The Stigma Surrounding Single Parents and Its Effect on the Parent-Child Relationship

Abstract

This dissertation exposes the stigma that single parents encounter in society, which influences the relationship the parents have with their children. The stigma not only targets the parents but their children as well, which affects their emotional well-being and ability to fit in society fully. Unfortunately, most single parents are women, and their ability to rise to positions in society, where they can be in the high social classes often hampers.

Consequently, most single-parent families are in the middle income or below-average income bracket in the United Kingdom (Defronzo & Gill 2019). Through a detailed literature review, the dissertation investigates the many perceptions societies hold against single parents, and the way social treatment received by single parents hurt them and their families. Several theories are also used to explain the difficulty of single parenting due to stigma. The investigation considers stigma to be a perception of disgrace on single parents based on the thinking that being in two-parent families is superior in society. The conclusion offers final thoughts about the state of stigma against single parents and expected changes in the future regarding the way society treats single parents.

Introduction

The issue of stigmatization of single parents has been in existence in all societies in the world for many years. The reason being that children are ethically expected to be raised in homes, ran by an adult male and female. Society seems to have courteous judgement on children raised by a single parent following the death of one parent, as the remaining parent is not at fault for his or her single parenthood position (Killam, Meester, & Lewis 2019). Stigmatization of single parents is expressed in various ways, such as name calling, alienation from their age mates who fear they are a threat to their marriages and a bad example to children in functional homes (Haines, Matthewson, & Turnbull 2019). Single parents are hardly offered positions of leadership in the society, as they are considered to be less responsible in making decisions, and already burdened by life hence, they can only attract pity (Stack & Meredith 2018). Regrettably, the stigma to which women are subjected is more than the degree directed to single men.

Many studies have been conducted that related single-parenting to children who have issues. The off springs raised in single-parenthood settings have therefore been associated with crime, poor academic performance, low self-esteem, anti-social behaviours and low success levels in life (OECD 2017). While many studies counter the claims, the observations represent the stand of the society, which is discriminating against single-parenting. Interestingly, the social acceptance of single parents improve as years elapse, as additional people face it, their family members, and friends, making them accept single parents without prejudice (Haines, Matthewson, & Turnbull 2019). Therefore, the future offers hope for increased social acceptance among single parents and their children. Notably, most single-parenting studies that have been conducted are based on single mothers as opposed to single fathers.

The dissertation answers the research question:

What stigma do single parents experience, and how does it impact the relationship with their children?

Literature Review

Single parents are mothers and fathers who raise children in the absence of a partner of opposite gender (Goldenberg 2017). The domain of single parenthood does not consider whether the individual parent was married or unmarried when they had the child (Nieuwenhuis & Maldonado, 2018). The number of single parents in the United Kingdom has been rising, according to OECD (2017) raising concern about whether the existing policies will manage the changes in family dynamics. Single parents experience a lot of challenges. The challenges differ according to gender, race and country of residence (Stack & Meredith, 2018). In America, for instance, single mothers from black communities have lower challenges due to acceptability and community support (Batey 2018). Single parent families experience difficulties in terms of financial wellbeing and social stigmatisation. Families with two parents easily access legal protection and acceptance in the society as opposed to single parents who are viewed as undesirable parents with dysfunctional, broken and incomplete families (Inthorn 2015).

Previous studies have primarily addressed the kind of stigma single parents face, but not how it impacts the relationship with their children. Many studies have exposed that single parents are subjected to stigma by the society, which affects them psychologically and impacts their ability to interract and mingle with many community members. The stigma can affect the way individuals interact with society and children too.

Traditionally, most single parents, who were primarily mothers experinced the challenge of poevrty. Therefore, their children hardly acquired high level education nor all daily needs. The inability caused the single parents a feeling pf incompetence, anxiety and depression. Economic stress is predictive of coercive and harmful practices of rearing a child. Single parents feel stigmatized when they cannot manage to fund child expenditures. The feeling of self disapproval may increase due to the possible deeper connection between parent and child, especially at the child’s younger age (Inthorn, 2015).

The emotional bond linking the caregiver and the child defines a parent-child relationship. The bond develops over time as the child interacts with the parents. The attachment can be of high quality or low quality depending on the sensitivity and consistency of the parent, according to Bwole’s theory of attachment. The theory explains further that children experince dustress when separated from their mothers, and it impacts their psychological development negatively. Unfortunately, most single parents have limited time for their children. Intrusive, frightening, inconsistent and dismissive parental behaviour contribute to the development of a parent-child attachment that is not secure. While child-parent attachment is considered as a stable feature, it can change during adolescence as a result of environmental stressors, family and psychological problems (Inthorn, 2015). Socio-economic status of many single parents is one of the environmental stressors (Goldenberg 2017).

Single parent stigmatisation contributes to parenting negative behaviours such as child coercion. The negative behaviours are also associated with stress associated with social stigma. Parent stress was found by Nicolacopoulos and Vassilacopoulos (2018) to reduce parent-child attachment. Children experiencing emotional stress also tend to withdraw, leading to poor attachment with parents — individual parents also experience psychological stress. In addition to the social stigma, psychological stress is likely influential of relationships (Inthorn, 2015).

The satisfaction of a parent-child relationship calls for efficient conflict management. Conflict solution in a family setup should ensure the better good for both parties. Unfortunately, some single-parent families experience competitive conflicts. Competitive conflicts are considered as direct or competitive fighting. The conflicts involve hostile questions, insults, threats, criticism and sarcasm. Contentious conflict can be significant where compliance is essential, but they reduce relation outcome. Mothers report experiencing less intimacy and frustration when their adolescent children engage them in conflicts with low compromise and high aggression (Killam, Meester, & Lewis 2019).

Elevated parent-child conflict may contribute to socioemotional dysfunction in children when the conflicts are persistent. Such disorders become apparent when the child attains adolescent age. Through conflict, a parent reinforces or maintains antisocial behaviours in a child. Scholars have suggested that parent-child conflict predict behavioural problems such as delinquency and aggression for adolescents and children within distinct socioeconomic strata (Weaver et al., 2015). The parent-child conflict was found to be more pronounced between mothers and children (Driscoll & Pianta, 2011). The high number of conflicts have been associated with a higher period spent by mothers and children.

Stigmatisation and environmental stressors contribute to family conflicts. As identified by Laursen (2005), socioeconomic status and maternal employment are some of the significant variables that can be used when researching on adolescent/parent conflict. The conflict between the child and parent can be increased by the presence of insufficient financial and social resources. According to Levete (2017), family conflict in single-parent families linked to demographic factors such as gender, adolescence, age, and ethnicity, since the family dynamics possess a delicate association with the characteristics of the individuals.

Noumair and Shani (2018) suggested that the quality of parenting relies partly on marital conflicts. Further, they highlighted that single-parent families have more intimate, affectionate and nurturant, and that the higher levels of intimamacy and nurturance do not mean lower levels of conflicts between the single parents and their children. There is also a higher companionship between parents and children in a one-parent family (Burke et al., 2017). The level of parent satisfaction with the children relationship different in lines of gender. The fathers become more satisfied with the children relationship and fewer negative interactions (Noumair & Shani, 2018). There is also a suggestion that children perform well when same-sex parent nurture them.

The study “Growing up with a single mother and life satisfaction in adulthood: A test of mediating and moderating factors” by Richter and Lemola investigates the hardships single-parent families face. First, the topic already identifies single-parent families with problems, while financial struggles are present even in families of two parents. The study focused on 641 people raised by single mothers, 1539 raised in families where there was separation, and 21,934 adults raised in homes with two parents (Richter & Lemola 2017). According to the study, children who were raised by a single mothers were highly dissatisfied with life, while the level of life satisfaction decreased for children after their parents divorced or separated. On the contrary, children raised in two-parent’ families reported high levels of satisfaction in life. According to the research, the measures of comfort in life that bring children satisfaction include physical health, social integration, outcome in romantic relationships, educational success, and living conditions. Such children were despised highly by their peers and the society in general, and could help but compare their parents with those who appeared to have their life in order, which weakened the children-parent relationship (Stack & Meredith 2018).

Some of the factors the research identified to cause children from single-parent families distress and difference from others in the society are limited guardianship and less emotional availability from the parent. Consequently, they felt unprotected by their parents, and their level of reliance on them reduced. The children also suffer from economic deprivation, causing them to live in poor neighborhoods (Stack & Meredith 2018). Children who grow under one parent, according to the research, lack the presence of a parent that is important in the development of manliness in boys and femininity in women (Richter & Lemola 2017). Therefore, such children behave different from other kids of their age, and hardly outgrow the peculiarity in adulthood, according to the study.

While the study is correct as far as economic struggle of many single mothers is concerned, it also adopts a very stigmatized approach in analysing the problem. First, the health of children born by single mothers is generally as good as of children born from two parents’ families (Richter & Lemola 2017). However, the poverty levels of most single mothers as identified in the study made them feel helpless and sorry for being unable to give their children the best life. The empathy developed towards their children enabled the mothers to seek their understanding of their difficulties, which improved the closeness between the single parents and their children (Weaver 2015). While the research considers boys raised by single mothers to be less masculine than those raised in functional families, there are many boys raised by two parents who have failed to live to social expectations of masculinity (Seeman 2018). Surprisingly, the boys who are considered by the society less competitive as men compared to those raised by two parents turn out to love their mothers and be close to them as they appreciate the effort their single mothers made in raising them (Stack & Meredith 2018).

Realistically, the challenges that the study identifies the single parent families with are true, as most single parents work for many hours and only get home to sleep. Consequently, they have limited time for their children, and are absent emotionally. Such children are likely to seek the emotional bonding among friends, as relatives in most cases are unavailable too to growing children (Stack & Meredith 2018). Unfortunately, the problems have been used to label single parents negatively, considering them incapable of supporting their children fully. Single families are viewed as uncompetitive hence, they raise needy children who have inadequacies of everything (Stack & Meredith 2018).The perception is emotionally draining for such mothers as they feel like social misfits, when they need public support and the understanding of those around them, causing them demoralization in loving their children (Webb 2019).

The behavioural theory attempts to explain the relationship between persons’ character and their environment. The theory suggests that human behaviour is acquired through conditioning. Therefore, the reaction of the single parents to the stigma around them is conditioned, as well as the way their children receive the perception of the society towards their families. Therefore, it is possible for single parents to decide that the relationship with their children will be perfect and they will offer emotional support to their children amidst their busy schedules (Defronzo & Gill 2019). Based on the theory, the behaviour of single parents is conditioned and can be changed, which would reduce the stigma they face from the society. Their children’s too can be changed through help to help them to understand their parent’s situation and live happily.

Another study “Promoting strengths and resilience in single-mother families” by Taylor and Conger investigated ways single mothers should improve their well-being as a way to facilitate adjustment among their children. Consequently, the resource identifies that single mothers need social support and internal support to manage to raise their children effectively (Taylor & Conger 2017). The lack of the two factors cause mothers to raise their children feeling emotionally burdened and are unable to give the best of themselves to children; a lack that cannot be replaced when the children are grown. The study proposes behavioural interventions to single mothers to develop the required strength and resilience. However, the topic also highlights the magnitude of stigma in the society, causing single mothers have to obtain coping mechanisms to remain sane in raising their children.

According to the study, single mothers are generally more stressed than parents engaged in raising their children alongside a partner. The distress is irrespective of the mothers’ success, age or education, as the pressure in raising children is equal. However, the study notes that mothers who are the wage earners and primary caregivers of their children have little emotional attention to give their children because they are too busy and tired (Taylor & Conger 2017). The family stress model employed by the study explains that economic strains affect parents emotionally and in behavior, and influences their parenting ability negatively.

While the claim is true in most cases, it mirrors the judgement under which single parents live in the society. Mostly, the prejudice works against women more than men, as the latter attract sympathy and are congratulated by the society for their commitment to raising children singly. However, the study appears wrong to indicate that the children from single parents families lack emotional support, while in reality, they obtain it, though to unsatisfactory levels. Notably, children from homes where both the mother and father are employed and work for long hours also feel emotionally inadequate as far as receiving emotional support from their parents is concerned (Taylor & Conger 2017). Therefore, the study ought to have identified that the emotional attention is inadequate, but not lacking, as the society stigmatized the single parents using the argument, which is incorrect.

Taylor and Cinger found that single mothers are generally depressed and in anxiety, which drives them into coercive parenting. Consequently, their children self-esteem and confidence suffers. The study identified that most studies on single-parents focused on low-income families. However, it identified that families on higher income brackets were equally affected. Specifically, children whose well-to-do parents separated had a difficult time adjusting to a lower class of living, as opposed to children who are used to living in low status in society.

The study separates the experiences of struggles of single mothers who were never married and those who were separated, noting that the latter group suffers higher levels of distress than the earlier. The impact the comparison of single-mother families to two parents families gets on single-mother families was described to be detrimental, as it made them feel inadequate, which called for the need to develop resilience among them. Therefore the study identified that a perceived social support and internal strength among the mothers enabled them to increase self-esteem, develop a sense of efficacy, increase optimism and heighten their coping strategies to social and economic pressure that is higher to them than to parents raising children as partners. Consequently, positive child outcomes will be realized, such as increased social competence, lower behavioural and emotional problems.

Like most studies about single parents, the research take a prejudicial position regarding single mothers, as the topic suggest that they are weak, vulnerable and sensitive to pressures of life, as opposed to similar women who are married. Going further to associate their struggles with inability to raise their children also shows the level of stigma against the families, where their children are considered to be emotionally lacking and undisciplined. However, some single mothers work together with their families and caregivers to give their children a normal life. Notably, the study identifying single mother families with financial struggle is quite correct, as married partners share financial responsibilities that single parents bear singly.

A study named “The lifelong socioeconomic disadvantage of single-mother background – the Helsinki Birth Cohort study 1934–1944” conducted in 2016 by Mikkonen et al. examined whether the ideology that children raised by single mothers have life-long socioeconomic issues and marital instability. The study however identifies that economic and health hardships are common among the single mother families, which makes them different from many families in the society (Mikkonen et al. 2016). The study utilized historical records of people born between 1934 and 1944 in Finland. The study compared the life experiences of children raised by married parents to those raised by single mothers. Utilizing historic information allowed the study to be comprehensive, as the people considered and interviewed were adults.

The findings of the research showed that children raised by single mothers were different from those raised by two parents. First, the earlier group was identified to have lower education levels than their counterparts from married families. The chain continued to translate to the earlier group securing low paying occupations, and children from married families assuming higher occupational status. Further, the study identified that children raised by unmarried parents hardly got to the wealthy class, and were more likely to remain unmarried when grown up (Mikkonen et al. 2016). In fact, children raised by single mothers were identified to have poor health, which was associated with their mothers’ poor feeding during pregnancy, high stress levels, and the inability to afford nutritious food when the children grew.

The study notes that children born out of wedlock continued to be referred to as illegitimate at the time of the study. Also, the need for single mothers to fed for their families undermined family values historically. Their children were considered worth of social help, and child welfare groups developed around the times the children were raised, despite the war struggles Finland encountered (Mikkonen et al. 2016). The study also noted that single mothers were generally of low education levels and low social status. Conclusively, single mother families were stigmatized based on facts, as they remained disadvantaged socioeconomically throughout their life.

Like most studies on single parents, the study by Mikkonen et al. gives a judgmental approach to single parent families. It only investigates the negative aspects of children raised by single parents, and not their strengths. Therefore, there is a possibility that if the research was conducted in the positive, many children raised by single parents would have been found living well, and with stable marriages. However, the study highlights the suffering of children in single parent families due economic struggles and limited aid by the government to sponsor their education, which is generally expensive in the United Kingdom.

From the study, it is clear that the stigmatization of single parent families is factual, as most families suffer similar weaknesses. Unavoidably, parents and children live under pressure to live to the standards of those in families with two parents. Therefore, the arising complications like poor relations that may develop when children feel that they are misfits in the society because of their parents’ choices are due to public pressure, and not the inadequacy of the parents. With the labelling done to such families, the single parents are naturally expected to feel weak, and express the stress on their poor children.

Roberta Coles conducted a secondary research on single families that focused on fathers, named “Single father families, a review of the literature.” The research analyzed studies conducted between 1970s and 2014, noting that the number of single father families had quadrupled over the period. According to the research, single fatherhood resulted from divorce, widowhood, separation, adoption and getting children before marriage. The rarest was the last, as most children born before wedlock are raised by their mothers and not fathers (Coles 2015). The study also notes that single fatherhood is an indication of evolution of the society from perceiving fatherhood to be about providing income to parenting. However, the study assesses the outcome of children raised by singe fathers, and compares it to children raised by single mothers, in the light of whether single fathers are able to mother children.

The study found that the social conditions surrounding mothers and fathers differed, making mothers embrace house chores and dedication to children more easily than single fathers. Therefore, the time single fathers spent with children and housework differed, as most preferred to hire a person to complete chores for them, as most men culturally hardly engage in housework (Coles 2015). Compared to men in marriage, the single fathers’ indulgence housework and attention to children was more, as it defined by their environment. However, the research notes that the parenting of both single fathers and single mothers were generally similar, but fathers were less close to their children and monitored the kids’ activities less compared to single mothers (Seeman 2018). However, the psychological difference between men and women caused men to allow their children to be free and engage in activities with their peers, as opposed to women who were stricter on their children. The liberty enjoyed by single fathers’ children caused them to feel loved by their fathers, as they were allowed to adventure and follow their passions. While single fathers are stigmatized as unable to control their children fully, their children like the freedom they are given, and the position boosts their relationship (Seeman 2018).

Interestingly, the study reverses the identity of resource deprivation among single parent families. It notes that as opposed to most single mothers who are economically weak, most single fathers earn high income, and their children afford health, food and living facilities of equal level with children from families with married parents (Coles 2015). However, children raised by fathers singly grown with weak interpersonal and effective bonds and poor emotional development (Nieuwenhuis & Maldonado 2018). According to the structuralist theory quoted by the study, children raised by both single fathers and single mothers are likely to be highly undisciplined to the lack of monitoring from their parents, and many develop defiant behavior.

The research completed by Coles identifies that children raised in single-father and single mother families were equally very highly likely to engage in teen marriage, teen birth and premarital births, in attempt to seek psychological security and more acceptance through romantic love, than the amount society offered them when living with their single parents (Nickell 2018). However, the tendency was higher than of children raised in two-parent families, as the children are identified to have high security and emotional and psychological satisfaction levels in life (Seeman 2018). Further, children from single-parent families were identified to engage in substance abuse, antisocial and violent behaviour, as well as internalizing behaviours such as depression and low self-esteem at higher rates than children raised by two parents. Such acts result due to a weak relationship between the children and their single parents, causing them to indulge in activities that they think boost their sense of self-worth and esteem, after having been criticized by the society for long without parental support.

Coles’ study introduces a new phenomenon of the stigmatized identity that single-parent families bear. The problems in the families are worsened by the parents’ tendency to cohabit with their lovers. Unfortunately, young relationships in settings where there are already children face higher risks than those where children are not involved. Therefore, cohabiting introduces single-parent children to poor conflict resolution skills, causing the children to reactively indulge in behaviours such as school deviance, lower grades in school due to distraction, and less effort in academics. Worse, many single parents’ children are vulnerable to abuse from their parents’ lovers when the romantic relationship fails, making children feel unprotected by their parents, and no longer trust the parent with their well-being. The abusers in most cases utilize the weak position of single parents in the society, as they know little can be done against their misdeeds, and also associate single parents with desperateness for company.

A study named “Mechanisms Behind the Negative Influence of Single Parenthood on School Performance: Lower Teaching and Learning Conditions?” by Dronkers, Veerman and Pong investigated the contribution of single parenting to children from single-parent families performing poorly in school. The study found that truancy among the children from single-parent families led to their poor performance in Mathematics. The kids’ concentration was also negatively affected by truancy, and the study identified that children from single-parent families were poorer educational performers generally than those from families of two parents.

According to the investigation, the low performance in school among single-parent families’ children resulted because they had limited time to study at home, and they had a limited social network, compared to their counterparts. Children who were raised by single parents following divorce failed in school due to disruption of their life at home. Since divorce leaves children in need of psychological support, lack of it leaves them bitter with the parent they consider responsible for the divorce, causing them to be in a stigmatized family set up (Stack & Meredith 2018). Generally, children from single-parent families are described to be late for school often, reported high cases of absenteeism and suffered more emotional problems than those raised by two parents.

The study associated schools that have a high number of leaners from single-parent families with low social capital and low socio-economic status. Single parents lack a network and relationships with other parents, which are important in the well-being of learners, as the single parents are always busy working. Their limited collaboration with schools makes their children perform lowly in school, as the teachers cannot reach them to identify ways to mould and help their children together. Further, the study explains that children from such families lack parental influence that shapes their identity in the society. They were also highly distracted in class as opposed to children from families with two parents.

The study exposes the stigma on single parents, which labels them as unable to commit to the learning progress of their children. The parents are also identified to be uncooperative with their children’s learning institutions, while married parents are considered better at working with the school. Therefore, their children lack close support in monitoring academic performance, as their parents can hardly know when the kids face struggles and issues in school. Another type of stigma identified in the study is associating single parents with poverty, and identifying schools that have a high number of such learners to be disadvantaged for lacking social and economic capital (Levete 2017). Such parents are considered to always be working, according to the study, and neglecting their children to be catered for education wise by their schools.

In parallel, children from single-parent families in the study are identified to be poor academic performers. They are labelled to have less time to study in their homes and to be truant so that they continually miss classes, and report to school late. Such learners are described to absent often, and to lack the guidance of their parents. The latter means that they are social misfits who lack role modelling and can hardly live with the cultured children from married families. The children are therefore pushed to have low confidence in their parents, who they blame for lower academic performance whenever it occurs.

Most studies, like the ones reviewed above are conducted by people who have been raised perceiving single-parent families lowly. Consequently, there are only a few studies focusing on the good side of raising children singly. Children from single parent families therefore continue to be labelled as undisciplined, distracted, poor decision makers, emotionally and psychologically disturbed. Teachers handle them in class believing that their circumstances disallow them to perform well, and also believe their single parents lack time to follow on the performance of their children in school, and studies at home. Apparently, the studies approach the studies in the eyes of the society against single parents. Conversely, this dissertation analyses the stigma experiences of single parents in the society, and how it affects the relationship with their children.

Associating single parents with poverty is a way of stigmatizing them and their children. Often times, there are pleas to help children from single parent families, while many two-parent experience financial challenges as well (Nieuwenhuis & Maldonado 2018). Single parents especially mothers, who lived in well-to-do neighborhoods attract attention as though they are not expected to afford such a life. Children in such situations feel embarrassed of their parents, triggering them to react violently and harshly to them for feeling the children are thankless.

The stigma the single parents face is also expressed strongly in the social media, according to Jacobs (2019). Teenage mothers were claimed to have intentionally given birth to benefit financially from the state (Duncan 2018). Many memes online against single parents described them to not know whom the fathers of their children were resulting in inability to let their kids know their children were identified (Jacobs 2019). Generally, according to the responses, the social media has been used to shame single parents, and especially mothers, which hurts their children deeply. Consequently, teenagers intentionally refuse to associate with their single parents in social media, leading to feelings of offensiveness among the parents.

Lastly, many responses noted that the media, in print and audio visual contributed significantly towards the stigmatization of the single parents in the society (Nicolacopoulos & Vassilacopoulos 2018). Most documented information, especially of criminal justice, identified children from single parent families to be the primary participators in crime in the United Kingdom (Nicolacopoulos & Vassilacopoulos 2018). The fault was always passed to their parents, who were described as unable to give their children morals for being absent from their lives, hence continually creating criminals for the country. Criminating children from single parent families leads to their incarceration in juvenile correction centers, which separates them with their parents (Killam, Meester & Lewis 2019).

Labelling single parents as poor at parenting, especially in terms of being unable to discipline their children was a form of stigma against the single parents (Mikkonen et al. 2016). Children from single parent families are commonly reminded of the tarnished image of their parents was in school, where teachers react differently to their misbehavior, as opposed to that of children raised by two parents (Weaver at al. 2015). Teachers complain that students from single parent families are more undisciplined than those raised by two parents (Jacobs 2019). The children feel embarrassed every time the statement was made against their parents, while single parents feel their children are insecure as they could easily be identified with crime in the society (Jacobs 2019). Therefore, most single parents respond to the stigma by being harsh in disciplining their children, which characterizes the relationship between the children and their parents with fear. In other cases, the single parents develop low self-esteem as they continually feel unable to raise their children well, attracting the compassion of their children which improves their relationship. Still, some parents react to the stigma against them with strength and it hardly shapes their relationship to their children (Levete 2017).

Methodology and Research Methods

The method that was utilized in the study is secondary research, which entailed analysing studies conducted earlier in the field, as well as published books. It is qualitative in nature due to the nature of the research question, as it assesses an effect not the statistics. The sources utilized were published at most five years ago to ensure that the findings of this study are relevant and updates, making the observations useful currently, and in the near future. The sources’ content was analysed with focus on their findings and what they suggest regarding the kind of stigma the society directs at single parents, and how the stigma influences the relationship of the parents and their children.

One of the reasons secondary research was utilized in the research is that the method offers a wide range of information, as many sources are consulted. As a result, the finding of the study are well informed as they are based on comparison of many researches. Secondly, secondary research is time saving as is no travelling to collect data and handling the respondents like in primary research. Low costs are incurred in conducting secondary research.

Unfortunately, utilizing secondary research for the study was associated with a couple of weaknesses. First, the observations of the studies are in most cases biased as they are conducted by researchers in whom the respective society values are inculcated. For instance, in the study of the stigma against single parents and its impact to the way they relate with their children, most researchers justify the stigma, making it appear that indeed single parents are irresponsible and inadequately committed to raising their children. Had most been from single-parents’ families, they would engage in studies that break the prejudiced opinion of society. Therefore, most findings are biased hence, using secondary research upholds the trend of wrongful and partisan research findings, which could unfortunately be considered in policy making.

Another limitation of utilizing secondary research realized was that there was a limitation of the time periods of publication of the studies and books that could be utilized. While using recent content facilitated relevance, it locked out the use of informative observations of studies carried out earlier that are still sensible to date. It also limited the study’s ability to note the changes in the degree of stigma and its effects as identified by researchers over time. Despite the weaknesses, the approach was appropriate as it offered many sources that were easily accessible.

Findings and Analysis

The literature exposed a number of ways the society stigmatizes single parents, and its effects on their families’ internal relationships. The first kind of stigma noted is that people thought single parents lacked morals (Weaver et al. 2015). Propaganda was used against the political campaign of some single mothers, which challenged their morals for having borne children with different men, when unmarried (Tanskanen & Danielsbacka 2018). Many mothers could not be allowed to take leadership positions in their religion because they were considered a mark of poor ethics for being unable to maintain a family, and having prostate characteristics. The effect was the mothers feeling inadequate for their children, leading to low self-esteem and lack of confidence in setting an example. The affected children felt pity for their mothers and felt drawn to stand with them, which improved the relationship between the two parties.

Due to the stigma single parents experienced, the relationship with their children was affected. Some children developed feelings of compassion for their parents after learning the kind of negativity the society held against them (Inthorn 2015). As a result, they increased their submission to their parents, and the relationship between the two parties was improved (Goldenberg 2017). However, despite feeling pity for their single parents, the relationship was affected little, as the parents could not understand how the children felt, but either way, the children felt closer to their parents and loved them more.

The stigma against single parent families led to strained relationships with their children, according to the responses. The reason is that the children, especially in teenage, resented their parents for their unfavorable status in the society (Nicolacopoulos & Vassilacopoulos 2018). They felt that their parents were to blame for their stigmatized identity, with the exception of those who one of their parents had died. Most felt bitter that their parents’ irresponsibility caused them to live lives of financial struggle, while others faulted them for separating and divorcing their absent parents. Their parent reacted negatively in most cases, and the relationship was ruined (Mcgoldrick, Carter, & Garcia-Preto 2016). However, some single parents remain supportive and understanding to their children despite the pressure of stigma around them.

The studies revealed that children were ashamed of their parents and sometimes avoided being in public with them when they knew the way the society perceived them. The shame led the children to withdraw from their parents, which affected the bonding of the two parties negatively. The children also denied their identity, which affected them psychologically, as they always felt like children from homes with two parents were superior to them, which also led to low self-esteem (Inthorn 2015).

From the literature, stigma is felt by single families irrespective of their status in society. The difference was that the effects were more personalized for families that lived in poverty, while those where the parent made a high income were less affected (Head 2017). The significance of stigma among children who had lost one of their parents to death was little, and they were generally unconcerned with stigma, and did not consider themselves disadvantaged in the society (Burke, Kuczynski, & Perren 2017).

Clearly, single parents experience stigma of the kinds of being labelled as immoral, poor, incapable of disciplining their children hence, contributing to crime in the country, and unreasoning. Consequently, the relationship with their children is affected as their children feel ashamed of their parents, some resent them, while others develop compassion for their parents (Burke, Kuczynski, & Perren 2017). Relationships in a few families remains unaffected irrespective of the stigma surrounding the parents, especially in families where one parent dies, and where the present parent is well-off. Unfortunately, the society considers children from single parent families disciplined by their parents, and the youths suffer due to the identity, as they are considered potential criminals in the future.

According to the Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning, people will always adopt the behaviors that give them the best results. Accordingly, the people stigmatizing the single parent families, the single parents, and their children will always take the positions that result in optimal wellbeing for them (Webb 2019). The society stigmatizes the single parents’ families because they wish to never get in their shoes, and they wish that their children will be in marriage to raise children. Therefore, they label them to defend their stand of the suitability of two-parent’ family units, and to discourage the practice in the society (Kokanović, Michaels & Johnston-Ataata 2018). On the other hand, the recipients of the stigma are generally helpless. They are forced to come together and be resilient to the social pressure. The have to cope with it to maintain sanity in raising their children in peace (Goldenberg 2017).

Children from single-parent families, according to the Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning, ought to accept their unliked status (Webb 2019). However, their low ability to reason and assess situations pushes them to fight back the prejudice, and when they fail, they coil into self-denial, rejection of the single parent, or depression (Dickson & Dory 2018). Therefore, as the society continues to stigmatize single parents, the effects go beyond the parents to their children, and the adjustment process to the problem messes the relationship between the single parents and their children, as the children are unable to reasonably accept their status in society, and parents are under pressure leading to cruelty to children (Batey 2018).

Recommendations

The study should be followed up by investigating the opinion of people of various ages who were raised by single parents regarding how the social stigma affected their relationship with their parents. The findings can be compared to ensure that they are comprehensive enough to be used applicably in decision-making in the future.

Findings of the study can be used in making policies regarding the help single families need, as the impact social stigma causes them appears to be of greater harm than material aid that they receive.

The observations of the study should be used by single parents to understand the feeling of their children regarding the stigma their families face, and take positions to encourage them to grow in more emotionally and psychologically secure environments.

The study should also be used to inform the speaking of teachers to students, as reminding those from single parent families of how incapable of upbringing their parents are only tears them psychologically. Instead, they should encourage them to overcome the challenges their families face.

The government should use the study to identify ways the syllabus can be amended to teach children to accept one another irrespective of the kind of family from which they hail to enable the children from single parents’ families to accept themselves and develop psychologically and emotionally in a healthy way.