Are Same-Sex Couples a Solution to the Foster Care Crisis? ? Work ...

By Megan Bunger

Abstract

There has been much controversy over the ability of same sex couple?s abilities to raise successful, socially adjusted, and healthy children. Research has been conducted since the mid- 1980?s to study on this topic. Overwhelming evidence concluded that children raised in same-sex households are not at any higher risk for social, educational, or health problems than their counterparts raised in heterosexual homes. Children in same-sex homes are not at higher risk for sexual abuse or gender identity issues. Many children in the child welfare system suffer developmental and educational damage. Same-sex couples are the answer to relieving the burden of the foster care crisis and giving opportunity to children without safe homes.

Are Same-Sex Couples a Solution to the Foster Care Crisis?

A Review of the Literature

???? Former presidential hopeful, Rick Santorum, has asserted children are better off with an incarcerated father than to be raised by two same-sex parents (2012). Research does not support that assertion. As the foster care crisis continues to grow, the number of qualified couples dwindles and many children are left hanging in the balance. ?It is estimated that there are 500,000 children in foster care nationally, and 100,000 need to be adopted?? The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) stated in 1999. Same-sex couples may be a solution for children who need permanent homes. This literature review considers whether same-sex couples adopting children in the foster care system is a promising solution to the foster care crisis by answering the following questions:

1. What are major contributors in healthy child development?

2. Will children with same sex parents develop gender identity or sexuality issues?

3. How do children raised in same-sex homes perform academically and socially in contrast to their counterparts raised by heterosexual parents?

4. How do children in foster care fare?

Understanding the balance of social, economic, and psychological factors that affect children?s adjustment to life is key in determining if same-sex couples are a good option for children with no place to go.

What are Major Factors in Healthy Child Development?

???? In a personal narrative written by Patty Onderko in 2011, the author has said she has found she and her partner are doing the same things heterosexual couples do, striving to be good parents. She has noted, ?Truth be told, we?re neither sensational no worth remarking upon. We?re just the New Normal? (Onderko,2011). While some may argue family structure is the most important factor in success and social adjustment in children, research has concluded family structure is not a major factor in the success of children. Research has shown socioeconomic factors and interpersonal relationships between a parent and a child have the most significant impact on a child?s ability to thrive.

Stanford sociologist Michael Rosenfeld used data from the 2000 Census to study the success rates of children in school. Rosenfeld has stated, ?Parents? income and education are the biggest indicators of a child?s success? (as cited in ScienceDaily, 2010).? Income and education are both obtainable by same-sex couples as well as heterosexual couples.

In 2004, Wainright et al. stated, ?Regardless of family type, adolescents whose parents described a closer relationships with them reported better school adjustment.? The research concluded sexual orientation of parents does not directly influence a child?s adjustment in social situations or education, however, healthy adjustment relies more on the relationship between a parent and a child (Wainright, et al., 2004).

A report prepared by Rintoul et al.(1998) stated,

Mental health, education, and social support are all factors that can promote or hinder the motivation, knowledge, or skills a person needs to provide a child with nurturing, responsive verbal stimulation, and consistent behavioral guidance.

Additionally, the ACLU has asserted, ?Good parenting is not influenced by sexual orientation. Rather, it is influenced most profoundly by a parent?s ability to create a loving and nurturing home?an ability that does not depend on whether a parent is gay or straight? (1999).? An education, a healthy mental state, and an ability to provide a nurturing and loving environment are all things that are attainable by heterosexual couples as well as same sex couples.

Will Children with Same-Sex Parents Develop Gender Identity or Sexuality Issues?

???? The importance of sexuality and sexual identity remains an issue to those in opposition to the right of same-sex couples adopting children in need of safe home. Many individuals have expressed concern for children brought up in same-sex households stating a belief that those children had a higher likelihood of being molested by their parents or growing up gay themselves. However, many studies have disproven these claims.

In a factsheet published by the ALCU in 1999, it stated, ?There is no connection between homosexuality and pedophilia. All of the legitimate scientific evidence shows that.? The fact sheet said, ?Ninety percent of child abuse is committed by heterosexual men? (ACLU, 1999). Additionally, they have asserted sexual orientation is an adult attraction to other adults in both heterosexuals and homosexuals.

In 2004, Wainright et al. applied a research demographic of 44 adolescents aged from 12 to 18 years old raised by same-sex couples and the same number of adolescents from the same age group raised by heterosexual couples. Wainright et al. have stated, ?Assessments of romantic relationships and sexual behavior were not associated with family type? (2004). Additionally, the ACLU has asserted, based on evidence, parental sexual orientation has no impact on the sexual orientation of children.

Research has concluded children raised by same-sex couples are not more likely to be molested by their parents than those raised by heterosexuals. A child?s sexual identity and orientation is not affected by the sexual orientation of their parents.

How Do Children Raised in Same-Sex Homes Perform Academically and Socially in Contrast to Their Counterparts Raised by Heterosexual Parents?

???? Critics of same-sex parenting have argued that denying a child a mother and a father could potentially damage a child psychologically. This is an important factor in determining if same-sex parents are qualified to provide a safe place for children where they can be nurtured academically and socially.

Nanette Gartrell, psychiatrist from the University of California, San Francisco led a 25-year long study beginning in 1986 (Barth, 2011). Gartrell interviewed artificially inseminated lesbian mothers-to-be from three cities across the United States. Using clinical questionnaires to assess behavior she interviewed the children of these women at two years of age, five years of age, ten years of age, and seventeen years of age. She concluded, ?At 17 those children scored higher, on average, than their peers in social and academic competence and lower in aggressive behavior and social problems? (as cited in Barth, 2011).

Researchers Wainright et al. discovered, ?Normative analyses indicated that, on measures of psychosocial adjustment and school outcome, adolescents were functioning well, and their adjustment was not generally associated with family type? (2004).

How Do Children in Foster Care Fare?

???? There are more than half-a-million children in foster care in the United States. Many of these children in the child welfare system have already experienced ill-treatment including sexual abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, or neglect. These types of abuse, paired with the trauma of being removed from their parents can cause significant mental, educational, and developmental damage. While some have expressed the belief that the foster care system is a safer place for children than same-sex homes, significant research has found the child welfare system does more harm than good for children.

A study performed by Burns et al. in 2004 found nearly half showed signs associated with clinical mental health issues (as cited in Bruskas, 2008). Of the children presenting with the most severe symptoms, only 4% were provided mental health care, while 84% had no care provided to them. Stahmer et al. (2005) has asserted the likelihood of untreated psychiatric problems worsening over time rather than improving (as cited in Bruskas, 2008).

Educationally, children left in the child welfare system face many hardships. They will often miss school when transitioning to a new home, and are frequently moved around to different schools. In 2004, a study by Washington State?s Office of Children?s Administration Research, determined only half of children in the welfare system were able to graduate high school or obtain a general education diploma (GED). Nearly 90% of those who had completed their education had earned a GED rather than a high school diploma. Additionally, less than 2% of those children were able to finish a high school diploma or equivalent earn a bachelor?s degree or higher (Bruskas, 2008).

Children leaving foster care face significantly more hardships transitioning into adulthood. They often age out of the child welfare system with few resources. Some have no financial, medical, or social support. These children are at great risk for criminal behavior, mental illness, and a significant inability to function productively and independently in society.

In conclusion, substantial evidence has demonstrated the most important factors in a child?s development are a close child and parent relationships. A couple?s overall income and education are determinants of a child?s ability to thrive as well as a parent?s ability to offer a nurturing and loving home. These are all attainable by couples notwithstanding sexual orientation. Psychologist Abbie Goldberg, has stated, ?[gay parents] tend to be more motivated, more committed than heterosexual parents on average, because they chose to be parents? (as cited by LiveScience, 2012). Goldberg added same-sex couples rarely have accidental pregnancies, in contrast to nearly 50% accidental pregnancy rate amongst heterosexuals (LiveScience, 2012). ?That translates to greater commitment on average and more involvement,? Goldberg concluded (as cited by LiveScience, 2012).

While some believe children raised by gay and lesbian parents are at a higher risk for being sexually abused or having sexual identity or orientation issues, research has shown the opposite. Most cases of child abuse are perpetrated by heterosexual men. Also noted, the sexual orientation of a couple has no affect on the sexual orientation of their children.

Research has concluded children raised by same-sex couples fare just as well, if not better in some cases, than children raised in families headed by heterosexual couples. Janet Gordon, 14, who was raised by two moms, stated, ?there?s nothing in studies saying that people from straight families turn out better. There?s going to be people who turn out good, but it?s not going to be because their parents are straight or gay? (as cited in Neff, 2004).

Children in the foster care system permanently are at high risk for mental health issues, which often go untreated. Leaving mental illness untreated often worsens the problem (Bruskas, 2008). According to the ACLU, a single child in the child welfare system can be moved into 20 or more homes throughout adolescence (ACLU, 1999). Frequent moves negatively impact a child?s education and ability to adjust. Children aging out of the child welfare system often are left with little, or no, support which increases the likelihood of criminal behavior, drug abuse, mental illness, and an inability to function in society.

Same-sex couples are able to provide safe, loving, and nurturing homes for their children in the same ways heterosexual couples can. As the number of heterosexual couples qualified to adopt children dwindles, an opportunity for same-sex couples to make a difference appears. Pappas stated in a report by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute that same-sex couples were more likely to adopt older children, outside of their own race, and more than half gay and lesbian couples adopted children with special needs (2012). Children within these groups are the most difficult to adopt (Pappas, 2012). While same-sex couple adopting children from the foster care system will not entirely mend the foster care crisis, one couple at a time can alter the opportunities for one child at a time.

?

?

References

American Civil Liberties Union.(1999).Overview of Lesbian and Gay Parenting, Adoption and Foster Care. [Fact sheet] Retrieved from http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights.

Barth, A. (2011). 88: Same-Sex Parents Do No Harm. Discover, 32(1), 77.

Bruskas, D. (2008). Children in foster care: A vulnerable population at risk. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 21(2), 70-7. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/232976398?accountid=446282

Neff, L. (2004). The kids are all right. Advocate, 919, 48-55.

Onderko, P. (2011). THE (SAME-SEX)FAMILY NEXT DOOR. Parenting Early Years, 25(2), 74.

Pappas, S. (2012, January 15). Why Gay Parents May Be the Best Parents.LiveScience.Retrievedfrom http://www.livescience.com/17913-advantages-gay-parent.html

Rintoul B., Thorne J., Wallace I., Mobley M., Goldman-Fraser J., Luckey H.(1998)Part I: Personal Characteristics and Perental Behavior. Factors in Child Development, p. 32.

Stanford University (2010, August 31). Children raised by gay couples show good progress through school, study finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100831091240.htm

Wainright, J.L., Russell, S.T., & Patterson, C.J. (2004). Psychosocial Adjustment, School Outcomes, and Romantic Relationships of Adolescents With Same-Sex Parents. Child Development, 75(6) 1886-1898. Doi:10.1111/j. 146723-862.200.00823.x

Source: http://kilianworkinprogress.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/are-same-sex-couples-a-solution-to-the-foster-care-crisis/

stanford vs oklahoma state occupy rose parade vesta williams stanford stanford oklahoma state university badgers