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Marriage and Family Life: The ParentingYears

up in a gay or lesbian family fare as well
emotionally,cognitively,and socially,with
no differences in sexual functioning,as
children from heterosexual families do
(Perrin,2002,Little,2005).There are no
developmental differences or general
differences in children when raised by
homosexual parents compared to
heterosexual parents (Paige,2005;Alfano,
2005).However,researchers point out that
thus far,there have been no comparison
studies of long-term achievement in
education,occupation,income or other
domains of the life of children (Stacey &
Biblarz,2001).Despite these findings,
most researchers agree,based on all the
research,children do best when raised by
two married,biological parents (Parke,
2003).

Parenting the Adolescent

Adolescence,as a part of American

society,is a social construction of the 20th

century.In pre-industrial times,the labor

of the entire family was necessary for

survival.Thus,childhood was short and

adolescence as we know it was unheard of.

The Industrial Revolution allowed some

children to escape this cycle,especially

middle-class children,who enjoyed a brief

period of adolescence prior to early

marriage.Savage (2007) suggests that the

birth of adolescence mirrored much of

what was taking place in society at the

time and continues to reflect the world we

live in today—living for the present,

pleasure-seeking,consumerism,and the

seeking of social inclusion determined by

sheer volume of purchasing power.

As the American lifespan lengthened

and life in general became less survival

oriented,adolescenceevolvedintowhat

EricErickson(1963,1968)referstoasa

timeof crisisduringwhichyoungpeople

developasenseof personalidentity,while

avoidingroleconfusion.Inotherwords,

adolescenceisatimeof comingtoknow

whoweareandhowwefitintosociety.

Thisinvolvestakingallwehavelearned

aboutlifeandmoldingitintoaunifiedself-

image.AccordingtoErickson,thismeans

integratingconflictingelementsthrough

roleexperimentationratherthanrole

fixation(clingingtoaroleprematurely

Most of the scientific research suggests children

who grow up in a gay or lesbian family fare as well

emotionally, cognitively, and socially, with

no differences in sexual functioning, as

children from heterosexual families.

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