[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
Ok, so the statistical comparison was done for gay fathers as compared to the data on straight fathers parenting as single fathers, or married? That disctinction matters, and we have our answer below. [/quote]
No, that’s just the area of LGBT parenting where there is a sampling issue.
" Rosenfeld’s study, “the first to use large-sample nationally representative data, shows that children raised by same-sex couples have no fundamental deficits in making normal progress through school. The core finding here offers a measure of validation for the prior, and much-debated, small-sample studies.”[33]"
“Scientific research has been generally consistent in showing that gay and lesbian parents are as fit and capable as heterosexual parents, and their children are as psychologically healthy and well-adjusted as children reared by heterosexual parents.[3][4][5] Major associations of mental health professionals in the U.S., Canada, and Australia have not identified credible empirical research that suggests otherwise.[5][6][7][8][9]”
[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
And here is the hedge - what’s being compared are outcomes based on single parenting, not married parenting.
And that’s why you always read the fine print on sociological “studies”. You have to insure there is apples-to-apples, and here there is not.
The only thing that matters are statistical comparisons between children raised by married couples, or the closest approximation. And the 2010 Rosenfeld study only tracks kids through primary school - and we are back at square one: there is no long-term study that can support the conclusions that advocates so desperately try to make. [/quote]
Read above.
[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
You’re the one challenging the institution, not me - don’t you think you should know if there are studies out there that contradict your claim if you are the challenger? [/quote]
No the burden of proof falls on the person making the claim.
[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
Nope. And you’re awfully generous to include social workers and psychologists as medical professionals. You’ve seen where the trouble is in these “studies”. [/quote]
I am? Last I checked psychologists are doctors. Furthermore social workers are experts in this field and that the findings are based on scientific research.
[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
And now, over to you, Center for Law and Policy:
Research indicates that, on average, children who grow up in families with both their biological parents in a low-conflict marriage are better off in a number of ways than children who grow up in single-, step- or cohabiting-parent households. Compared to children who are raised by their married parents, children in other family types are more likely to achieve lower levels of education, to become teen parents, and to experience health, behavior, and mental health problems.
http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications_states/files/0086.pdf
So, the conclusion is, by this group (and others), that this arrangement is superior. It doesn’t say that other arrangements (i.e., step-parenting) are horrendous, it simply confirms that the biological parents, low-conflict household is the best. And it is.
They go on:
The legal basis and public support involved in the institution of marriage helps to create the most likely conditions for the development of factors that children need most to thriveâ??consistent, stable, loving attention from two parents who cooperate and who have sufficient resources and support from two extended families, two sets of friends, and society.
Exactly. We don’t have a policy that encourages step-parenting or co-habiting, unmarried heterosexual parenting - even if they don’t categorically lead to horrendous outcomes - we have a policy that supports marriage. And why? Because marriage produces the best outcome for kids on average. It gets the blue ribbon.
We have no reason to support alternatives that are inferior, because we vastly prefer children to be raised in the unit of the biological parents. There are lots of alternatives - that doesn’t mean we desire to “equalize” them to the best situation for children, when they clearly are not “equal”.
In short, we want one arrangement above all others. It’s that simple. And our public policy should reflect that.[/quote]
First of all, this is one study. Secondly, this study doesn’t bother to compare same sex couples to married couples, only divorced parents. When this has been done as shown above, no deficit has been able to be demonstrated.
“Although the research on these families has limitations, the findings are consistent: children raised by same-sex parents are no more likely to exhibit poor outcomes than children raised by divorced heterosexual parents.41 Since many children raised by gay or lesbian parents have undergone the divorce of their parents, researchers have considered the most appropriate comparison group to be children of heterosexual divorced parents.42 Children of gay or lesbian parents do not look different from their counterparts raised in heterosexual divorced families regarding school performance, behavior problems, emotional problems, early pregnancy, or difficulties finding employment.43 However, as previously indicated, children of divorce are at higher risk for many of these problems than children of married parents.”
So how can this study even act as evidence when it doesn’t even bother to compare low conflict same sex couples directly to low conflict straight married couples?