In recent years, the vision of the family has radically changed. The pendulum has swung from a time when the mark of adulthood was having a spouse and family, to what is now a dreaded life change, linked to a spouse or children. The most damaging choice of divorce is now commonplace among parents; it is accepted without much recognition of the harmful effects it has on parents and their children. In Barbara Dafoe Whitehead's essay, "Where Have All the Parents Gone?" she explains that “More than drugs, it is divorce which is at the heart of middle-class parental failure. It was not the crackhouse but the courthouse that was the scene of their collapse” (283). She also writes about how parents get into horrible custody battles, kidnapping their own children and using them as weapons against each other. The other option they are considering is to simply walk away from their responsibilities. The painful impact of divorce on the family is seen in the consequences of emotional turmoil, difficult relationships and lack of trust and premature burdens of responsibilities. The results studied, researched and recorded are given in numerous articles and books. Specifically, in Judith S. Wallerstein's book, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce, she explains that "to understand how divorce affects children in the long term, we must explore the fact that the divorced family is not just a disconnect . version of the two-parent family. The post-divorce family is a new family form that places very different demands on each parent, each child, and each of the many new adults who enter the family orbit” (10). The various occasions on which divorce is requested are numerous. Distinguishing between a necessary divorce and a purely selfish divorce...... middle of paper ......litity afflicts the majority, if not all, families who have had to endure the effects of divorce. Works CitedCPANF: Clinical Psychology Associates of North Central Florida, Pennsylvania, Foulkes-Jamison, Lesley "The Effects of Divorce on Children." Clinical Psychology Associates of North Central Florida, PA American Psychological Association, October 7, 2013. Web. November 24, 2013. Hartman, Laura R. "The Way They See It: How Do Teenagers Experience Life After Parental Divorce?" The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Volume 6.3 (2011): 3. Web.Wallerstein, Judith S. The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce. New York, New York: Hyperion, 2000. Print. Whitehead, Barbara Dafoe. “Where have all the parents gone?” 75 readings and counting. 10th ed.Eds. Santi V. Buscemi, Charlotte Smith. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2013. 277-284. Print.