Was Canadian conscription in World War I justified Essay Example

Was Canadian conscription in World War I justified Paper A. Plan of Investigation Was Canadian conscription in World War I justified? Many people have addressed the issue of Canadian conscription in World War I and debated back and forth as to the justification and necessity of it at the time. The purpose of this internal assessment is to determine whether instituting conscription was a valid decision through an investigation of the different groups affected and their points of views. To do this, I will use a variety of sources and my own knowledge to look at both sides of the argument and come up with a valid conclusion. In section B, I will examine different viewpoints and their reasons for and against conscription. We will write a custom essay sample on Was Canadian conscription in World War I justified specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Was Canadian conscription in World War I justified specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Was Canadian conscription in World War I justified specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In section C, I will evaluate two sources that have very different views as to whether conscription was the right thing to do. In section D, I will analyse the effect of conscription on the population of Canada, how historians view the issue, and its significance in Canadian history. In section E, I will make a final statement and then give my reasons for it. It is my opinion that conscription was unjustified as it infringed on basic rights, and divided the country as it had never been divided before. B. Summary of Evidence Arguments for Conscription The arguments for conscription mainly concern the fact that Borden wanted Canada to appear as a strong united country that was capable of holding her own in battle.i As World War I dragged on, Canadas volunteer recruitment program was failing. Fewer people were volunteering, and Bordens promise of 500 000 men was beginning to look outrageous. Not wanting to appear weak, Borden decided his only option was conscription. To justify this, he said that Canada would finally be considered an autonomous state when the world saw the power of her army.ii Borden also justified it by stating that most European countries supported conscription including Britain.iii He simply did not understand that Canadians did not have the passion for war that the British or any other Europeans did for that matter, because they did not feel like the war affected them in any meaningful way. Arguments against Conscription The arguments against conscription are many, and most if not all are reasonable and justified. One of the main arguments against conscription was that people did not feel like the war affected them in any way, as it was so far away. People did not really care who won the war, because it could never cross the ocean and affect them, and therefore their participation in the war was pointless and stupid.iv Another argument against conscription was that it infringed on the basic rights of Canadians as human beings. In the constitution, it stated that no man should be forced to enlist in the army, unless a force threatened the territory of Canada itself.v With this argument, many Canadians saw it as illegal for the government to conscript men, as they believed the war did not affect Canada directly. The Quebecois were especially against conscription, as they felt they were being discriminated against within the armed forces. Once in the army, Quebeckers had to serve under English commanders who knew little to no French, and the Quebeckers were often harassed.vi They also felt no loyalty to Britain as their English counterparts did, and did not feel loyal to France either.vii Another group that was strongly against conscription was the farmers. They felt conscription was wrong because it took away able-bodied men that were desperately needed on the farm to harvest the crops. They argued that without the crops, there would not be enough supplies to feed the men overseas.viii Another strong argument against conscription, were the facts that came out after the war. Of the 400 000 men who were registered as being up for conscription, only 59 991 were ever ordered to duty. All the others were either granted exemptions, or declared unfit to serve.ix This clearly shows that conscription could not have had that much of an impact if only fifteen percent of men conscripted ever made it to service. Perhaps the biggest argument against conscription, was the loss of so many lives. No matter how hard Borden tried, not many people accepted the loss of so many innocent young men as simply the consequences of a war that half the country did not support. C. Evaluation of Sources Morton, Desmond. When Your Numbers Up: the Canadian Soldier in the First World War. Canada, Random House, 1993. This book, written by Desmond Morton in 1993, is a secondary source that talks about the experiences of Canadian soldiers in World War I. Its purpose is to give information about what it was like to be a soldier in the Canadian forces during World War I through historical research. Its main thesis about conscription is that it was necessary to keep a strong Canadian contingent fighting, not only to help the war effort, but also to show the world what a power Canada was. The main value of this book is that it is written by a well-known and well-respected historian and therefore the information within it is reliable. Its main limitation is that it is a secondary source written many years after the war by someone who did not experience it first hand, and therefore all the information is based on research conducted by him. Grubb, Edward. Memories of the No-Conscription Fellowship by the Treasurer. Canada: Richard Cobden-Sanderson, 1935. This source, written by the treasurer of the organization, Edward Grubb in 1935, is a primary source that recounts the No-Conscription Fellowship, an organization against conscription in Canada during World War I. Its purpose is to give information and detailed accounts of what the organization was and what it did to help in the fight against conscription. Its main thesis is that conscription was wrong because it infringed on basic human rights, and therefore it was their duty to oppose it and fight it any way they could. Its main value is that it is a primary source written by someone who lived during the war and fought conscription himself, and therefore the information is a first-hand account. Its limitations are that it only gives one side of the argument about conscription, and it was written around 17 years after the war, and therefore the information may be embellished or changed. D. Analysis The evidence against conscription far outweighs the evidence for it. This section will analyse what effect conscription had on the population of Canada, and then the opinions of historians on conscription. Finally, I will look at the importance of this issue in the history of Canada. When conscription was first proposed, there was an instant divide between English and French Canada. English Canada was generally for conscription as they felt they should support Britain as much as possible.x French Canada on the other hand, felt no loyalty towards Britain and therefore was strongly opposed. The issue of conscription threatened to divide Canada. Borden faced a tough decision, he had to decide whether to support Britain and gain international recognition, or save his country from internal destruction. When Border chose the former, there was instantly civil unrest throughout the country. In Quebec, there were riots protesting conscription and many refused to serve when they were conscripted. It was not only the men being conscripted who rebelled, police in Quebec who were supposed to get the conscripts mostly refused to do it, so Borden had to gather a special conscription force to go and collect the men. The country was divided as it had never been before, and Borden was very worried. French Canadians were extremely angry at the ignorance of Borden and his lack of sympathy for their cause, while English Canadians felt that the French were going against Canada by opposing conscription. Borden had no solution for this problem, and Canada would remain divided for many years to come. Most historians, when talking about the issue of conscription in Canada during World War I, agree that it was unjustified. One of these historians was Grant Dexter, who wrote an essay specifically on the conscription crisis of 1917. He believed that conscription was wrong because of three main reasons.xi The first, was that it divided the country between English and French and soured relations between the two for years to come. The second reason, was that it infringed on basic constitutional rights set out that said that no man should be forced to fight outside of Canada unless the territory of Canada is threatened directly. The third reason, dealt with obligation without representation, and stated that since Canada had no say in British foreign policy, then she should not be obligated to fight Britains war. This is not to say that all historians agreed that conscription was wrong, some still believed that it was the right thing to do. One of these historians, was Desmond Morton, who wrote When Your Numbers Up, a book that deals with the roles of the Canadian soldier in World War I. In this book, he gives the point of view that conscription was necessary for two main reasons.xii The first, was that more men were necessary to help the war effort in Europe and without it, the central powers might be victorious. The second reason, was that Canada needed to show that she could be a formidable power in international affairs and could hold her own against any other country in the world. Because of these two reasons, Morton felt conscription was the only solution. As is evident from this section, the debate about conscription is not completely one-sided, however the arguments against are far more convincing. The impact of this issue on Canadian history is very great indeed. This was the first time in Canadian history that men had been forced to go to war out of North America. The divisive consequences of conscription would be evident for many decades to come, as there would always be a certain grudge between English and French Canadians on the issue of loyalty to Britain. Over the years that passed after conscription, the issue would continue to be brought up whenever loyalty to Britain was in question or debate. Because of this, many people see it as both a negative and positive event. It is seen as negative because of the division that resulted from it, but it is also seen as positive because it is hard to question our loyalty to Britain when we were willing to go so far as to force young men to go to war and most likely death, simply to show our support for their cause. Conscription will always be remembered in Canada as an issue that separated Canada, but brought us closer to Britain . E. Conclusion In conclusion, conscription in Canada during World War I was unjustified and wrong. It infringed on the basic rights of Canadians set out in the constitution that stated that no man should be forced to fight outside Canada unless there was a direct threat to Canada itself. It also was never fully supported in Canada, simply by the English Canadians who outnumbered French Canadians and therefore made up the majority. It divided Canada between English and French Canadians in a separation that was never fully mended, as there was always a certain resentment between the two groups. The facts speak for themselves, less than fifteen percent of the men conscripted were sent to duty overseas, which shows how futile and useless conscription was. Finally, and most importantly, many innocent lives were lost as a result of conscription, lives that would never be recovered. It does not matter what benefits we gained from the war, nothing can justify the loss of so many lives.

The Beatles2 essays

The Beatles2 essays There has been more books published about one 20th-century icon than any other, this band that is said to have broken down barriers in all ways, is the Beatles. Their music was said to have driven that younger generation mad. Perhaps it was because they were one of the first bands ever play real rock and roll music. Or maybe it was just because they were foreigners in the world of music, yet seemed to fit right in with the young people. Whatever reason was, the Beatles were a band that shaped a generation and ones soon to come. The Beatles were more than just a rock and roll band, they were a group of young men who wanted to go a new direction in music. John Lennon, one of lead vocalists, basically started with the intention of moving away from the "Skiffle Boom Era" which was dominating the time (Buskin 110). In his doing so, he began to lay the foundation for what would later be the most famous rock band ever. The original band members were as follows : John Lennon, vocals and guitar ; Paul McCartney, vocals ; George Harrison, guitar ; Pete Best, drums ; Stuart In March of 1961, the Beatles began to play at the club that would later be nicknamed "The Home of the Beatles". The Cavern Club, which's premises comprised a small group of cellars below a seven story warehouse which had originally been used as an air raid shelter during the war. Later, Alan Sytner, a jazz fan decided to open it up as a new jazz club. After a few years, he sold it to Ray McFall another jazz fan. The club was originally strictly jazz and no rock. Luckily for the Beatles, the times were changing and McFall quickly changed the policy the Beatles soon became regulars. This would be the club that would make them famous.(Davies 78) News of the band's Liverpool popularity soon became know throughout England and later a large part of Europe. Shortly after their first tour of Hamburg, ...

Marketing Ethics Essay Sample

Marketing Ethics Essay Sample Marketing Ethics Essay Marketing has been an aggressive culture for companies and organizations to promote their products and services. In this way, employees are tasked to advertise their products that are available on the market to be purchased by interested buyers. For this reason, the asset and the liability management of the operating institution enhance the credibility of the marketing accessibility of the company to become more efficient. An advertisement is visibly seen in mass media platforms because every organization wants to increase their product or service exposure to their target markets, which seeks to ensure that the value of their commodities is highly trusted by the potential consumers. Regulating marketing practices is one way of controlling unethical practices with regard to advertisement because it values the trust and mechanism of the government to become functional. Ethics in marketing is involved with the fair advertisement of products and commodities to the target market. In this case, companies should be aware that they should promote their product that does not cause offensive remarks against the public. Examples are profanity, pornography, hate speech, discriminatory, derogatory, and illegal actions that corrupts the minds of the viewers or the target markets. There are numerous regulating agencies around the world that are monitoring the advertisement campaigns of companies promoting their product. This is to ensure that the quality of the product is seen to be trustable by the target markets, which makes it interesting for the target markets to try the product. Any unacceptable advertisements are usually taken down by the mass media in order to prevent conflicting interests that degrade the dignity of the consumers or the target markets due to inappropriate promotional strategies of the company. In order to regulate a certain campaign, monitoring agencies and authorities collaborate with each other to ensure that there is a fair promotional campaign for companies who want to promote their product. There are set of rules and regulations mandated by both local and international regulating agencies for advertisers to limit their campaign so that it will not cause any invasion of interest and conflicting of ideas to the consumer. Marketing campaigns have limitations with regard to the time of exposure. This also applied to social media websites wherein there is certain duration for every product that is promoted by the advertisers to ensure that the interest of the target markets is ensured. A company needs to show their interest by means of displaying acceptable photos, videos, and content to the public that promotes an acceptable advertisement campaign. Since competition in the market is now becoming stronger, advertising agencies offer lower prices for companies or individuals who want to promote their product to their target consumers. Pricing strategy is an important ethical structure because it values the price that is compatible with the pricing structure and the quality of advertisement that is offered to companies or any interested party. In this regard, the structure of target marketing using acceptable ethical norms will guide advertisers and consumers to ensure that their product is promoted in a legal and ethical way. Products are categorized according to their function because it prevents confusion and a conflict of interest to the target markets whenever they are looking for a product or service to render. In this case, having an acceptable marketing campaign becomes relevant for every consumer who wants to try the product (Cools Gielen, 2014). Reference Cools, Guy Gielen, Pascal (2014). The Ethics of Art. Valiz: Amsterdam

What does it mean to act morally Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

What does it mean to act morally - Term Paper Example The proposed model adopts theories of Psychological Egoism and Ethical Egoism but it is largely based on the Buddhist philosophy of enlightenment. Analysis on Existing Theories of Moral Philosophy Sense of â€Å"morality† occurs naturally in human mind. Pursuing private benefits and ignoring the wellbeing of other living beings are also natural human behaviors. Conflicting mortal forces of â€Å"morality† and â€Å"immorality† are responsible for a great amount of literature in the human history. Lord Buddha taught 2600 years ago that correctly comprehending these forces is the path way to the ultimate freedom of humans. Theology play a vital role in moral philosophy. However the divine command theory is inefficient in describing the religion lead morality. It acknowledges the significance of religion in moral philosophy. But it is based on a rather ambiguous presumption i.e. â€Å"there exists a God†. Accordingly God defines what is good and what is bad. Approximately 2500 years ago Plato questioned: â€Å"is something right (or wrong) because the gods command it, or do the gods commands it because it is right?† Religion lead morality had been much easier to widely implement during the pre-industrial revolution. In the history fear and faith towards religious abstracts kept humans from acting upon immoral desires. ... Thus the divine command theory is not an efficient approach for contemporary moral philosophy. Psychology is acknowledged as a vital component in moral philosophy. There are many theories advocated by the psychologists relating to the moral judgment example: Piaget’s â€Å"genetic Epistemology† and Haidt’s â€Å"social-intuitionist† theory (Bucciarelli et. al., 2008). Piaget, 1975, described the cognitive development process of children in terms of their biological makeup and psychological process involving adaptation and organization. When a new situation is presented to a child it becomes assimilated and accommodated in memory. These two processes jointly results in adaptation to the new situation. Creating structures of related and interconnected information is a natural process occurring in human minds (known as organization in Piaget’s theory). Thus when the same situation is presented repeatedly child reacts according to what is already been a ssimilated and accommodated. According to Piaget’s theory logical reasoning is the aftermath of adaptation and organization. Haidt, 1978, described â€Å"immediate intuition† as the judicable basis for identifying what is right and what is wrong. Haidt’s theory postulates that conscious reasoning of humans is not effective for identifying what is right or wrong. Alternatively it is vital for influencing the actions of others. Haidt’s theory defines immediate intuition as â€Å"the sudden appearance in consciousness of a moral judgment, including an affective valence (good-bad, like-dislike), without any conscious awareness of having gone through steps of searching, weighing evidence, or inferring a conclusion† (Haidt, 2001, p. 818). Limitation of Haidt’s above definition is discussed in the

Memo 1 about health policy analyses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Memo 1 about health policy analyses - Essay Example Expansion of a weight loss program constituting of obese adults would aid in saving Medicare expenditure. The lifestyle intervention program had the capacity to generate weight loss and the initial phase of this program involved random global clinical trials. The trials demonstrated the ability of this program in generating weight loss and preventing the development of prediabetes to diabetes (Thorpe & Yang, 2011). The participants of this program were obese adults and the immediate goal was to attain and maintain a seven percent weight loss of an individual. Moreover, the program was inclusive of exercise and behavioral alterations that lasted for six month and proved to be the most effective approach in weight loss. It led to an average of seven percent weight loss among the participants, which also persisted after a follow up of three years. In addition, it minimized the occurrence of diabetes among the participants aged twenty-five and above by a margin of fifty eight percent (Thorpe & Yang, 2011). Moreover, it reduced diabetes by seventy percent to the participants aged sixty and a bove. The community-based program had the same goal of attaining a seven percent weight loss and inclusive of a curriculum developed to accomplish diet, exercise, and behavioral alterations (Thorpe & Yang, 2011). This program generate reductions comparable to those achieve in the lifestyle program. It achieved a six percent weight loss after six months. This program was advantageous because it involved low administration costs. The low costs of the program generated a decrease in health care expenditure over a period of two years. The health law has prompted the existence of a body responsible for funding these programs. Moreover, this law has enabled identification of approaches aimed at improving the worth of health care, and minimizing costs. The lifestyle intervention and community based programs have demonstrated their

Comparing Destruction in Rocking Horse Winner and Scarlet Ibis :: comparison compare contrast essays

Seeds of Destruction in Rocking Horse Winner and Scarlet Ibis Family relationships can, in many cases, bear the "seeds of destruction" that lead to the downfall of other family members. This is evident in Paul's relationship with his mother in "The Rocking Horse Winner" by D. H. Lawrence, and in Doodle's relationship with his brother in the short story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst. Both Paul and Doodle are controlled by a relationship within their family that pushes them too hard, causing their deaths. Doodle is controlled by his brother with fear on several separate occasions. When they were younger, Brother took Doodle into the barn loft and showed him the coffin they had made, expecting him to die as a baby. Doodle becomes extremely frightened, and doesn't want to touch the coffin. Brother makes him touch it, by threatening to leave him alone if he doesn't. In response to the threat, Doodle cries, "Don't leave me, Brother," (p 3) and touching the casket, screams. Brother uses fear to control his younger brother, forcing him to do cruel things. In the other story, Paul also is controlled in family relationships. His mother puts great strain on him by being financially irresponsible, and living beyond their means. Paul feels the strain, and is influenced by it to take the pressure away. Also, Paul's mother did not love him. This is a controlling factor because he works extra hard to gain her love. The family relationships with both Doodle and Paul also push them beyond their limits. Doodle is forced to learn to walk through Brother's determination. "Shut up, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to teach you to walk," his brother has said before heaving him up to try again. Brother's pride pushes Doodle to be like the other children, causing them to set unattainable goals of rowing, climbing, and swimming. Doodle is stretched to exhaustion through these exertions.

Blended Families Essay

Cartwright (2010) found that couples who re-marry after divorce can often be led to that decision by the need for an intimate relationship and the benefits they receive from that relationship. The need for financial means also brought some to the decision that they would cohabitate before re-marrying. Cartwright also came to the conclusion that while a lot of the participants in the study were aware of the possible difficulties of becoming a blended family, most of them did not talk to one another about certain parenting issues such as discipline and rules. Most of the participants also did not discuss how they would handle this change for the children involved in the two families that were blending. Cartwright says that these findings supported earlier research that suggested that couples who are blending their families often avoid talking about difficult issues so as to avoid conflict. What Percentage of Households Have Blended Families? Studies have shown that about 9% of married couple households and 11.5% of households where the parents are living together but not married, have stepchildren who live in the home. (Teachman & Teadrow, 2008) A survey done, called the HILDA survey, showed that 13% of households in the third wave of the survey, have stepchildren that either live in the home or do not and on some occasions both. A longitudinal study was done and indicated that out of the 1265 people involved in taking the study, 18.6% of them had lived in a stepfamily between the ages of 6 and 16 years old. This study included participants where the household was either remarried or cohabitating. (Nicholson, Fergusson, & Horwood, 1999). Many stepfamilies find challenges that make it very difficult to have normal functional interactions amongst its’ members. What Areas of Concern Are There for Children in Blended Families? Through research studies on blended families there seems to be a much greater risk of negative outcomes for children that are part of a blended family, as opposed to other children around  them who are from a first time marriage. (Amato, 2000; Bray, 1999: Hetherington & Kelly, 2002). When researchers have done studies on stepfamilies post-remarriage, they have found out very little about how the couple prepares themselves and their families before they re-marry or move in together to live as a whole family unit. There are a couple exceptions. A study done in 1989 in the US was conducted specifically to find out what couples do to prepare themselves and their families for a re-marriage. (Ganong & Coleman, 1989). More recently than that a study was done in Britain that questioned both the mothers and the stepfathers to find out what it was they did, if anything, to prepare prior to the re-marriage. (Smith & Robertson, 2008) The findings were that many re-married quickly and did not discuss what each other’s role would be when it came to parenting. (Ganong & Coleman, 1989; Robertson, 2008; Smith, 2008). Evidence appeared that showed there was very little, if any, help given to the children to help them with the transition into this new family life. (Robertson, 2008). How Common is Re-Marriage? Research shows that almost 20% of Americans are divorced and remarried. It has become increasingly common over time. Stepfamilies are becoming the fastest growing family unit. (Berger, 1995; Walsh, 2003b). Studies estimate that one in every two couples in the United States will divorce (Derma, 1999). What Are the Legal Ramifications of a Blended Family? Legal battles can become very expensive and are very complicated. Centuries ago, it was said that the children â€Å"belonged† to the father and so when a marriage ended, the children would stay with the father (Knibiehler, 1995). This was due large in part to the father having to financially support, educate and protect his children much like the father figure of Christian Mythology (Friedman, 1995). Around the time of the Industrial Revolution came domesticity. With that came the idea and emphasis that a child’s need to be emotionally nurtured was more important. That did not change the father’s legal obligations to financially support, educate and protect his children. With that, the  father’s role became one more of support while the mother’s role took the lead as the one who provided the children with emotional nurturance (Jacob, 1988). The one exception to the rule that the mother should have custody of the children, was that she be proven to be the cause for the end of the marriage. If that could be proven, she risked losing her property and her children. Around 1975, the idea of â€Å"no-fault† divorces was starting to have an impact on legislation (Fogarty, 2001). While the arguments for this type of divorce were mostly moral ones, the leaders of politics and religion were arguing that we had lost what once held our society together. Another big part of â€Å"no fault† divorce proceedings that nobody gave much attention to for a long period of time, was how violence or abuse within the marriage and family should affect the outcome. Very slowly did family courts begin to take in to consideration the unacceptable behaviors towards spouses and children. Then they began to make decisions based more on those findings. What Things Help a Blended Family to Be Successful? According to Visher, Visher & Pasley, 2003, becoming a blended family is a very complicated process that involves transitioning from one’s previous life and household to a whole new life and possibly household where things may be very different than before. There are many things to be thought about when choosing to blend a family. Several things must be examined since they may influence how the new family blends together. It is important to know the experiences of the previous marriage, for both parties. It is also important to know how the continued contact with the previous spouse is handled. Also important is how each spouse differs when it comes to personal maturity, the experiences each has had throughout their lives and what social status they hold. Finally, knowing what each partner considers the norm and what each ones expectations are (Swenson, 1997). Understanding how to help families of remarriage to blend successfully is an important outline for research, intervention and prevention efforts within blended families (Von Eye & Schuster, 2000). Using this approach helps to guide families when they face challenges or difficult times within their blended family (Hawley, 2000;Walsh, 1998b;, 2003a). When talking about resilience in a blended family, a lot of things are brought into the mix. Risk factors such as stressful events or bad conditions are weighed against protective factors such a family and community support to help blended families and their children to be successful in working through the hard times (Norman, 2000). According to McCubbin and McCubbin, (1988), there are certain dimensions, characteristics and features that must be looked at in order to help a blended family be more resilient to the hard times. They look at resistance to disruption in the event of a change and how well a person adapts in a critical situation. Walsh (1996) came up with the idea of relational resilience. Models have been created to test these factors. The first model, the pre-crisis ABCX model looks at the A (stressor), B (resource), and C (definition of the stressor) which help families protect themselves and get through crisis. Second are the models that focus on before and after crisis factors and the FAAR Model that was developed by McCubbin and Patterson (McCubbin et al., 1996). Last is the Typology Model of Family Adjustment and Adaptation, developed by McCubbin and McCubbin (McCubbin et al., 1996). This model focuses on what patterns are used in the way the family functions and what each persons role is in adjusting and adapting during adversity or crisis. According to Walsh (1998b), making a blended family successful and helping them to stay together can be accomplished by encouraging the family’s belief system, a supportive community, communication with one another and support within the family structure, acknowledging that some adversity it very normal and standing together as a family and believeing that you can achieve what you set out to accomplish. How is Attachment in Stepfamilies Affected? Bowlby (1973) has found that while there is an endless amount of research done on attachment, very little of that has been done on stepfamilies. He found that the disruption of bonds that a child has may make it very hard to form secure attachments otherwise in life, therefore, leading to possible psychological disorders. Separation from a parent and conflict with a new stepparent may  cause problems with attachment and adjusting in the future (Henry & Holmes 1998). These types of situations often involve some form of threat (whether it be real or not) making one of the parents more unavailable (Kobak 1999). There was some speculation that a child being raised in a stepfamily would for sure have less secure attachments than those raised by their biological parents still together. They did state that insecurities may be part of the stress of divorce and remarriage (Love and Murdock 2004). As stated by Robert S. Feldman (2011), more than 5 million couples who are each others second marriages have at least one child that is a stepchild. He states that often times, a child’s role is unclear and they are not sure of what is expected of them. Children may not be sure what their responsibilities are as a part of the new family or how they should treat their new â€Å"parent† or â€Å"siblings†. Feldman also states that blending into a new family seems to be easier for children that are school age as opposed to teenagers. He states that it is due to several different things. The family’s financial situation usually improves with a remarriage and the addition of a second income. There are also more people in the family to share chores and responsibilities with as well as more people to have a social relationship with (Greene, Anderson, & Hetherington, 2003; Hetherington & Elmore, 2003). Though there is not much research on blended families and every aspect of the changes, challenges and success’s, it is clear that raising a blended family involves a lot of planning, preparing and nurturing on the part of the children to make it successful for everyone involved.