A survey of the problems of selected children of Filipino seamen

• Main Author: Alejo, Jose C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1982
• Subjects: Teenagers; Sailors > Philippines; Merchant mariners > Philippines; Counseling Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/3876; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_masteral/article/10714/viewcontent/CDTG004769_P__1_.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study investigated the problems of adolescent children of selected Filipino seamen. These major problems centered on four major concerns namely, Home and Family, Boy-Girl Relation, Relation to Others, and Self-Centered Concerns. These four major concerns were selected in as much as these were the common concerns of adolescents. An inquiry was set on whether there were differences in results between the groups of Father Absent (FA) and Father Present (FP) children in relation to the given major concerns. This was done by comparing the results of the two groups in terms of sex and of expressed concerns of each group. In the FA group, comparison was also done in terms of birth order, i.e., only children, eldest children, middle children, and youngest children, as well as in terms of the absence of father before and after age 6. The presence of male relative was also looked into. Inter- and intra- comparisons among and between groups were done as shown in tables presented in the study. The study employed a survey method, using a questionnaire. The questionnaire was adapted from the Mooney Problem Checklist with additional questions specifically addressed to FA children. There were 158 respondents in all, divided equally between the FA group and the FP group. The results showed no significant difference between the two groups in terms of the four major concerns mentioned. One noticeable difference, however, was found within the FA group. The FA females ranked Self-Centered Concern first; whereas, the FA males ranked Relation to Others first. The results of the study neither confirmed nor denied the findings of related literature, which described that the absence of the father results in an imbalance on the children's development from sexual and psychological to moral and social. This could be explained in view of the fact that the related literature were of western construct. In as much as the research was a pioneering endeavor, Filipino adolescent children could be quite different from their western counterpart. Another reason for the lack of significant difference could be traced to the understanding what absence is, and conversely, what presence is. Absence could mean temporary separation for socially accepted reasons, such as vocational responsibilities or military obligations, or could refer to a more long term absences due to death or divorce (Herzog and Sudia, 1973). Fathers could also be absent and yet, his presence could be felt by constant and consistent communication or by how the remaining parent, the mother, reinforced the importance of the father. Presence, meanwhile, could be either quantified or qualified. Fathers could be present, that is, not working abroad, and yet could be spending more time working outside of the home. Thus, while physically present, his role remains limited to that of being a provider.