(Manning and Lamb 2004), one of the studies that used ADD Health data in the survey showed that family consolidation by remarriages has little positive impact for children. "The advantage of marriage appears to exist primarily when the child is the biological offspring of both parents.." [IMAPP] Yet another study, that analyzed 4671 eights grade students representing 35 schools from 10 cities in the nation, revealed that greater exposure to single parent children in a school setting has a negative effect on children irrespective of their own family structure while another study reported that living in an intact family "decreased gang involvement by more than 50%...." [IMAPP] This survey of research had some drawbacks to it in that there was not a uniform criteria for defining family structure. Some of the research studies took cohabitation as single parented families while others counted them as two parent families. Similarly distinctions between intact married families and remarried families were not uniform across the studies. Barring these limitations, however, the results of the review make it very clear that divorce and the consequent absence of a parent has serious implications for the behavioral development of the child. This extensive survey of research studies by the IMAPP would serve as an invaluable input to our understanding of family dynamics. Conclusion

Understanding the importance of family structure and dynamics is crucial for the stability of a society. With crime and criminal behavior on the surge it is high time that policy makers are aware of the social...

That divorce has a devastating effect not only on the parents but also on the children is evidenced from the research studies discussed above. All of these studies agree on the negative impact of divorce on children. It is clear that divorce has clear psychological implications for the children and affects their normal mental development. Inspite of the huge volume of research done on the effects of divorce there seems to be very little corrective effort undertaken at the community level. As the future pillars of our nation, our children need better care, concern and a congenial environment for their overall growth. Social policy makers should therefore apply the knowledge gained from these research studies for designing public policies in order to positively affect children growing in divorced single parent families.
Bibliography

1)Stephen E. Gilman et.al, May 2003, "Family Disruption in Childhood and Risk of Adult Depression," the American Journal of Psychiatry, 160:939-946, 2) Robert Bauserman, 2002 "Child Adjustment in Joint-Custody vs. Sole-Custody Arrangements: A Meta-Analytic Review,"

Journal of Family Psychology," Vol 16 No 1 91-102, 3) Cynthia C. Harper and Sara S. McLanahan, (Sep 2004) "Father Absence and Youth Incarceration," Journal of Research on Adolescence Vol 14, No 3

Available Online at, http://www.aboutdads.org/reports/Father_Absence_and_Youth_Incarceration.pdf

4) IMAPP,…