A Descriptive Study of the Behavioral Effects of Father Absence on Adolescents in Metro Manila

Abstract

This study tackles one of the most relevant social issue in the country today—fatherabsence among Filipino families brought upon by the social phenomenon known as the Filipino Diaspora, the scattering of Filipinos around the world as domestic workers. (Wehfritz, Vitug et al., 2006). By knowing how adolescents cope up with the loss of a father figure, either by separation, overseas work or death, the researcher can assess the behavioral effects of such loss. The objectives are to know the social and emotional complications that the adolescent will have to go through in such a social context, and what psychological and sociological problems arise from the youth’s life given his/her father’s absence. Furthermore, this study also hypothesized that father absence by separation and overseas work have worse effects than by death where the family even with a deceased father figure remains intact. A purposive survey was conducted using the WHO Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) to test for possible psychological disturbances, followed by indepth one-on-one interviews. Based on the SRQ, the results show that psychological disturbance was more common among adolescents whose fathers separated from or abandoned the family, compared to those whose fathers were working overseas or were dead. However, among adolescents with father-absence by death, feelings of gratefulness and awe towards their late father was pervasive. For adolescents under father-absence by overseas work, a small amount of disgust towards the father and a noticeable passivity was observed during the course of the interview. The interview results also revealed that resentment and emotional dependence were the key behaviors exhibited by adolescents, specifically those in the Separation and Overseas Work father categories. It also showed that separation by proximity of father and offspring develops passivity and even scorn among adolescents. The research recommends a full-scale quantitative research on the matter.