Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Essay
Nowadays, a great deal of children are raised by their grandparents. There are many different situations in life which can lead to this fact. Some reasons are connected with sudden death of the child’s parents or with sudden divorce. Some parents are deprived of their parental rights. It is not difficult to find a great number of other reasons when children are left in the custody of their grandparents.(Reynolds, 2005, para.3)
It is known that the rights of grandparents to raise their grandchildren are limited by the US legislation because it is necessary to get special sanction and court approval to take custody of the child. Of course, there are a great deal of problems which are connected with grandparents’ rights to take care of their grandchildren. However, the major goal is “to protect the best interests of the child” who should not suffer from different troubles that can occur in his family. (Roe & Minkler, 1999, para.5)
Moreover, the child should develop his personality in a proper way in order to become a true citizen of his country. This research topic is very interested for me. That is why I have made up my mind to discuss the following research question in my future qualitative research project: What are the benefits and pitfalls of raising grandchildren today?
Thesis statement: Grandparents can give their love and pass their life experience to their grandchildren. Moreover, they can substitute parents.
I have selected this particular topic and question for my prospectus because I am directly relevant to this issue. The point is that I am currently in litigation concerning custody of my two young grandchildren. By some quirk of fate, my husband and I raised these children since their birth. We love them and treat them as our native grandchildren. However, now their biological father wants to take custody of the children.
Thus, the issue concerning grandparents who raise their grandchildren is close to my problems. I want to know more and more about this issue. I am sure that grandparents play an important role in the development of their grandchildren and they can easily substitute parents. Grandparents can teach their grandchildren to be kind, honest and to value their family bonds. Grandparents can give good education to their grandchildren and help them to make the right choice in career. I am sure that it is my duty to help my grandchildren to become true citizens of our country who will never violate law and who will bring only positive results to our country.
Epistemological commitments:
It is known that “today, more than ever before grandparents are assuming the role of parents” to their grandchildren. There are a great deal of benefits to children when grandparents become so called “surrogate parents”. They have a great deal of life experience which can help grandchildren to overcome all the difficulties. Moreover, grandparents pay more attention to the children and they are more cautious about their safety.(Grandparents Raising Grandchildren)
According to the statistical data, those children who are raised by their grandparents have less chance of serious injuries. There are also a great deal of benefits from taking care of grandchildren to grandparents. They feel young and active. They have no time to suffer from loneliness because grandchildren become “the greater purpose for living”. I think that those grandparents who have already played the role of parents to their grandchildren can give a lot of recommendations to those elderly people who want to take care of their young grandchildren. Moreover, it is possible to get some useful information concerning this issue from professionals, psychologists who will help to evaluate the situation and to find the right solution. I am sure that any person will be able to take care of his children even if they are his grandchildren. The most important thing is that he should be active and he should realize the seriousness of his intentions.
Annotative bibliography:
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren.(2010) Role Changes/Transitions. The University Hospitals of Columbia and Cornell. Retrieved from:<http://www.cornellcares.org/pdf/handouts/rct_grandparents.pdf>
This source of information discusses many important questions concerning grandparents who raise their grandchildren. The article tells about different roles of grandparents and about serious problems which can occur in the process of raising grandchildren. Moreover, the article discusses what motivates grandparents to take care of their grandchildren. The authors are sure that grandparents should “give them a nurturing and safe home environment”.(p.2) Among different problems that grandparents who raise their grandchildren are the following ones: some mental health difficulties and physical disability, drug and alcohol abuse, or incarceration”. (p.3)
The article also discusses different benefits and pitfalls of raising grandchildren today. Moreover, this source of information discusses the ways which help grandparents to cope with “their new life situation”. Such changes as financial, physical, social, emotional, legal will occur in the life of grandparents. (p.5)
I am sure that this source of information will help me in my project work as it discusses a great deal of important issues.
Roe, K. & Minkler, M. (1999) Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Challenges and Responses. Generations. Vol.44. Issue:4. Retrieved from:<http://www.questia.com>
This article discusses the major ideas connected with the issue of the research project. The authors represent their opinions concerning the situation when grandparents raise their grandchildren and act as “surrogate parents”. They represent a great deal of important statistical data which shows that it is “a growing phenomenon” in our society. In 1997, more than 4 million children in the United States lived with their grandparents. Moreover, the number of these families is constantly increasing. According to another statistical data, “more than one in ten grandparents at some point raise their grandchildren for at least six months”.(para.2)The authors of the article represent a number of “reasons for the increase in kinship care”. Among them are divorce, early pregnancy, the AIDS epidemic, drug/alcohol abuse and other social factors.
Moreover, the article discusses different “supportive interventions” for grandparents who raise their grandchildren.
This source of information is very important for me because I am interested in different support programs for grandparents. For example, the article discusses the Grandparent Caregiver Advocacy Project which was created in California and the Kinship Advocacy Project.
Fuller-Thomson, E. & Minkler, M. (2000) African-American Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A National Profile of Demographic and Health Characteristics. Health and Social Work. Vol.25. Issue:2. Retrieved from:<http://www.questia.com>
This study touches upon the theme of care-giving in the African-American community. The research proves the fact that the number of such “surrogate parents” is growing. The authors of this article compare “the demographic and physical and mental health characteristics” of those African-American grandparents who raise their grandchildren with those African-Americans who do not take care of their grandchildren. The authors use the information taken from the National Survey of Families and Households. It is found that the caregivers are limited in five daily activities and suffer from depression.
This source of information is very important for my project as it represents a lot of interesting facts concerning the major issue of the project.
Whitley, D., Kelley, S., Sipe T.(2002) Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren: Are They at Risk of Health Problems? Health and Social Work Journal. Vol.26. Issue:2.Retrieved from:<http://www.questia.com>
This article discusses the major health problems of those grandmothers who want to raise their grandchildren. It is known that such health problems can “destabilize any family structure established for the child”. (para.1)
This problem is related to Afro-American grandmothers who have higher health risk factors than white grandmothers. The authors of the article give a thorough description of physical and mental health status of 100 grandmothers who act as “primarily caretakers for their grandchildren”. (para.2)
The health disorders include such symptoms as headache, fatigue, high level of blood pressure. However, the grandmothers argue that “their emotional state is better than the general population”. (para.7)
This article is very useful for my project as it proves the fact that children can give only positive emotions to grandparents who take care of them.
Reynolds, G., Wright, J., Beale, B. (2005) The Role of Grandparents in Educating Today’s Children. Journal of Instructional Psychology. Vol.30. Issue:4. Retrieved from:<http://www.questia.com>
This article discusses the role of grandparents in the educational process of children. The authors state that “the success of children in school depends on the home environment”. Grandparents who raise their grandchildren can have different relationships. The authors of the article discuss such important aspects as limited contact, participatory roles and voluntary care-taking, involuntary care-taking and prove that “grandparents at different levels of involvement with their grandchildren” have different problems in the process of education. Moreover, the authors state that school personnel should “be aware of all the stresses in the family” and should support grandparents all the time. (para.8)
This article is very interested for me as it represents a great deal of vital information concerning the major issue of the project.
Edwards, O. & Daire, A. (2007) School-Aged Children Raised by their Grandparents: Problems and Solutions. Journal of Instructional Psychology. Vol.33. Issue:2.
This source of information discusses “social, emotional and physical functioning of grandparents raising their grandchildren”.(para.1) According to the researches, children who live with their grandparents have great psychological problems and experience constant stresses. Moreover, the authors of the article prove the fact that such children have academic problems at school and inadequate behavior. The article is very important for my future project as it gives a lot of recommendations to improve the life and behavior of grandchildren who are raised by their grandparents.
Crocoll, C. (2005) Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Help from Cooperative Extension. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences. Vol.96. Issue:4.
This article gives a lot of useful information concerning the help from Collaborative Extension to grandparents who raise their grandchildren. The author of the article states that there are a great deal of problems which grandparents cannot solve. However, these problems can be solved with the assistance of collaborative partnerships who develop special programs and resources that “address the needs of these grandparents”.(para.4) It is known that in many states of the country, Collaborative Extension specialists have already developed serious partnerships with such organizations as Head Start, Tribal Partners, Area Agencies on Aging and others which support grandparents raising their grandchildren.
Provisional Inquiry plan:
As a qualitative research is carried out in the form of social inquire, it involves the use of different empirical materials such as case studies, personal experience, interesting life stories, interviews and observations, and different materials concerning the topic of the research.
I think that it is necessary to collect data from those people who have direct relation to the topic of the research namely grandparents who raise their grandchildren, their neigbors, grandchildren, their teachers, and, of course, health care providers and police officers who will be able to give appropriate information concerning the state of health and behavior of those under study. I’d like to use the following methods of data collection: interviews, group discussions, observation, some useful materials. As qualitative data is represented by the words and observations but does not include numbers, it is very important to construct correct questions which should be answered by the interviewers. I’d like to use content analysis and narrative analysis in my work in order to analyze the data.
As the major purpose of my qualitative inquiry is to create findings concerning the issue discussed in the project, it is very important to analyze massive amounts of different data and to reduce some volume of information. It is also known that qualitative inquiry has its strengths and its weaknesses which should be taken into consideration. The strengths are connected with human experience while the weaknesses include the skills, training and experience of the researcher. So, the quality of the research work will depend on the qualities of the researcher. That is why I should pay special attention to the organization of my work. All the details of the inquiry should be analyzed. I think it is necessary to be a creative thinker and to be open, and to trust myself.
