negligible difference between children raised by straight parents and those raised by gay parents is largely based on small samples, which are for the most part volunteer samples. The issue with the small sample is that generally, small samples does not produce any significant statistical differences. The aforementioned result or observation is owed to the fact that small samples lack statistical power, and as such, findings from researches that major on the difference element between kids raised in the two underlying households do very little to provide proof that the two types of parenting achieve more or less the same result. Moreover, claims of sameness or differences in statistical data or findings between two distinct populations majorly rely on the presented subjects of study being approximately representative of the entirety of the population, in this case all homosexual parents and all heterosexual parents. The aforementioned needed element of credible statistical data misses in the volunteer studies or those carried on individuals specially recruited by the researchers. Regarding the topic of this research paper and the findings presented in the introduction, children raised by homosexual parents are more likely to suffer from attachment problems, receive welfare, and be unemployed. Essentially, people with attachment problems or disorders find it difficult to connect with others and manage their own feelings and emotions. The problems result in lack of self-worth, loss of trust, need to be in control, frequent anger and a fear of getting close to other individuals regardless of the setting. The main question would be why some people develop attachment problems while others do not. The answer to that question is that the difference lies primarily in the interaction between the person and his or her parents in his or her childhood life. Ideally, attachment disorders and problems are identified as the consequences of negative or unfair and near abnormal experiences in their early relationships. In children, it develops when they feel repeatedly abandoned and separated from the typical world in some form of isolation and uncaring environments. In such environments, children get to learn that they cannot depend on others and as such, their dependency levels goes down and so does their attachment with the usual world. Children raised in homosexual households get to experience detachment from the general public life that children raised in heterosexual families get to enjoy. That is because of the parenting they undergo through in their early lives as children of homosexual parents. In most cases, these children get ridiculed in their schools for having perceivably awkward families and weird parents. The ridicule serves the children major blows in their social lives since they are barely developed or mature to stomach the meanness they experience from their fellow age mates, at school or at home. As they grow up, they learn that the general public would never see them as normal children or youth, or at least as children raise by the traditional family and way of parenting that involves a father and a mother, both from different sexes. Ideally, they get used to the cruel environment they grow in and lose the sense of attachment to the external world. More often than not, the only ties they tend to get attached to is those of their parents, who are homosexuals and other people in the same situation as them. However, since most people are brought up in heterosexual families, it becomes extremely difficult for them to come across people like them. Because of the cruelty they experience in their youth and childhood, the sense of trust is lost to them and thus find it difficult to trust people or confide in them. In essence, they picture every individual as strangers and may only share close ties with his or her parents if they were and still are supportive of them. As a sign of attachment problems, individuals raised in homosexual households are likely to display a wide range of characteristics that might not be found with their counterparts raised in straight homes. Firstly, these individuals may develop an aversion to touch and significant levels of physical affection. Children or youth with attachment problems will often flinch, burst into laughter, giggle or respond awkwardly when touched. Different from their counterparts from heterosexual homes, who might respond positively to touch, every touch from people they are not close to is perceived as a threat and any sense of physical attraction is considered inappropriate and may extend to be a threat. Secondly, these individuals possess control issues and prefer to remain in control and strive to avoid feeling helpless. This is cultivated by the loss of trust discussed above since the individuals cannot trust people with power over them since they fear they might get mistreated or treated unfairly. Parallel to the control issues, children raised in homosexual families are often defiant, disobedient and jump at any chance to present their argument. Ideally, this kind of reaction is brought about by the need to protect themselves from the cruelty they might have experienced earlier in their childhood. These individuals also find it difficult to show genuine care approaches and affection. In that regard, they tend to act inappropriately affectionate with people they are not familiar with and display a certain level of affection to their parents. In addition, they might develop anger problems which may be expressed directly, through manipulative behaviour, in tantrums or acting out or in passive-aggressive behaviour. Their anger may be hid in situations that are socially acceptable such as giving high fives that hurts or hugging people in an unusually hard manner. The behaviours discussed above embedded in their attachment problems trait eventually boil down extending to other effects such as being unemployed and receiving welfare services. Since they have control issues, they find it difficult in getting employed in permanent terms and even in temporary terms; they do not get to keep their chances in the jobs for long. Since they have great lengths of needs to remaining on control and dictating their work, it is difficult for employers to put up with them since typically, an employee is supposed to be submissive and should always report to their supervisors or bosses. In addition, parallel to their control issues, when controlled, they tend to be defiant, argumentative and disobedient, characters that no employer or supervisor allows in their field. These situations does not allow them to remain employed for longer periods. The situations are made worse by their anger issues which make them take up passive aggressive behaviours that lead to employment termination. In addition, they possess characteristics that make them come off as people with underdeveloped conscience. In that regard, they tend to act in manners that do not show guilt, regret or remorse even after behaving inappropriately. This makes them intolerable to their employers and as such, find themselves fired now and then. On to the last issue that individuals from homosexual households experience is the likely hood of receiving welfare services in the course of their lifetime. In their childhood, these children may develop mental problems such as depression and other mental illnesses due to the treatment they receive at school. The treatment makes them feel unwanted regardless of the love they enjoy at home in the presence of their parents. The depression may sometimes get to a point that the victims may need to receive treatment in mental facilities and other places where mental illnesses are supressed. In their youth, the individuals may also feel depressed due to a couple of factors including the whereabouts of their real parents as well as the pressure at school developed from their childhood. The depression is most certainly treated in places where welfare services are offered. These services are less frequented by children or individuals from straight families. In addition, youthful individuals from homosexual families might be influenced to drug abuse to balance the pressure they receive from the outside. Since drug abuse eventually leads to drug addiction, the individuals might get hooked to drugs to an extent that they may be required to go to rehabilitation facilities to be well. These facilities are well considered to provide welfare services to the needy who in this case happens to be drug addicts from households with homosexual parents. References Melanie, S. January 19, 2010. Effects of homosexuality and gay marriages. Retrieved November 30, 2015. From http://newhistories.group.shef.ac.uk/wordpress/wordpress/the-efffects-of homosexuality/ Read More