Date
4-15-2010
Degree
Master of Arts (MA)
Chair
Faith Mullen
Primary Subject Area
Mass Communications
Keywords
Children, Divorce, Effects, Girls, Narrative Analysis, Q-sort
Disciplines
Mass Communication
Recommended Citation
Maddox, Jennifer, "Breaking Down the Walls: Divorce and the Effects it had on a Child's Communication in Relationships Outside of the Family" (2010). Masters Theses. 125.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/masters/125
Abstract
There is no question that divorce is prevalent in our society today. This paper discussed a study about the effects divorce has on an adolescent girl's communication with adults outside of her family. The hypothesis was that divorce negatively effects a child's communication with adults outside of their family. The two methodologies used to conduct this study were Narrative Analysis and Q-sort. The ten participants for the Narrative Analysis method were asked whether they thought their parents divorce effected their communication with adults outside of their family, and whether the effect was negative or positive. They were also asked to give examples of their communication in relationships they had with adults outside of their family. From these ten narratives a Q-sort statement sheet was developed containing thirty statements stated from the Narrative Analysis. The twenty participants that participated in the Q-sort method ordered the thirty statements from what they saw to be most true to least true based on their personal experience in communicating with adults outside of their family after divorce. This study concluded that divorce does in fact effect a child's communication with adults outside of their family; however, whether or not those effects are positive or negative were questionable according to the participants in this study. Recommendations for future research are discussed.
