Theoretical Pillars With the Current National Divorce

¶ … Theoretical Pillars With the current national divorce rate stubbornly at 50%, the phenomenon of single parenthood, notably single mothers, definitely isn't going anywhere. The single parents which are at the greatest disadvantage are those who are of a lower socioeconomic class, as they're unable to offer the best education, healthcare, basic provisions and other items to their children. They often work two jobs and don't get to spend enough times with their children, as current and past research reflects.

The ultimate focus of the research that this dissertation is centered around seeks to identify the most compelling and effective interventions which can minimize the likelihood of negative outcomes for high-risk children, such as those born to low-income single parents. For this reason, I have created an annotated bibliography that addresses this body of research. An example of a title for the literature review would be: Modulators of Child Development Outcomes from Single-Parent, Inner-City Households.

The conceptual pillars that will largely guide this research are the ones which look to how adding an additional branch of support to these parents can help to reduce the risk that these children face and largely provide an overall betterment of their outcomes. The notion of adding a supportive community around these single parents is a basic concept which is analogous to how a buttress of collective support is a complete necessity in order to withstand and power through the daunting process of completing one's dissertation.

For example, the article "Single Parents, Unhappy Parents?" By Stavrova and Fetchenhauer (2014) looks at how all experts in the social sciences largely agree that single parents are unanimously found to be worse off than those in stable marriages. These researchers seek to determine if this is in fact true, or if this trend is connected to the nation's cultural norms on childbearing practices (Stavrova & Fetchenhauer, 2014).

"Using two large-scale international data sets (the European Values Study [EVS] and the European Social Survey [ESS]) covering altogether 43 countries, we show that only in collectivist countries and countries with a strong two-parent family norm did parenthood negatively affect the life satisfaction and the emotional well-being of single but not partnered (married or cohabiting) individuals" (Stavrova & Fetchenhauer, 2014).

Ultimately, the researchers found that the most influential aspect of the success and happiness on parents (both single or attached in general) was the nation's social norms and base level of economic stability.

This indicates that improving outcomes for children born to single parents largely revolves around the ability to improve the gross national product of the nation they live in, while adjusting society's norms to what is considered "normal." However, the problem with this research is that it doesn't concern itself with the realities of the inner city, and the struggles of low-income single parents, the marginalization that occurs and how obstacles are already stacked high against their kids.

On the other hand, the research article, "When Low-Income Mothers Go to Work" by Zaslow and Emig find that work has a beneficial outcome on these children (2009). In fact, if the work environment is positive, the impact of the absentee mother is not deleterious for the child (Zaslow & Emig, 2009). Ultimately this article concludes that "Policymakers may therefore want to give serious consideration to various mechanisms for supplementing the wages of mothers as they move from welfare to work" (Zaslow & Emig, 2009).

The theme uncovered here appears to be one of supplementation and support. Even though this research has found that mothers and children benefit from a situation where the mother is gainfully employed, there still needs to be an additional pillar of support in conjunction to this. Just as single mothers need either support from the state or support from the community to foster better outcomes for their children, so do dissertation students in the completion of their dissertation.

As Perlmutter and Porter explain in their article, "Thinking Beyond the Dissertation" it's the obligation of the PhD student to make a conscious effort to build relationships which will add to the swift completion and evolution of their PhD. This takes a great deal of proactive effort on the part of the student. "Attend national conferences that attract scholars in your area of specialization and generalization. Meet with those people, even if only briefly; ask for their counsel on matters of research as well as your projected career.

Those men and women may very well be on the hiring committees for your future job applications or be the 'blind' referees of your future submissions to journals. Lay the seeds of your name recognition as well as your intellectual capital" (Perlmutter & Porter, 2013).

The utter sageness of this advice lies in the fact that allowing the collective to thrive not only helps with short-term goals such as the completion of one's PhD, but also with long-term goals as well, such as getting one's name out there in the academic community. Regardless this is all evidence of the fact that the concept of community is completely vital to accomplishing goals and achievement large and small.

The chapter on "Forming One's Dissertation Committee" in the book, "Writing your Doctoral Dissertation" by Brause (2012) discusses how crucial it is to form a strong committee and how this committee is ultimately responsible for the thorough handling of one's dissertation. Work together is largely a two-way street. The committee functions as a collective entity outside of the organization and works to demonstrate how organized support in this manner can be instrumental in the successful completion of one's dissertation.

The article, "Finishing the Dissertation" by Miller speaks towards the concept of putting oneself on a schedule in order to ensure the successful completion of one's dissertation, along with the necessity of abandoning the schedule when the need arises. This detail manifests through the acknowledgment of writing groups. Miller is judicial in acknowledging their benefit and that there's a time and place for them. "Avail yourself of writing groups if they're useful, but don't feel guilty about ditching them when they're not. In the early stages of.