Effects Of Homosexual Parents On Children Literature Review Chapter

¶ … Homosexual Parents on Children Conversations around the appropriateness of homosexual parents adopting, having or even raising children pose the argument of the effects on the children. However, research of the effects is rare, as well as limited in the direct topic. To follow is a review of key pieces of literature discussing the concepts of diverse family environments and the effects the environments.

Evidence supports the knowledge that children do not learn how to be homosexual by interacting and upbringing by homosexual parents. In fact, more research leads to the belief that children of homosexual families have a broader understanding of sexuality and awareness, and most information points to a heterosexual environment in the learning process (Gabb, 2004). Suggesting that learning environments need more diversity, yet there is the stigmatic thought that "social codes of decency" (Gabb, 2004) are "universal truths and normality's" (Gabb, 2004) of what would be deemed as natural Christian-based forms of sexual behavior. While a household maybe diverse in sexual orientation, children of a homosexual relationship continue to learn and be aware of the complexities of same sex relationships (Wyers, 1987). Children learn the complexities of terminology and discrimination of roles within a household from the point-of-view of society. They hear terminology, derogatory at times, that supposedly define the role of one or both of the parents (Wyers, 1987).

Children of homosexual households grow up learning the social contexts of these special relationships. However, many argue that same sex parents damage the children irreversibly. According to Savin-Williams and Dube, (1998), MacDonald (1983) argues that such family relationships provide an unhealthy environment for the youth. Such environments, as argued by MacDonald, are uncommon and create traumatic environments that can restructure a child's life course (Savin-Williams & Dube, 1998). Yet, the little research that concludes that there is a certain amount of ambivalence to regarding relationship structures within...

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Heterosexual households suffer from environment where procreation is lacking, a certain amount of sadness in adoptive scenarios, and the homosexual households see adoption as a form of building a family, not as a solution (Goldberg, Smith, & Kashy, 2010). Thus, in cases of adopted children households with homosexual parental units show improved relationship skills as the child grows, because of the diverseness within the household but also the understanding of the complexities of a loving family (Goldberg, Smith, & Kashy, 2010).
A child develops in a heterosexual household differently than a homosexual household, yet children still arrive at the same sets of relationship skills. Both types of parents show interpersonal strengths as well as vulnerabilities (Goldberg, Smith, & Kashy, 2010). Both types of environments also provide guidance for the child in terms of life's complex contextual stresses and provide equal amount of support and fostering of joy and happiness (Goldberg, Smith, & Kashy, 2010). Families of either types of structures show that Lesbian mothers have greater fulfillment in their role as mother, thus showing that the impact of family happiness is not necessarily with the child's experience but rather that the parents are the ones deeply impacted (Chan, Brooks, Raboy, & Patterson, 1998). Role responsibility distribution for the up bringing is different in same sex parent households, thus implying a different set of skills learned by the child in their adulthood (Chan, Brooks, Raboy, & Patterson, 1998). Skills learned by a young boy for instance in a lesbian-based home will be how to be both firm and gentle as a parent when they have children of their own; such examples as the aforementioned, show that children of homosexual households learn diversity skills for their own future family.

Generic family systems imply that the "subsystems within a family do not function separately from each other," but rather work in a cohesive manner (Chan, Brooks, Raboy,…

Sources Used in Documents:

Reference

(1978). Children of gays: Sexually 'normal'. Science News, 113(24), 389.

Chan, R., Brooks, R., Raboy, B., & Patterson, C. (1998). Division of labor among lesbian and heterosexual parents: Associations with children's adjustment. Journal of Family Psychology, 12(3), 402-419. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.12.3.402.

Cramer, D. (1986). Gay Parents and Their Children: A Review of Research and Practical Implications. Journal of Counseling & Development, 64(8), 504.

Gabb, J. (2004). Sexuality education: how children of lesbian mothers 'learn' about sex/uality. Sex Education, 4(1), 19-34.


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