Baker 1

Seaira Baker

Professor Malcolm Campbell

English 1103

02/16/2015

Topic Proposal: The Role of a Parent

Introduction/Overview

I am interested in learning about what roles each parent should have in a child’s life. I

have learned that, because of psychological reasons, the father and mother both have a different

effect on children and I am interested in learning more about that. Many children in America do

not have both parents in their lives every day, and I want to know how that can either help or

hurt a child both in the present and the future. This topic interests me because many people I

know as well as myself have grown up without a mother, a father, or even without both parents

to take care of them. I will be questioning what roles parents should have in a child’s life.

It is hard to define the traditional family in this time, because every family is different.

There is not a known cause of this change, but an increased divorce rate from now compared to

ten years ago, is definitely a factor. Children who grow up with only one parent may be missing

out on a part of development. There are many studies identifying the importance of having both a

mom and a dad stating that each parent contributes to the growing process of children in a

different way.

I researched the different studies done to test how parental roles effect children. I mainly

did my research online and looked back into my psychology book from last semester as I

recalled learning about childhood development.

Baker 2

There are different opinions when it comes to the roles of parents. Single mothers want to

feel independent and single fathers want to feel competent. These feeling can cause single

parents to believe they can raise a child on their own, which they may be capable of doing, but

what I want to know is what these children are missing out on. Studies suggest that without a

father, girls can have a more difficult time trusting future partners according to the American

Psychological Association. This is an example of what the research is trying to prove, and it is

hard for single parents to accept the fact that their children might be missing out on a part of

development. It is easy to see that children usually get upset when their parents get a divorce. I

think most parents can agree that they see their children affected by the divorce itself or even the

emotional side of only having one parent. What researchers are looking for are the long term

effects of not having both a mother and a father raising their child. This is why the topic can be

argued because the results can lead parents to think that they are not properly raising their child

or children even though that is not the intention of researchers of this topic. The major groups of

people contributing to this study are psychologists, and people who are involved in parenting

studies. They are having these conversations through parenting journals and books.

Initial Inquiry Question(s)

What roles should parents have in their children’s lives? What roles should the father

have? What roles should the mother have? Is there a correlation between having a single parent

and the chances that you will get divorced? Does not having one parent during childhood effect

development or future behavior?

Baker 3

My Interest in this Topic

I am interested in children with single parents, because I grew up without one parent for

the majority of my childhood. Also, many people I know don’t have any relationship with their

father. I want to know how this can affect people later in life, if it does at all. I know that each

parent tends to take on a roll when they are both in the same household, parenting together, and

from my research so far I know that many studies are being done to find anything that correlates

with children who have a single parent and to find its significance. I want to know how being

raised by a single parent can affect a child now and in the future. Children and childhood

development are interesting to me so I am taking one of my experiences and examining how it

may have had an effect on me, and children in the same or similar situation as me.

Next Steps

First, I am going to borrow a book from my mom. She has set aside the parenting books

she has for me to look through and chose the best one. I will then be going to the library to talk

to a librarian about more books relating to my topic. Also, I will look through the libraries

research page to find the more reliable and relevant research done on my topic. I am not sure

which journal I want to look at next, but I will make sure that it is credible, and that it has

answers to my questions. I will use the library as my next resource and ask a librarian for the best

book options relating to my topic. Also my mom is a social worker with a master’s degree and

has many books and her own knowledge relating to my topic of interest. There is so much for me

to learn about my topic, and I want to know what the best researchers are doing to find any

correlations and to answer the questions I have.