Female‐headed Families: Effects on Children and Clinical Implications*

Abstract

The social psychological research pertaining to female‐headed families published between 1970–1980 is reviewed. The literature indicates that theoretically children do not need the presence of the same‐sex/opposite‐sex parents in the family in order to develop sex‐role behavior. Children in female‐headed families are likely to have good emotional adjustment, good self‐esteem except when they are stigmatized, intellectual development comparable to others in the same socioeconomic status, and rates of juvenile delinquency comparable to others in the same socioeconomic status. In light of these findings, suggestions are made for counseling women who head families.

Children of Single Parent Families: How They Fare as Young Adults

“…(See Hetherington, Camara, &Featherman, 1983, andShinn, 1978, for reviews of this literature.) These studies have generally concluded that these differences were the result of the relative economic disadvantage of those from single parent backgrounds (Bachman, O'Malley, & Johnston, 1978;Cashion, 1982;McLanahan, 1985).…”

Reconsidering Research On Divorce, Family Life Cycle, And The Meaning Of Family

“…In sum, it is very simplistic to point to the divorce per se as the causal link in positive or negative adjustment, an approach that may account for why prior studies comparing children from divorced and intact families have found no consistent findings in adjustment (Lowery & Settle, 1985). A host of intervening variables other than the parental separation are involved, including age of child, circumstances and preparation for divorce, availability of support, material resources, interparental conflict, and cultural, familial, and individual beliefs and attitudes (Atwood, 1993;Cashion, 1982), as well as the social expectancies and confirmations set up by researchers and practitioners in the field.…”

Clarifying the relationship between the broken home and juvenile delinquency: A critique of the current literature

“…All of the studies have some serious limitations and are therefore unsuitable for a current assessment of our knowledge of the broken home/delinquency relationship. Cashion (1982), for instance, reviewed the research on female-headed families and delinquency and concluded that there is no association between this type of family structure and delinquency in general. Nevertheless, this conclusion was predicated on a total of eight studies, all of which were published in the 1970s.…”