Issues of grandparents raising grandchildren Essay Example for Free

Issues of grandparents raising grandchildren Essay Abstract This paper explores research regarding the impacts on grandparents and grandchildren when the grandparent assumes the parental role because of some type of parental fall through. The articles find that the financial aspect of raising grandchildren in your later years is quite costly as well is the negative health problems the stress of the situation can cause. This paper mainly looks at Baldocks (2007) research on the affects of every aspect of the new situation on the grandparents and grandchildren. Baldock (2007) and the other research used for this paper all suggest that there are multiple struggles that the grandparents will endure when raising their grandchildren. Issues of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren The clichà © life of a grandparent is usually thought of as taking the grandchildren to the zoo, baking cookies, and making crafts. Grandparents are also around to share their wisdom and experiences with the younger generation, however in todays society the amount of grandparents having to take in their grandchildren due to an issue in the biological parents lives has been on the increase for years (Baldock, 2007, p. 70). This change of role for the grandparents can have various affects on not only the grandparents but the grandchildren as well. There are many reasons as to why grandparents come into the situation where they need to take their grandchildren into their care such as teenage pregnancy, parental abuse, and parental drug and alcohol abuse. No matter how the grandparents come into obtaining their grandchildren each family have their own types of struggles they will have to deal with. Both the grandparents and grandchildren can go through multiple financial, health, and behavioral issues that can either bring the family out on top or hurt them, but many are choosing to overcome the difficulties and persevere through them. Literature Review There are many troubles in todays society with drugs, alcohol, and violence, all which are just a few of the reasons that many parents become unable to properly care for their children. These and many other circumstances are which have led to â€Å"approximately 2.4 million grandparents [being] responsible for raising their grandchildren, many in households without the parents present.† (Poehlmann et al., 2008, 165) The decision to undertake the responsibility of raising your grandchildren is a big one to make, however many times there is no decision to make because the children would end up in the foster care system if it werent for the grandparents. In a study completed in Australia about grandparent run homes, â€Å"of the 31,000 children living with their grandparents, 28,700 childrens biological parents lived elsewhere.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 71) This can make the strain of raising your grandchild even more difficult because of the emotional and financial burdens it may cause. Health Quality of Custodial Grandparents There have been various studies in which they have found that grandparents who take care of their grandchildren have mental and physical aspects of themselves that are in a disarray (Neely-Barnes, Graft, Washington, 2010, p. 87). The role of being a custodial grandparent is difficult not only because it is a new situation which they need to adjust to, but it can also cause physical and mental problems. The situation cause a lot of new emotions and stressors that â€Å"numerous studies have documented elevated rates of depression, parenting stress, health problem, and economic hardship among custodial grandparents.† (Poehlmann et al., 2008, p. 168) Many grandparents are well in their sixtys and so â€Å"when the children arrive, grandparents are unlikely to be prepared for the dramatic and often sudden changes caused by unplanned parenthood.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 73) The grandparents generally see an increase in health related problems because they are put into a situation where they need to focus on the care of their grandchildren which leads to the grandparents health and well-being coming second and in which â€Å"custodial grandparents report worse self-assessed health than noncaregiving grandparents, particularly in the areas of physical functioning, bodily pain, role functioning, social functioning, and general health perception.† (Neely-Barnes et al., 2010, p. 88) Not only are the grandparents not being able to properly maintain their own health, but â€Å"among custodial grandparents, higher levels of depression have been found among unmarried grandparents who were not working.† (p. 88) This new parenting role that the grandparents are put into also effects their social life; â€Å"in one study, half of custodial grandparents reported that they felt isolated from friends in their age group due to their caregiving responsibilities.† (p. 88) Grandparents usually feel worn out by the amount of extra responsibilities they have come to take on which can make them feel worried when they think about having many more years of having to take care of their grandchildren. This type of constant worrying and stress can become quite a negative thing both for the grandparent and grandchild because â€Å"grandparents who are stressed are more likely to become depressed.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 73) Financials When grandparents are put into the situation of bringing their grandchildren into their care, one of the most difficult issues they have to deal with is the financial aspect of raising the children. The financial aspect of raising the grandchildren can be so hard to handle because many of the grandparents are older and even retired which means limited income. â€Å"In around one third of grandparent families (34%), one of both grandparents were employed, while 62% received a government pension, allowance or other benefit as their primary income.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 71) Children are expensive to raise because of the extra clothing, food, and home resources that are used. The grandparents are used to and comfortable with their current lifestyle and then when the unexpected young grandchildren are brought into the picture this can make the once sufficient income turn into financial instability. Grandparents going through legal proceedings can also be another reason finances are put into a bind when the need to take in your grandchildren is needed because â€Å"grandparents are commonly ineligible for legal aid and consequently face disadvantage in proceedings† (Baldock, 2007, p. 72). One way that is used to try to gain some type of extra income for the grandchildren is by â€Å"formalising their parenting role through legal proceedings [which] can be the only way grandparents are able to access financial support.† (p. 72) The cost of providing for their grandchildren and all of the court related procedures needed to be done becomes such a burden that â€Å"some grandparents have mortgaged their homes to undertake legal proceedings.† (p. 72) Impacts on the Family The result of custodial grandparents not only effects just the grandparents and grandchildren, but the whole family. The strain of raising grandchildren can be felt in the children of the grandparents â€Å"some felt resentful that their parents energy was going into raising their grandchildren and their own children missed out on a relationship with their grandparents.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 72) In many families the reason that the grandparents need to raise their grandchildren is due to some type of addiction from the birth parents. This drug use can cause emotional and social problems in the grandparents and grandchildren which can make the â€Å"grandparentsfeel blamed or express a sense of responsibility for their own childrens drug use.†(p. 73) Grandparents often feel as though there was something they could have done to prevent their childrens drug abuse which in turn would have prevented the need for them to raise their grandchildren. This feeling of â€Å"blame and shame exacerbate social isolation and increase psychological anxiety experienced by grandparents and their grandchildren.† (p. 73) The effects on the grandchildren of not having their parent or parents around is difficult to for them to cope with because â€Å"children separated from their parents because of alcohol and other drugs frequently face psychological, emotional and sometimes physical problems.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 71) According to Day and Bazemore (2011: children living without their biological parents typically present with high rates of psychological problems. Yet, by comparison, adolescents living with grandparent caregivers have the lowest levels of both internalizing problems (i.e. depressive symptoms, negative outlook, low self-esteem), and externalizing problems (i.e. nonviolent delinquency, general violent tendencies, and substance abuse.† (p. 103) Position I have first hand experience in the struggles and issues that can arise from a grandparent having to put their lives on hold and take in their grandchildren in order to provide them a loving and stable home. My parents are currently in the process of adopting my two nephews whom they, as well as myself, have taken care of since they were born. My sister is in a rehabilitation program in Northern New Jersey for addiction to pills, cocaine, and heroin and has been in and out of trouble since her early teens. Growing up the way I did because of the situations and conditions that my sister made my family endure has shown me just how difficult and numerous the issues are when raising your grandchildren. My mother is sixty years old and my father is sixty-two, both having some health problems. Health problems associated with age can have a significant affect on how the grandparents are going to be able to act in their new role as caregivers because many grandparents are older and their health is declining. Taking care of a six and a nine year old can be mentally and physically exhausting. My nephews have many psychological issues because their mother is gone and father is hardly around, these emotional troubles of my nephews also effect me and parents too. My nephews have ADHD and are quite sensitive which makes it even more difficult to calm them down if they are feeling upset or angry because they are missing their mother. I find the emotional impact it has on the children and family to be the greatest because of my experience in knowing how difficult is to cope with the entire situation. The financial responsibility for taking grandchildren in can be quite detrimental to the grandparents because many are retired or only working part-time in order to make a little extra money. My father is retired which has made the raising of two new children quite difficult before they received any assistance from the state. While most families receive financial assistance through state and federal aid, there may be certain circumstances in which a family has to come up with the money themselves. Grandparents know how expensive children are because of their past experience in raising their own children, however times have changed and the cost of raising children has significantly increased. This financial burden put onto the grandparents is not a choice they make, but rather something they just have to endure because there is no other option for the grandchildren. Afterthoughts It is obvious that grandparents who have to bring their grandchildren into their home and raise them because of varying circumstances will inevitably face numerous amount of hardships and issues. The grandparents being older makes the task of raising their grandchildren difficult, along with the cost involved in raising them and the legal proceedings that are done in order to protect the children. While the hardships of custodial grandparents is plenty, many â€Å"who have attended support groups say that it has made a positive difference in their lives† (Baldock, 2007, p.73), which can help them to cope with the new situations they are being placed in. Even though raising grandchildren comes with multiple and varying issues that make it difficult to do, â€Å"grandparents who are raising their grandchildren consistently report that the experience adds joy and meaning to their lives and provides them with companionship and a purposeful social and familial role.† (Kropf ; Burnette, 2003, p. 363)

Free Narrative Essays - The Mountain Vacation :: Personal Narrative Essays

The Mountain Vacation         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   My family and I have always loved are camping trips, especially the ones the take us deep into the depths of the Sierra Nevada mountians. There's a very unique and   beautiful camp ground near Mammoth Lakes called Devils Postpile.   My is it beautiful, two gigantic crystal clear lakes, wildlife sites that could easily be posted in any National Geographic magazine, and trout that have enough meat on their bones to suvive in the deepest of any ocean.   One little problem I always have had was that my father was   a better and more experienced fisherman than I was resulting in that he would always catch the bigger and more beautiful fish and almost certainly come home with twice as many fish as I had caught.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This was it, are summer vacation, finally it was time to get out of the intense heat and bordom of Ridgecrest.   We packed are bags, grabbed are fishing poles, loaded the camper and were on are way.  Ã‚   Our drive lasted for four very long hours before we got to the Postpile campground. We hitched are camp and made ourselves right at home knowing we would be there for a while.   We could'nt ask for better weather, the sun was blazin and the temperature was an awesome 85 degrees for fishing the San Juaqin river.   We found ourselves the trail that lead to the postpile,   twisting and turning along the green, damp trial until we came upon a sight that every human being should lay their eyes on, Devils Postpile.   Enormous rocks all rubbing against one another scalling the sky.   Jumping my way close to the river, as I drifted away from everyone else, knowing I was going to catch the mother of all fish in this sacred river.   Competing with my father and brother,   I definetly was'nt going to let them outdo this modern day Tom Sawyer.   I hicked along river for a while, wiping the sweat off my face every other minute, only to find nothing but sheer cliffs and there was no possible fishing hole in sight.   All I could see was a river about seventy to eighty feet below with one very big obsticle in the way jagged rocks were surrounding me from the river as I just kept on

Comparison Between International Law and National Law

Compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of national and international law. To what extent can they be said to be similar or different? Introduction The world has witnessed the development of law since times immemorial in response to growing interaction among the individuals resulting in a need for a framework to regulate their interactions in the territories they live in. Similarly, ever since the interaction between the states has increased, the evolution of International Law has evolved accordingly side by side the National Law regulating the relations among the states.The growing role of both National Law and International Law in their respective spheres and in intersecting spheres has given rise to a debate over their relation to each other. International Law: International Law is the law that governs the relations among states and other international legal persons, and regulates relations between states. The sources of International Law are customs grown up among state s and lawmaking treaties concluded by them.There is no â€Å"black or white† answer, the most agreed upon common ground for the description of sources is found, although not exhaustively, in article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. Stating that treaties are the main source, then come customs, after those general principles of law recognized by civilized countries, and finally judicial decisions and teachings of the most highly qualifies publicist of the various nations. National law: National law is the law of a state, which governs the domestic affairs of the state.The sources of Municipal Law are customs grown up within the boundaries of the state concerned and statutes enacted by the law giving authority. Municipal Law regulates relations between the individuals under the sway of a state and the relations between the state and the individual. Strengths and Weaknesses of International Law and National Law: 1. National law is conditioned by the fundam ental principle or rule that state legislation has to be obeyed, while International Law is conditioned by the principle â€Å"pacta sunt servanda† i. . agreements between states are to be respected—which leaves International Law helpless as to the implementation of its rules and regulations over the states in the absence of any enforcing body vis-a-vis National Law which has the state apparatus at its disposal for its implementation in the form of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Moreover, each nation can opt out of international treaties if it deems that it is not in line with its national interest, which exposes the major weakness of International Law. 2.International Law is slow to adapt to the changes that are taking place in the world and even slower to absorb changes and encompass them into its existing framework. To add to its problems, the states act individually in accepting any changes in its framework and have the option of not complying with the law if they do not agree to do so. Whereas the national law keeps on improving in response to the changing requirement of the society thus it is in sync with the cultural, economic, and political developments of the states. 3.The technological advancement and globalization have spawned new problems beyond the capacity of National Law to be solved such as the regulation of outer space, the division of the deep sea ground, the protection of human rights, anti-terrorist actions, the control of international finance system, the prevention of global warming etc. These issues have increased the relevance and importance of International Law in the contemporary world due to its wide range of jurisdiction as compared to the limited jurisdiction of National Law. 4.Question of priority: Scholars belonging to Dualist point of view assert that the two laws are not to supersede, but to coordinate with each other; therefore, there is no conflict between the two. If a case in which conflict arises betw een International Law and municipal law before an International Tribunal, the practice is to prefer the International Law over the municipal law. Where conflict arises in a case before a municipal Court (except where the state has adopted the International Law to supersede, by constitution or law), the national law is preferred. 5. Where does primacy reside: in International Law or in national law.If International Law has drawn its validity only from state constitution, it would necessarily cease its validity when authority rested upon disappears. But valid operation of International Law does not invalidate its importance and regard. For example, after Belgium became independent state, treaties had not lost their force despite internal constitutional changes. The International Law also asserts its supremacy when new states enter in international society and International Law binds them without their consents. Every state is duty bound to bring not only its laws but also its constitu tion in accordance with International Law. . In states, the practice as to apply International Law by municipal courts is different from each other. Some states have interpreted in their constitution to apply International Law and therefore, their courts are bound to apply International Law such as Germany, Korea, USA, etc. But in most states, the courts apply International Law conditioned upon the precedence and the practices of the state. Similarities Scholars belonging to the Monist view consider both the laws as a single unity composed of binding legal rules whether those rules are obligatory on states, on individuals, and on entities other than states.If it is generally accepted that International Law is a true law then there is no doubt to deny that the two systems constitute part of that unity. In the view of Kelson and other monist writers, there cannot be any escape from the position that the two systems, because they are both systems of legal rules, are interrelated parts of one legal structure. It is the duty of state to enforce the International Law as the state law in its jurisdiction. Just as National Law aims at building and maintaining an orderly society within a state, International Law aims at maintaining a peaceful stability of the global community.Differences There are two basic differences between the two systems: 1. Subject of law: In national law subjects are individuals whereas states are solely and exclusively subjects of International Law. 2. Juridical origin: In state, source of law is will of the individuals for which they are concerned while in international law source of law is common will of the states concerned. Thus this provides a base to the Positivist scholars to claim that the two systems are entirely different.National law mainly is based on judge made law and the statutes passed by legislature whereas International Law is comprised of the customary rules and treaties among the states. Malcolm Shaw delineates this differen ce by describing the legal apparatus of law as having a legal order enunciating that laws are created by a recognized legislating body, there is a hierarchical system of courts which sees to their enforcement, and there is an overarching executive governing entity above all citizens.This makes national law inherently hierarchical, and the organization of authority vertical. As for international law, it does not operate within the same legal order. It is not always created by a unique legislative body (although the UN General Assembly may create nonbinding multilateral agreements), nor tried in a unified judicial body with the power to apply legally binding sentences (even if there is the International Court of Justice and many other international courts), neither applied by an overarching international executive body.Additionally, it has no unified system of sanctions, other than the existence of certain circumstances in which the use of force is regarded as justified and legal (cha pter VII of the UN Charter). Reinforcing this point, Article 2 of the UN Charter states: The Organization is based on the principle of sovereign equality of all its Members, which means that there is no overarching authority recognized over them. The fact that all states are theoretically equal, makes the international system horizontal, as opposed to the vertical one of the national level.In this sense, if there is no overarching international authority to impose international law. Every state must give its consent in order to be bound by it. By doing so, a consenting state lets the international community know that it will follow the principles and directives of that law. Contrary to this, citizens are automatically bound by domestic law. No citizen needs to let other citizens know he will follow the rules. Conclusion: Each and every system is supreme in its own field and neither has dominance over the other. Arguments offered just provide a background to the complex relations bet ween the two systems.Three factors operate on the subject matter: Firstly, to what extent state organs are willing to apply rules of International Law internally and externally. Secondly, the difficulty of proving the existence of particular rules of International Law. In case of difficulty municipal courts may rely on advice from the executive or existing internal precedents, and the result may not be in accordance with an object appreciation of the law. Thirdly, courts, both municipal and international, will often be concerned with the more technical question as to which is the appropriate system to apply to particular issues arising.

Schizophrenia has been defined as a mental disorder...

Schizophrenia has been defined as a mental disorder characterized by a breakdown in mental thinking and a poor emotional response. This disorganization hasn’t till now acquired a clear understanding of the mechanisms that lie behind (Harrison 1999) but researchers suggest an increase in the dopaminergic transmission in the prefrontal cortex coupled to an inhibition of the glutamatergic pathways, majorly at the level of NMDA receptors (Wen-Jun Gao). For more than 50 years, the dopamine hypothesis had been considered the mother of the theories of schizophrenia. Van Rossum first proposed it in 1966 suggesting that a hyperactivity occurring at the level of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway is the mediator of positive symptoms of schizophrenia†¦show more content†¦By definition, positive symptoms represent a collection of psychotic symptoms through which the individual escapes from reality. They include hallucination described by a person seeing, smelling, feeling or hearin g (the most common of all) things that no one else can see, smell feel or hear. It is also characterized by a delusional behavior defined as a number of false beliefs that are not part of the persons culture and which he/she is not willing to change, such as believing that the entire world is plotting against them (also known as â€Å"delusion of persecution†). Thought disorder also occurs in schizophrenia and is characterized by unusual or dysfunctional ways of thinking such as having troubles organizing thoughts or speaking abruptly in the middle of a thought (thought blocking) or even making meaningless words. Schizophrenic people may also experience movement disorder such as a highly disorganized movement or in rare cases catatonia, a state of non-movement and non-responding to others (National Institute of Mental Health 2009). Negative symptoms are related to the disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors that occur in schizophrenic patients. These symptoms can be mist aken with depression and other mood disorders hence they are harder to recognize as part of the disease. They usually appear months or years before positive symptoms.Show MoreRelatedSchizophrenia- Mental Disorder1002 Words   |  5 Pagesthe mental breakdown that forever changed his life. On an early, extremely cold winter morning in northern Iowa, Ron walked out of the farm house in only his underwear, through the large cornfield, and down to the Yellow River that was frozen over with a thin layer of ice. Luckily, his parents caught him in time before he had fallen through the thin ice. Ron was soon rushed to a mental institution where he was observed by psychiatrists that later diagnosed him with disorganized schizophrenia. 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