A THREE-CASE STUDY DESIGN ON THE SELF-CONCEPT OF NINE YEAR-OLD CHILDREN WITH SEPARATED PARENTS

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Graduate School of Education University of Perpetual Help System DALTA Las Pias City

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Education Major in Guidance and Counseling

MARK ANTHONY V. BERCANDO

May 2011

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APPROVAL SHEET This thesis entitled A THREE-CASE STUDY DESIGN ON THE SELF-CONCEPT OF NINE YEAR-OLD CHILDREN WITH SEPARATED PARENTS prepared and submitted by MARK ANTHONY V. BERCANDO in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education major in Guidance and Counseling has been examined and recommended for acceptance and approval for oral examination.

BJULAH Q. SILVA, RGC, PhD. Adviser

ORAL EXAMINATION COMMITTEE

Approved by the Committee on Oral Examination with a grade of _________________.

MERICIA L. BOLIVAR, EdD Member

FLORENCIA C. MARFIL, PhD Member

PAULITO V. HILARIO, PhD Chairman

Accepted and approved in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Education major in Guidance and Counseling.

IRINEO F. MARTINEZ Jr., LLB, MBA, PhD. Dean, Graduate School of Education

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This endeavour would not be possible without the significant people who, in one way or another contributed to the completion of this study. He would like to express his gratitude to Dr. Cleofe C. Palac who patiently mentored and guided the researcher in coming up with this study. Her expertise in the fields of the helping profession and research along with her encouragement to the researcher most especially during the trying times, are really indispensable. He also would like to thank Dr. Bjulah Q. Silva for taking time to continue what Dr. Palac left which led to the accomplishment of this study. To the constant understanding and support of Dr. Nieves M. Medina, former Graduate School Dean, who really served as a source of motivation in pursuing this study. Her motherly and modest words of wisdom really moved the researcher to undergo all the processes, despite his own personal inconvenience. To the chance given to him by Dr. Florencia C. Marfil, current Dean of the Graduate School and a member of his panel, her remarks and comments guided the researcher to improve more and see the other perspective of the study.

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To the chairman of the panel, Dr. Paulito Hilario, for constructive remarks and suggestions for the betterment of this study and directed the researcher to the proper data management. To Dr. Lydia Beronca, who gave a lot of inputs which contributed to the formulation of this research study. To Dr. Mericia Bolvar, for serving as one of the panellists, her words of encouragement and wisdom boosted the moral of the researcher to pursue the study at all costs. The researcher really valued De La Salle Santiago Zobel School President Br. Dennis Magbanua FSC, for motivating the faculty to pursue further studies along with his incessant love and support to the researcher. To all the help of DLSZs former Learning Resource Center head Carol Ballesteros and its current head, Heremia Caparas, who did not get tired of making referrals for the researcher to go to different libraries and sources of information. To the assistance extended to him by DLSZs Grade School Principal Mrs Ruby P. Ramos and the Student Support and Information Services Director Mrs. Teodora Riel during the conduct of the case studies.

To the ever vibrant and accommodating brain of Maricel IlagRamos who patiently and keenly gave constructive and vital contribution rolled with her witty but heartening approach during the data management and analysis. To the compassionate and mentor-like, Ms. Socorro Diesta who, whole-heartedly devoted time to review and analyzed the data of this study despite short notice due to unforeseen circumstances. To the small clever woman but with a big heart Angela Gracielle Austria who did not fail to give her valuable insights and suggestions equipped with her comic and friendly remarks which really helped the researcher to realize the essential themes in this study. This wont be complete without the family and friends who served as his source of strengths and motivations to continue despite the hardships he was going through. Thus, the researcher would like to express his deepest gratitude to the following: To his beloved mother, Yolanda Versoza, whos always there to support and understand him. Her love and unending inspiration to continue life really energized the researcher to go through this. To Ellen Garcia who served as the second mother to the researcher. Her genuine and immeasurable love and support in different forms to the researcher are tremendously appreciated.

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To Jeremiah Garcia, who served as a loving and caring brother to the researcher. His simple but very essential assistance from the very beginning up to the end of this study made a great impact on the researcher most especially during the dreaded moments in the conduct of this study. He, together with Manang lifted the spirit of the

researcher to continue this endeavour despite all his doubts and hesitations. To all the counselors of the Counseling Department of De La Salle Santiago Zobel family with their head, Maureen Leuterio, most especially to Erica, Riz, Nancy, and Mike V. for the words of encouragement, joy and other forms of help during stressful times. To the friends like Amy Montao, Sir Jess Sulit, Fe Garcia, Robert Entrata, Rina Perez, Randale Polo, Ms. Chinita, Quennie

Baterna and other individuals who expressed their love and concern during the times of hardships in completing this endeavour. To those whose names the researcher failed to mention, the support and words of kindness are deeply appreciated by him. To the Light of Jesus family led by Bro. Bo Sanchez, who continues to fill the researchers spiritual emptiness was really essential in trying times. .

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Most of all, to the Creator, Jesus Christ, who gave the researcher good health, wisdom and capacities to do whatever undertakings he wants to pursue. Nothing is impossible to Him with strong faith and good intentions. To God be the Glory!

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Abstract Name of the Institution Address Title : University of Perpetual Help System DALTA : Alabang-Zapote Road, Las Pias City : A Three-Case Design on the Self-Concept of Nine Year-Old Children with Separated Parents Author Degree Major Date of Completion : Mark Anthony Versoza Bercando : Master of Arts in Education : Guidance and Counseling : May 2011

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: This study described and analyzed the three cases of children with separated parents focusing on their self-concept. Specifically, it answered the following questions: 1. What is the profile of the subjects in terms of: 1.1 demographic data 1.1.1 age 1.1.2 gender 1.1.3 grade level 1.1.4 religion

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1.1.5 ordinal position 1.2 family background 1.2.1 age of the subject during the parents separation 1.2.2 cause/s of parents separation 1.2.3 current setup of subjects parents 1.2.4 economic status of subjects parents; and 1.2.5 current person/s living with the subject at home? 2. What is the perceived self-concept of the subjects based on the themes and sub-themes formulated? 3. What are the behavioural manifestations of the subjects based on the themes and sub-themes formulated from the study? 4. What are the implications of this study in the field of the helping profession? 5. What intervention program can be proposed based on the themes and sub-themes formulated from the study?

METHODOLOGY: This study made use of Case Study N - 1 replicated three times or three children with separated parents. Qualitative approach was mainly

utilized in the data gathering and data analysis. The methods used for data collection were interviews, observations and the use of anecdotal records from the School Counseling Office. The three respondents were interviewed as well their mothers regarding the parents separation and their self-concept. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed by the researcher and with the help of experts who were consulted and verified the themes and sub-themes gathered.

FINDINGS: Results showed the five domains formulated from the case studies were social, academics, self, physical attributes and family. These domains were labeled based on the content of respondents interview. Categories were created to describe the perceptions of the respondents in these domains. Based on the five domains presented

here, it can be said that Philip had positive self-concept in terms of social, physical attributes, and family while he had a negative selfconcept on the domains of academics and self. Moreover, Pamela had a positive self-concept in terms of academics and family while she perceived herself negatively on social, self, and physical attributes.

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Likewise, PJ had a positive self-concept in all of the domains formulated in this study such social, academics, self, physical attribution and family. As a product of this study, a proposed intervention program to enhance the self-concept of children with separated parents was made based on the themes and sub-themes of the case studies.

CONCLUSIONS: Realizing the results of the study, it can be said that the separation of parents creates great impact on how child develops his/her self-concept. In this study, five domains were labelled based on the results of data gathering, which were the areas to see in identifying the veracity of parents separation on the self-concept of children. It can be said that there might be other children who are products of broken can still have a positive self-concept like PJ. This might be the result of good civil relationship of both parents and constant communication with him. On the other hand, some domains of self-concept (if not all or some only) can be affected like the cases of Philip and Pamela. Their cases can be attributed to certain factors such as intense marital conflict, and loss or poor communication of both parents. Ones self-concept

is really important as this serves as his foundation to cope with lifes stages. From the moment people are born and become aware of who

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they are, it is very important that parents secure that their children develop positive self-concepts in terms of the different domains like what this study had presented.

RECOMMENDATIONS: In the light of the findings of this study, the researcher recommends the following: 1. More in-depth studies should be conducted about children with separated parents employing longitudinal study to see the extent of impact on children. This might be a good presentation on understanding the behaviour, coping

mechanisms and its effect on their views about family. 2. Comparative studies can be made on children with separated parents in Metro Manila and those in provinces to see if there are significant differences between the two. 3. Different areas may be explored like personality or emotions of the children with separated parents to set the common trends of the subjects. 4. Future researchers may conduct similar studies and may compare the differences between coping skills of male and female children.

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5. The proposed self-concept enhancement program in this study can be a subject of another research regarding its feasibility and effectiveness.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE TITLE PAGE APPROVAL SHEET ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Introduction Theoretical/Conceptual Framework Conceptual Paradigm Statement of the Problem Scope and Delimitations Significance of the Study Definition of Terms Review of Related Literature and Studies 2 METHODOLOGY Research Design Population and Sampling 55 56 1 8 13 16 17 18 19 21 i ii iii vii ix xvi

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Research Instrumentation Data Gathering Procedures Data Analysis 3

56 57 59

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA 63

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary Conclusions Recommendations 106 109 110 112 119 119

REFERRENCES APPENDICES A B Letter to the Principal

Letter to the Director for Student Support and Services Information 120 Letter to the Subjects Parents Guide Questions on Parents Separation Guide Questions Subjects Self-Concept Guide Questions for Parent/s of the Subjects Self-concept Development Program for Philip Self-concept Development Program for Pamela
121

C D E F G H

123 125 127 128 133

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Self-concept Development Program for PJ

138

Self-concept Enhancement Program for children with Separated Parents Evaluation Form

142

CURRICULUM VITAE

143

LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE

1 2 3 4

Demographic Data of Subjects Family Background of the Subjects Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Social Thoughts, Academics feelings and behaviour towards

80 81 84 88

5 6

Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Self Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Physical Attributes

92 95

7 8

Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Family Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Parents Separation

97 100

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Chapter 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction The increasing cases of children with

separated parents seem to be unstoppable. In the Philippines, legal separation permits married couples to live separately but not to remarry as they are still considered married by law (Medina, 1991as cited in Yu 2006). Based on records of the Philippine National Statistics Office in 2002, 558, 023 couples have separated in the year 2000. Though it is only 2.14% of the total number of marriages in the country, it represented a 0.97% hike from the 1995 Census done by the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines Research Office (2000) as mentioned in Yu 2006. The CBCP Research Office claimed

that the statistics was not that conclusive since legal separation is still considered socially disgraceful, thats why some parents chose to have an informal set-up by which no court hearings are involved but only two parties mutual agreement.

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Unfortunately, the child becomes the target in the battleground during the conflict of their parents. Each parent begrudges the childs relationship to the other. Even though a parent may hold his/her tongue, the attitude still exudes. The child lives with distain. Children are generally not old enough to understand how to cope with parents separation, which can lead to both mental anguish and emotional problems such as the child acting up in retaliation to the new situation. Children may become aggressive or distant to other children and adults. They may feel embarrassed at the situation and feel as though all other children are different from them and that they are the only ones experiencing this. They may feel angry towards either parent, or feel as though showing affection to one parent without the other is an act of almost betrayal. They may feel a sense of divided loyalty to either or both of their parents (Amato, 2002). The family takes a vital role in shaping ones

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self-concept. Drastic change in the family has a big impact on the child. According to Rogers, (Pescitelli, 1996 as cited in Diche et. al, 2001), when significant others in the person's world (usually parents or family members) provide positive regard that is conditional, rather than unconditional, the person introjects the desired values, making them his/her own, and acquires "conditions of worth". The self-concept then becomes based on these standards of value rather than on organismic evaluation. These conditions of worth disturb the "organismic valuing process", which is a fluid, ongoing process whereby experiences are accurately symbolized and valued according to optimal enhancement of the organism and self. The need for positive self-regard leads to a selective perception of experience in terms of the conditions of worth that now exist. Those experiences in

accordance with these conditions are perceived and symbolized accurately in awareness, while those that are not are distorted or denied into awareness. This leads to an incongruence" between the self as

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perceived and the actual experience of the organism, resulting in possible confusion, tension, and

maladaptive behaviour. Such estrangement is the common human condition. Experiences can be perceived as threatening without conscious

awareness via "subception", a form of discrimination without awareness that can result to anxiety.

Personal experience as a product of separated parents Those mentioned circumstances on parents separation are also manifested in my case as a product of a broken family. At the age of five, I

already considered myself as a loser because that was my age when my parents parted ways, loser in such a way that I lost a complete home, between my mother and father, me and my sister were the most affected ones. I felt the pain and helplessness when they separated. It was really a grieving process, which engendered my feelings of disbelief, anger, sadness, and depression. I experienced a number of

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losses, including the loss of important relationships with family members and friends, changes in environment, loss of traditions established by the intact family, and loss of what the children

themselves were like before the breakup of the family. We were just a simple family then. My father was a public utility jeep driver while my mother used to be a plain housewife. I have a sister older than me by two years, and our family was really coping well in terms of economic condition. But there is no really perfect family in this world. For some, they may be financially well-off but poor in terms of handling family relationship. In our case, my father was really having a hard time controlling his emotion most especially when he was drunk. He usually expressed his anger and hatred to the things he saw at the expense of a traumatic experience we faced through him. He harshly destroyed most of the things in our home either appliances or simple stuff using his big fists along with a scandalous voice dominating our

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senses which was even extended to the community. This scenario took place oftentimes which put our family in the limelight of shame and embarrassment in the community. Thus, I really couldnt blame my mother when she decided to leave my father and brought me and my sister to the province. This marked the drastic changes in my family and in us children at large. I remember when we were going to the bus terminal, I started bombarding my mother with lots of questions regarding my father. Questions like Ano na itatawag ko kay Papa? (How will I call my father now?), and Anong mangyayari kay Papa mamaya? (What will happen to my father later?). I received no responses from my mother and eventually asked me to stop talking and just follow her. Since that night, I have not seen my father until I reached fourth year high school at the age of 16. From five years old up to sixteen years of age, I was dealing with the absence of my father. Though I really understand why they have to part ways, I could not avoid the

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times when I was asking God why do I have to deal with my difficult life to the extent of blaming him for everything that had happened. As a child, I was finding a missing piece of my life before, though I was surrounded by a lot of relatives and friends of my mother, who were expressing their concerns and care for us, I was still longing for a paternal figure who could guide and talk to me on my concerns even though both of my parents have their own partners. Since I was living with my mother together with her own family, there were times when I felt alone and isolated. Jealousy and hatred developed towards my stepfather. I blamed him for being a barrier for the reconciliation of my parents. I was thinking if he did not come to our lives, it would be easier for us to have a complete family again. When my parents separated, my mom had to learn to earn for our living. She had to sell sea foods in the market for us. Thus, we had to learn how to cook, wash the dishes, laundry and the likes because

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no one would do that for us. My maturity was becoming faster but my self-esteem was becoming poorer as I experienced the insufficiency of my family in terms of financial, emotional, physical and spiritual aspects of life. During my childhood years, I was quite ashamed to face groups of people on the road, most especially if they were adults, and couldnt even talk to them properly. I was having a hard time to express myself to them because I felt a lot of insecurities, lack of confidence and the threat of any possible embarrassment. I had a poor self-concept that time. I always thought that others were better than I am and what I could only do is to support them. Aside from my own experience, the number of parents separation in my current workplace got my attention since out of 1882 students, 142 of them or 7.55 percent are products of broken homes. This only entails that even in a catholic school like De La Salle Santiago Zobel School; there are students who may be affected by this phenomenon in the family

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system. They may be well-off in terms of economic status as almost all of the students belong to class A or B but they are also children who may be still looking for a complete and loving family. Thus, the incidents of parents separation nowadays and the veracity of my experiences as a product of separated parents were the reasons which encouraged me so much to study the cases of children with separated parents particularly their selfconcept. Demographic data such as age, gender, grade level, religion and ordinal position of the subjects were discussed along with their family background which includes their age during the parents separation, cause/s of parents separation, current setup of subjects parents, economic status of subjects parents; and the current person/s living with them at home. Furthermore, the perceived self-concept of the subjects, behavioural manifestations based on the themes and sub-themes formulated from the participants were significant concerns of this study.

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Moreover, this study looked into its implications in the field of the helping profession, as well as, to propose an intervention program based on the themes and sub-themes formulated from the study.

Theoretical/Conceptual Framework Parents separation has been a perennial problem in society. Couples nowadays tend to take the easy way out. Instead of trying to resolve their conflicts, some couples just opt for separation (be it legalized or not) or annulment. Marriage counselors, family therapists, and psychiatrists can likewise validate the increasing Consequently, numbers this of marital the

separation.

affects

psychological make-up (i.e., the cognition, affect, and behavior) of their children.

Rogers (Saul Mcleod, 2007) defined self as "the organized, consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself". The self is the humanistic term for who we really are as a person. The self is

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our inner personality, and can be likened to the soul. It is influenced by the experiences a person has in his life, and out of interpretations of those

experiences. Two primary sources that influence our self-concept are childhood experiences and

evaluation by others.

According to Rogers as cited in Mcleod 2007, people want to feel, experience and behave in ways which are consistent with our self-image and which reflect what we would like to be like, our ideal-self. The closer our self-image and ideal-self are to each other, the more consistent or congruent we are and the higher our sense of self-worth. A person is said to be in a state of incongruence if some of the totality of their experience is unacceptable to them and is denied or distorted in the self-image.

The humanistic approach states that the self is composed of concepts unique to ourselves. The selfconcept includes three components such as selfworth, self-image and ideal self.

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Self-worth (or self-esteem) pertains to what people think about themselves. Rogers believed feelings of self-worth develop in early childhood and are formed from the interaction of the child with the mother and father.

Self-image

refers

on

how

people

see

themselves, which is important to good psychological health. Self-image includes the influence of our body image on inner personality. At a simple level, we might perceive ourselves as a good or bad person, beautiful or ugly. Self-image has an effect on how a person thinks feels and behaves in the world.

Ideal self states the person who an individual would like to be. It consists of his goals and ambitions in life, and is dynamic i.e. forever changing. The ideal self in childhood is not the ideal self in their teens or late twenties, etc.

Carl Rogers as cited in Mcleod 2007, viewed the child as having two basic needs: positive regard from other people and self-worth.

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How people think about themselves, their feelings of self-worth are of fundamental importance both to psychological health and to the likelihood that they can achieve goals and ambitions in life and achieve self-actualization.

Self-worth may be seen as a continuum from very high to very low. For Carl Rogers as Mcleod, 2007 mentiomed, a person, who has high self-worth, that is, has confidence and positive feelings about him or herself, faces challenges in life, accepts failure and unhappiness at times, and is open with people.

A person with low self-worth may avoid challenges in life, not accept that life can be painful and unhappy at times, and will be defensive and guarded with other people.

Rogers believed that feelings of self-worth develop in early childhood and are formed from the interaction of the child with the mother and father. As a child grows older, interactions with significant

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others affect feelings of self-worth.

Rogers believed that people need to be regarded positively by others; they need to feel valued, respected, treated with affection and loved. Positive regard has to do with how other people evaluate and judge them in social interaction. Rogers made a distinction between unconditional positive regard and conditional positive regard. Unconditional parents, significant positive others regard (and the is where

humanist

therapist) accept and love the person for what he or she is. Positive regard is not withdrawn if the person does something wrong or makes a mistake. The consequences of unconditional positive regard are that the person feels free to try things out and make mistakes, even though this may lead to getting it worse at times. People who are able to self-actualize are more likely to have received unconditional positive regard from others, especially their parents in childhood. Conditional positive regard is where positive

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regard, praise and approval, depend upon the child, for example, behaving in ways that the parents think correct. Hence the child is not loved for the person he or she is, but on condition that he or she behaves only in ways approved by the parent(s). At the extreme, a person who constantly seeks approval from other people is likely only to have experienced conditional positive regard as a child. A persons ideal self may not be consistent with what actually happens in life and experiences of the person. Hence, a difference may exist between a persons ideal self and actual experience. This is called incongruence. Where a persons ideal self and actual experience are consistent or very similar, a state of congruence exists. Rarely, if ever, does a total state of congruence exist; all people experience a certain amount of incongruence.

The development of congruence is dependent on unconditional positive regard. Carl Rogers

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believed

that

for

person

to

achieve

self-

actualisation they must be in a state of congruence.

According to Rogers, people want to feel, experience and behave in ways which are consistent with their self-image and which reflect what they would like to be like, their ideal-self. The closer their self-image and ideal-self are to each other, the more consistent or congruent they are and the higher their sense of self-worth. A person is said to be in a state of incongruence if some of the totality of his experience is unacceptable to him and is denied or distorted in the self-image. Incongruence is "a discrepancy between the actual experience of the organism and the self-picture of the individual insofar as it represents that experience."

Conceptual Paradigm This study is focused on the three cases of children with separated parents. After the data gathering and data management analysis

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procedures,

the

researcher

arrived

with

the

conceptual paradigm based on the themes and subthemes formulated from the case studies. The children with separated parents were interviewed and observed. They were asked

questions about the separation of their parents and questions about themselves. It was revealed that their perceived self-concept could be categorized into five domains. They are social, academics, self, physical attributes and family. Social refers to the people they considered playmates or friends. These are the people whom they talk with and join in their games. This also involves the way they relate with the people around them whom they consider as their peers. Academics pertains to the school performance of respondents and how they view themselves in school. This also involves their perceptions of the people in school like their teachers, administrators and other school personnel. Self refers to the respondents perceptions of

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themselves on the different roles they have such as being a student, child of their parents, friend, sibling, and as an individual person. Physical attributes is the perceptions of the respondents on their physical appearance and their satisfaction on physique. Family refers to the perceptions of the respondents on the members of their families such as parents and siblings. This also includes their

views on the separation of their parents. Self-concept is the overall perception of respondents about themselves based on the five categories formulated in the study. The thoughts, feelings and behaviour that respondents have towards themselves were also considered in

identifying their self-concept. (See Figure 1)

Conceptual Paradigm

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Social

Academics

Children with Separated Parents

Self

SelfConcept

Physical Attributes

Family
Figure 1 The variables and their relationships based on the themes and sub-themes gathered in the study

Statement of the Problem

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This study described and analyzed the three cases of children with separated parents focusing on their self-concept. Specifically, it answered the following questions: 6. What is the profile of the subjects in terms of: 1.3 demographic data 1.3.1 age 1.3.2 gender 1.3.3 grade level 1.3.4 religion 1.3.5 ordinal position 1.4 family background 1.2.1 age of the subject during the parents separation 1.2.2 cause/s of parents separation 1.2.3 current setup of subjects parents 1.2.4 economic status of subjects parents; and

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1.2.6 current person/s living with the subject at home? 7. What is the perceived self-concept of the subjects based on the themes and subthemes formulated? 8. What are the behavioural manifestations of the subjects based on the themes and subthemes formulated from the study? 9. What are the implications of this study in the field of the helping profession? 10. What intervention program can be proposed based on the themes and subthemes formulated from the study?

Scope and Delimitations This descriptive study was limited to three cases of children with separated parents whose ages were nine, and were in the grade three level enrolled in De La Salle Santiago Zobel School in School Year 2010-2011. Their parents have separated (be it legalized or not) due to marital disruptions for at least

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a year and the subjects were at least three years old at that time. The subjects can speak and understand Filipino or English, currently residing in the

Philippines, and may be living with either mother or father. The self-concept of the subjects was the main focus of analysis by the researcher which was composed of the themes and sub-themes formulated from the study. The researcher had interview sessions with the subjects, as well as with their mothers, using the interview guides (refer to Appendix D, E and F). Since it was just a set of guide questions, the researcher asked the questions based on the responses of the subjects during the interview, so not all the questions were asked. The fathers of the subjects were not included in the interview because of their distance and inaccessibility. The subjects anecdotal records in the School Counseling Office were also utilized together with the

observations of the researcher in the actual writing of

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case studies.

Significance of the Study

The results of this study would be beneficial to the following sectors: Children with separated parents. The study would serve as an eye opener on the real situations of children experiencing parents separation. Children who are products of broken homes could get insights and inspiration from the cases presented in this study. School Counselors. Findings of this study would give insights on how to improve the

Counseling Program and the Guidance Curriculum to address the different concerns of the students with separated parents. Teachers. This would give information on how to handle certain discipline and behaviours of the students with separated parents which will result to proper classroom management. Knowledge on

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childs low self-concept can help them discern its effects on their academic achievement. Parents. This study would make them value their children more and be particular on the effects of any significant changes in the family. For single parents, this will serve as a reference to better understand the shortcomings and conditions of children with broken families. Local studies. The lack of similar studies in the Philippine setting encouraged the researcher to undertake the present study because he believes that this study would contribute some information to the dearth of studies related to the topic of selfconcept among children with separated parents. Future Researchers. This could be a

challenge for further studies and serve as reference if the same study will be conducted from other perspectives.

Definition of Terms

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Academics. This is the school performance of children with separated parents.

Behavioural manifestations. This pertains to the subjects actions and ways to certain situations and life events.

Children with separated parents. These are children who are products of separated parents who may be staying with either of their parents.

Family. This refers to the people biologically related to the subjects whom they consider part of their lives.

Physical Attributes. This refers to the physical appearance or the looks of the subjects including their physique and how they carry

themselves.

Self.

This pertains to

the

identity and

individuality of the subjects.

Self-concept. This refers to the perceptions of

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children with separated parents about themselves.

Separated parents. This refers to parents who legally or mutually parted ways due to their conflicts.

Social. It refers to the people the subjects considered playmates or friends. These are the people whom they talk with and join in their games. This also involves the way they relate with the people around them whom they consider as their peers.

Themes and sub-themes. These are the possible areas or concerns that arose from the subjects during the data gathering.

Review of Related Literature and Studies Majority of the studies claimed that marital disruption is a stressful life transition to which adults and children must adjust. Amatos (2000) stated that separation-stress-adjustment perspective viewed

marital dissolution, not as an isolated event, but as a

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process that began while the couple lived together and ended long after the legal separation was concluded. Along with the uncoupling process was a series of events that people faced as stressful, which in turn, boosted the risk of negative emotional, behavioral, and health outcomes for adults and children. The presence of a variety of moderating or protective factors was tantamount to the severity and duration of these negative outcomes. Successful adjustment occurred to individuals who were able to function well in a new family, work, or school role. There are certain commonalities as well as

distinguished differences on how marital separation affects children and the youth. Hence, this review explored the effects of marital separation on children based on the available information on self-concept, international and local studies. Self-concepts definition

Self-concept, as defined by Santrock, 2000, as cited in Pena, 2004, refers to the individuals

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overall perception of his abilities, and behaviour. Furthermore, Kean & Sandler, 2001, as cited in Feleo, 2009, claimed that self-concept is one aspect of the self considered by many psychologists as the foundation of both social and emotional

development. By definition, it refers to the composite of ideas, feelings, and attitudes people have about themselves.

As mentioned in the study of Diche et al, 2001, self-concept is a measure of the perception of oneself, including ones attitudes, knowledge, and feelings regarding abilities, appearance and social relationships. In the study of Lin (2003), Reynolds stressed that there is no clear, concise and universally accepted definition of self-concept broadly as to include the perception of oneself, including ones attitude, knowledge and feelings regarding abilities, appearance and social relationships. Furthermore, Marsh and Shavelson agreed that it is a multidimensional construct. They assert that self-concept

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in specific areas provide better prediction of most external criterion than broad measures of general self-concept. They claim that the relationship

between the self-concept and other constructs cannot be adequately understood if the

multidimensionality of self-concept is ignored. These constructs include academic and non-academic areas such as social process, physical abilities, physical appearance, peer and parent relations. Separating self-concept into constituent parts such as these indicate how one perceives oneself in one situation does not transfer necessarily to another. In the same study, it was mentioned that Glover and Bruning state that self-concept is a persons view of himself or herself. They further emphasize that selfconcepts are not static and unchanging. They are shaped by experience and how people interpret their experiences. As cited in Ni, 2005, self-concept is a degree to which one evaluates oneself as competent, belonging, and worthwhile, therefore forming the

xlvi

foundations of emotional well-being. In Rosenbergs scheme, self-concept is one of the keys motives involved: self-concept and self-consistency. The first signifies the positive or negative value a person places on his or herself, which should be considered a continuum rather than a dichotomy; that is, there are levels of self-concept. The second, self-

consistency, refers to the desire to protect the self concept against change or to maintain ones self picture (Rosenberg, 2001). Both are powerful motives that do not often conflict with one another. More importantly, he points out that these are not passive motives; individuals actively seek these to maintain a positive and stable image of them. As Rosenberg puts it for self-concept, A major

determination of human thought and behavior and a prime motive in human striving, then, is the drive to protect and enhance ones self -concept. In most cases, failure threatens self-concept. There are occasions, however, when failure confirms the low self-image a person may hold and contributes to the

xlvii

drive for self-consistency. The relationship between the need to see oneself in a positive light (high selfconcept) and the need to maintain a relatively stable and consistent image of oneself (striving to maintain self-consistency) is something to be explored in the present program (Owens, Stryker & Goodman, 2001). Self-concept is vital because it involves not only perceptions about ones identity but attitude about ones self as well, that is, both cognitive and affective. Self-concept also includes ones attitudes toward the role one assumes, as well as the evaluation of oneself within his individual role and ones satisfaction with such evaluation. Elbaum and Vaughn (2002) assert that factors that affect a childs self-concept are related to his/her academic achievement. Students with lower levels of self-concept have lower levels of academic

achievement and development of social skills Koole, Dijksterhuis, and van Knippenber (2001) explored self-concept in the context of

xlviii

whether self-evaluation is accomplished through conscious (explicit) or unconscious (implicit) effort. These researchers found that while people have a conscious evaluation of themselves that influences their esteem, there is also an implicit self-esteem that is automatic, highly practiced, generally positive, and stable over time (Koole, Dijksterhuis, & van

Knippenber, 2001). Additional research has explored the idea of whether self-concept is a trait or a state. This questions whether self-concept is stable over time or if it changes according to life events and/or moods. The stability of self-concept has been found to be curvilinear over time; developing throughout

childhood, stabilizing in adulthood, and decreasing in old age (Trzesniewski, Donnellan, & Robins, 2003). With the stability of self-concept changing across a life span, there is some indication that self-esteem can change accordingly with life events. As far as a state or trait is concerned there is evidence that while most consider self-concept to be a trait that is

xlix

relatively stable, state self-concept is also a relevant factor in consideration of how self-concept functions in affecting behaviors and that it is highly dependent upon social interactions and events within a persons life (Crocker & Wolfe, 2001). There is also an area of self-concept that has been explored concerning what self-concept is based upon. Crocker and Wolfe (2001) studied the contingencies upon which self-concept is evaluated. Their study provided information concerning the fact that people have different contingencies upon which they base their self-concept. While some people base their self-concept upon accomplishments and achievements, relationships, others weight, may base theirs upon

attractiveness,

monetary

attainment, religion, or moral behaviors. The results of the study indicated that since there are different contingencies in evaluating ones own self -concept, there are consequently, 9 different outcomes in response to similar situations and experiences (Crocker & Wolfe, 2001).

All definitions that have been mentioned in this study agreed on one thing that is self-concept is a persons perception of oneself. However, they differ in its scope and context.

Self-concept development New born babies do not have an awareness of themselves yet, nor do they see themselves as different from the environment. The process of selfconcept development begins when they start to differentiate themselves from the environment

through their experiences. As they grow, slowly interacting with people, they learn to understand themselves based on how people treat them. Their self-concept is first shown with the way they deal with their parents and siblings (Alejo &Salapantan, cited in Ni, 2005). One factor affecting the self-concept

development of children is the role of the significant others. They are the people who mostly intimately give the rewards and punishments in childrens

li

lives.

As a product of social interactions, individuals grow up in a society that determines their behaviour as acceptable or unacceptable. Hence, one begins the need for positive self-concept from significant others. This pertains to the persons satisfaction at receiving the approval of others and frustration at receiving disapproval. The need for positive regard, in effect, contributes to the need of satisfaction involved in finding experiences in knowing

themselves, that is their self-concept, their conscious senses of who and what they are.

This idea of self-concept development through social interaction is supported by Panelo, as cited in Ni (2005), which states that children develop selfconcept largely because of the attitudes of adults who are important to them. Adults affect childrens self-concept through the support and acceptance that they give to children. Adults who are supportive, accepting, and show genuine interest in children help

lii

in developing childrens self-concept. Children with high self-concept view themselves as competent, worthy, happy, good, active, friendly, honest and confident. They have the ability to see themselves realistically, and have little defensive behaviours such as shyness or withdrawal. They are also active, show little destructiveness, not especially upset by criticisms and are little troubled by anxiety (Panelo as cited in Ni, 2005). Thus, self-concept is considered to be a predictor of coping with life stresses (Bandura; in Cuskelly, 2004). Each childs level of self-concept is a product of two internal assessments or judgments. First, each child experiences some degree of discrepancy between what his/her desire about him/her and his/her thoughts of what he/she really is. When the discrepancy is high when the child sees himself/herself as failing to live up to his/her own goals or values self-esteem will be much lower (Randolph, cited in Lin, 2003).

liii

The key to self-concept is the amount of discrepancy between what the child desires and what the child thinks he/she has achieved. Thus, a child who values sports prowess, but is not big enough or co-ordinated enough to be good at sports will have lower self-concept than with an equally small or uncoordinated child who does not value sport skill so highly. The second major influence on childs selfconcept is the overall sense of support the child feels from the important people around him/her,

particularly parents and peers. Children who feel that other people generally like them the way they are have higher self-concept scores than children who report less overall support.

Specifically, a deadly combination occurs when the child perceives that the parents support is contingent on good performance in some areas getting good grades, being popular with other kids. If the child does not measure up to the standard,

liv

he/she experiences both an increase in discrepancy between the ideal and achievement and a loss support from the parents.

Theories on Self-Concept Different psychological theories have diverse views on self-concept. Abraham Maslows theory of human motivation was based upon a hierarchy of human needs. One level in this hierarchy is esteem needs. Maslow believed that all people have a desire or need for a stable, firmly based, and usually high evaluation of themselves, for self-respect, or selfesteem, and for the esteem for others (Blake, 1995 as cited in Lemley, 2004; Feleo, 2009). Maslow elaborated that these needs are separated into two subcategories; the first is having a need for strength, achievement, independence adequacy, and mastery, competence, The second

freedom.

subcategory for esteem needs is the need or desire for reputation, prestige, status, attention, fame, glory,

dominance,

recognition,

importance,

lv

dignity, or appreciation 7 (Blake, 1995 as cited in Lemley, 2004; Feleo, 2009). Maslow believed that satisfying these needs for self-esteem would lead to self-confidence, worth, strength, capability, and overall usefulness to the world. Failure to satisfy these needs would lead to feelings of inferiority, weakness, and helplessness (Blake, 1995 as cited in Lemley, 2004; Feleo, 2009). Another important figure in the development of self-concept theories was Carl Rogers. Rogers was a humanist psychologist and he believed that the psychoanalytic process was primarily about

relationships. Rogers theorized that a client can be in a state of incongruence. Incongruence refers to a discrepancy between the actual experience of the organism and the self picture of the individual insofar as it represents that experience (Blake, 1995 as cited in Lemley, 2004; Feleo, 2009). According to Rogers theory, having low self-concept would be from a person having incongruence between actual

experiences and his perception of himself through

lvi

these experiences. This indicates that when a person has low self-concept, he would perceive experiences in a negative manner towards himself, whether the experience was negative or positive. While Carl Rogers theory is the basis of a lot of researches, a number of psychologists had influenced upon self-esteem research. Another aspect to consider in research on self-concept is exactly how self-concept develops in individuals across their lifespan. According to the psychologists previously mentioned, self-concept would be developed out of: need (Abraham Maslow), social interactions and group membership (Alfred Adler), or relationships with others (Carl Rogers) (Blake, 1995 as cited in Lemley, 2004; Feleo, 2009). One developmental theory that may also explain how self-concept develops is Alfred Bandura, who

believed that development occurred through imitation (Blake, 1995 as cited in Lemley, 2004; Feleo, 2009). Attribution theory states that students

perceptions of the reasons for success and failure

lvii

determine future behaviours. Outcomes can be attributed to four causes, namely: ability, effort, task difficulty or luck. Ability and effort are considered to be internal attributes, while luck and task difficulty are considered to be external to the student. Ability and task difficulty are perceived as stable and

unchangeable at least in post-adolescents while effort and luck are considered to be unstable and subject to change. For example, if a student attributes success to effort, he/she is likely to continue to persist when faced with a new challenge. Conversely, if success is attributed to luck, the student is not likely to make greater efforts in the future, nor is this successful outcome likely to influence the students perceptions of his/her ability (Weiner, 1986 as cited in Lin, 2003). On the other hand, self-worth theory maintains that students who equate ability with achievement are more likely to be motivated by the desire to protect their own self-esteem than by the desire to master a task. Covington, as cited in Lin (2003)

lviii

stated that failure to maintain a sense of ability triggers shame and a loss of self-respect. He further stated that students feel that if they work hard and fail, anyway, they lack ability. However, if their failure is a result of a lack of effort, their ability status is uncertain and their self-worth can remain intact. In a situation that is likely to threaten a students self image, there is a very pronounced tendency to reduce effort. Personal depends on theory how states people that view self-concept personal

characteristics such as intelligence, empathy, and integrity. These two theories assert that there are two kinds of views people take about their personal characteristics: Children with entity-oriented entity-oriented or incremental. about

theories

themselves believe that their personal characteristics such as intelligence are fixed or uncontrollable. On the other hand, children with incremental theories about themselves believe that their characteristics

lix

are malleable, increasable, and controllable qualities (Dweck and Leggett in Glover and Bruning as mentioned in Lin, 2003). In their view, the two types of theories lead to different kinds of self-concept. The former theorists see themselves as a collection of fixed traits that can be measured and evaluated while the latter theorists view themselves as a dynamic, changeable set of qualities that are evolving over time through the individuals efforts. Whether children see themselves as fixed or changing makes a profound difference in how they see their world and what they do. Students who see their personal traits as fixed and unchangeable are unlikely to believe that efforts devoted to studying, practicing a musical instrument or mastering a physical skill will be of benefit. In contrast, students who believe they are changeable also are confident that they can change themselves through their own efforts. Study and practice are seen as important to self-development. This theory points out that childrens goals and the ways they evaluate them are important. Self-

lx

improvement goals, in which children attempt to increase knowledge, enhance skills or change things about themselves seem to be associated with the development of incremental theories. Self-

performance goals in contrast are associated with entity-oriented theories. Multidimensional theory of self-concept claims that it is developmental and multidimensional. According to DesRosiers et.al, 1997 (as cited by Lin, 2003), there are six domains of self-concept in children. They also contend that self-concept

develops in conjunction with psychological processes in children. These six domains are perceptual selfrecognition; cognitive self-representation, linguistic self-description; motivational self-assertion,

emotional self-evaluation and social self-regulation. They further asserted that these six domains of selfconcept in children can best be measured/ assessed through people who are always with them. Perceptual self-regulation refers to self-

awareness or to the categorical self or the objective

lxi

self. It can be seen when the child develops the ability to recognize and distinguish the self in relation to the outside world through everyday interactions with the physical and social environment. Selfrecognition involves simple body and facial

discrimination that can be determined by observing a childs reactions to pictures, mirror reflections and movies of themselves. DesRosiers, Vrsalovic, Knauf and Rossnagel (as cited by Lin, 2003) found that infants respond to their reflections by pointing to the mirror or by touching their faces as early as 15 months of age. Thus, self-regulation with its

emphasis on perceptual capacities is purportedly evident in pre-linguistic infants. Cognitive self-representation includes a childs ability to mentally differentiate the self from others through the use of cognitive strategies such as accessing, creating or sorting aspects of the self and others. Agency and imitation are two aspects of selfrepresentation. differentiation The process the of process self-others of self-

enhances

lxii

recognition. Pipp, Fisher and Henning (as cited in Lin, 2003), assessed childrens ability to internally symbolize features of the self and others and to become agents of action through imitation and pretend play. The results showed that children can use their representational capacities to differentiate the self from others. They also develop the notion of self as agent and other as agent. For example, the child can pretend to be a mommy and feed a baby doll. Linguistic self-description focuses on the statements used to reflect awareness of the self and others presume the existence of self-representation. With the emphasis of the childs linguistic ability self descriptive statement reflect self-awareness because a child could not make meaningful statements about the self if the child was not aware of his own characteristics. Self-description has been assessed through childrens use of statements that refer to experiences, appearances and self-referent

pronouns as cited in Lin, 2003.

lxiii

Motivational self-assertion states that young children s use of self-referent pronouns, particularly me and mine are indicative of self -assertion. Selfassertion is related to the process of intrinsic motivation toward independent, goal-directed

behaviours. Intrinsic motivation is expressed through the social interactions that allow the childs will to develop. Within the domain of self-representation, once children are aware of the self-agent, they also become aware of others-as-agent. The result is that children feel that their sense of agency is threatened, which in turn motivates children to exert their will and show independent behaviours. Self-assertion,

however, requires that the independent behaviour is also goal-oriented as seen through autonomous behaviours cited by Lin, 2003. They found that children from 29 to 46 months have realized that tasks have standards. Moreover, they want to attain such goals by themselves in an independent manner. Emotional self-evaluation is composed of emotions that are typically used to define ones

lxiv

achievement and competence. Pride and shame are examples of self-evaluative emotions that are

contingent on an individuals appraisal of self -worth. Experiences of pride result from the achievement of goals arising from success on a task. On the other hand, experiences of shame result from physical and emotional expressions arising from failure on a task. Thus, self-evaluative emotions stem from

achievement standards, childrens motivation for outcomes, reinforcement from social feedback and conscious goal-directed behaviour. Stipek, Recchia and Meclintic (1992) as cited by Lin, 2003 found that expressions of pride and shame begin to be manifested in children over 30 months of age, especially on tasks of competitive nature. Social self-regulation arises from social

interactions and knowledge of self, others, and standards. It has been defined as the ability to comply with a request, initiate and cease activities according to situational demands, modulate

behaviour, postpone acting upon an object and

lxv

generate

socially-approved

behaviours

in

the

absence of

monitors. In early childhood, the

development of self-regulation is focused on attaining self-control and internalizing norms for behaviours that can be generalized to new situations. The transition to self-regulation begins at approximately 36 months of age. It continues to increase with age. During the early years of childhood, these domains show age-related changes both in relation to each other and within a specific domain. For example, as cited in Lin 2003, the study had shown that domains progress sequentially with one domain. Self-description emerged after self-recognition. They also found that changes occur within domains when the behaviour increases in complexity. Moreover, based on the premise that self-concept is

multidimensional, the compensatory model was evolved. Lansdown and Walker (Ni, 2005) mentioned that gradually the child begins to describe himself in terms of others. This means that he looks at himself

lxvi

in

comparison

with

others.

This

may

be

demonstrated in the statement I am like him/her in the way I dress. It is also evident that the childs sense of self is affected by his interpretation of how and what other people feel about him. In discussing the self-concept of children, one could not discard the psychological development which begins at home. Erik Erickson mentioned these four psychosocial senses of basic trust, sense of basic autonomy, sense of basic initiatives and sense of basic industry. These reveal significance to tendencies of having misconception with self and maladaptive patterns of behavior. Erikson believes that in each stage of development, the individual faces a psychological crisis of adjustment to his environment, thus affecting the self-concept

(Cromwell, 2000). The first stage of development indicates the importance of attention given to the infant who is dependent on others for food, clothing and affection. His parents cuddle him, talk to him, and play with

lxvii

him. These interactions determine the childs later attitude. If he is well cared for and his needs are met, the child learns to trust his environment. If not, he becomes fearful, he mistrusts not only the people and objects in his environment but himself, as well. This goes to show that given the wrong stimuli or message, he develops in the wrong manner, thus, making adjustment harder later on. This is indeed a very important dimension in the development of selfconcept. The second stage deals with the sense of basic autonomy. In the second and third years, the child learns to walk, talk, and do things for himself. If parents encourage the child to use initiative, are consistent in discipline and allow independence, the child is likely to be able to cope with situations requiring choice, control and autonomy. But if parents are inconsistent in their discipline, are over protective or show disapproval when the child acts independently, the child becomes doubtful and ashamed. Hence, there should be certain amount of

lxviii

self-concept so that the child does not lose confidence in his /herself. The child will have sense of his own self only insofar as he learns his task of controlling and letting go in the proper manner and ways of behavior. In relation to adjustment, this stage presents the opportunity to develop the childs foundation of coping with situations, that is, adjusting to his environment. The third stage, sense of basic initiative, shows the development of the childs creativity in dealing with the world around him. This is his foundation in coping with lifes challenges. If parents encourage these activities, he will find it easier to go out on his own. But if parents prohibit his activities and inquisitiveness, it will develop feelings of guilt whenever he tries to be independent. Disapproval and feelings of guilt certainly will affect the development of self-concept and adjustment

because of the lack of assurance and support from significant others his parents. The next stage, sense of basic industry,

lxix

presents the stage when the child learns to manipulate objects and events by himself. If encouraged, he will develop a sense of industry, will enjoy being curious and will feel intellectual

stimulation. If not, he will develop a sense of inferiority. Again, the importance of support or encouragement from the parents is emphasized for the development of self-concept and adjustment. The promotion of social and emotional

development means helping children to develop a healthy personality and sense of self (Cook, Tessier & Klein, 2000). With emotional strength and healthy autonomy, the young child begins to develop effective social skills. Studies have demonstrated that a childs social competence is a critical development achievement for later social success. Social competence has been strongly associated with successful school performance, transition into school and work settings, better job opportunities with corresponding adult support, and improved overall interaction with others. Children with good

lxx

social skills are better accepted by their peers, have better coping and attention skills and make better adjustments to school and social situations as cited in Ni, 2005. These children have high regard of themselves- a positive self-concept which means that they understand themselves.

The Effects of Parents Separation on Children International Studies. Amato (2000) claimed that parents separation had a strong impact on American children during the first few years following a separation and those hardest hit by it were from families with low levels of hostility before the breakup. This may be brought about by the childrens concept of the nuclear family, which is usually composed of a married couple and their unmarried children living together under one roof. Many variables, such as the child's age and temperament and the parents' ability to focus on their children's feelings and needs, take vital role to how children were affected by separation.

lxxi

Children under 3 years old might mirror their caregivers torment by regular irritability, greater crying, apprehension, separation anxiety, sleep and gastrointestinal problems, aggression, and

developmental regression (Amato, 2000). Children between 4 to 5 years old often blamed themselves, became clingier, exhibited externalizing behaviour, had fears of being abandoned, and thus, had more nightmares and fantasies. School-aged kids tend to become angry, moody, and aggressive. They

experience rejection and deception by the absent parent and distressed about their divided loyalties. At all ages, children were likely to feel guilty and responsible for the separation. Consequently, they felt it was their responsibility to restore the marriage. They commonly displayed psychosomatic symptoms as a response to anger, loss, grief, and feeling unloved (Cohen, Hagan Jr., Coleman, & Foy, 2002). Healy, Stewart, and Copeland study in 1993 showed that one third of primary school children

lxxii

whose parents have separated blamed themselves (Amato, 2000). This in turn led to depression, externalizing problems, and lowered feelings of selfcompetence. These kids did not know that adultery was one of the primary reasons why their parents separated (Farrer & Zhongxin, 2003). Infidelity often caused greater marital instability, dishonesty,

arguments about trust, and time spent apart (Atkins, Yi, Baucom, & Christensen, 2005). A study of 54 10 to 13-year-old boys in Germany (Bohm, 2004) revealed that boys whose parents have separated had incoherent speech, difficulties in coping with emotional problems, and did not show their feelings openly. Freud believed that people sometimes used repression as a defense mechanism to reduce anxiety (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). Estaugh and Powers study as well as Fitzpatricks study as cited in Jeynes, 2001 showed that parental divorce increased the likelihood that children will exhibit more anxiety.

lxxiii

Amato (2000) indicated that studies in the 1990s confirmed children with divorced parents scored lower than children with continuously married parents on measures of academic success (Astone & McLanahan,1991; Teachman, Paasch, & Carver, 1996), conduct (Doherty & Needle, 1991; Simons & Associates, 1996), psychological adjustment

(Forehand, Neighbors, Devine, & Armistead, 1994; Kurdek, Fine, & Sinclair, 1994), self-concept (Wenk, Hardesty, Morgan, & Blair, 1994), social competence (Beaty, 1995; Brodzinsky, Hitt, & Smith, 1993), and long-term health (Tucker et. al., 1997). Wallersteins (2004) long-term study of the impact of divorce on children since 1971 showed sleep disturbances, clinical depression, poor

psychological adjustments, poor school performance, and poor interpersonal relations as by-products of divorce. Children from divorced families often had to forfeit their childhood and adolescence to take on responsibilities for the custodial parent, especially if they could no longer afford to hire a maid. In the

lxxiv

process, they had less time to enjoy their lives, to develop close friendships, and to cultivate shared interests (Wallerstein, Lewis, & Blakeslee, 2000). They played less, joined less extra-curricular

activities (e.g., sports or music), and were less involved in enrichment programs (Wallerstein & Lewis, 2004). Moreover, some had to serve as surrogate dads or moms to younger siblings (Carter & McGoldrick, 1999). The study of Videon (2002) attested that girls from divorced families in America reported more depressive symptoms than boys. The relationship that girls had with their father substantially affected their depression while their relationship with their mother did not change. An estranged father's image was idealized or devalued based upon frequency of contact with the father alone, the quality of visits from the girls' perspectives, the mother's attitude toward the father in his absence, the father's perceived availability, and whether he supported her

emotionally and materially (Fischer-Montalto, 2005).

lxxv

For boys, race and ethnicity and parental education served as influential factors that affect depression, e.g., Hispanic boys with lesser educated parents reported more depressive symptoms and fewer depressive symptoms were reported when the boys had good relationships with their mothers. On one hand, the quality of the father-son relationships did not significantly predict boys' depression. Boys reported significantly greater levels of delinquent and aggressive behaviour especially when they enjoyed good father-son relationships before the divorce (Jeynes, 2001). Mangalubana, Reyes, & Soleto, 2004

mentioned in their study that Zill (1990) found that only 26% of children from divorced families reported positive relationships with both parents in contrast to the 55% of children from intact families (Stanton, 1999). At the same time, children who were caught in the crossfire of their parents fight and subsequent separation also became victims, torn between their mom and dad because pledging allegiance to one

lxxvi

would undoubtedly hurt the other. In 1994, Rutter introduced the term divided loyalty, which referred to children who were close to their biological parents but now have difficulty adjusting with their new parent/s because they feel they might be betraying their real parents. Hetheringtons as cited in Kail, 2001, study showed that many mothers were less affectionate toward their children in the first few months of divorce. The studies of Aseltine (1996); Bronstein, Stoll, Clauson, Abrams, and Briones (1994); Mauldon (1990); Morrison and Cherlin (1995); and Pearson & Thoennes (1990), (Amato, 2000) revealed that post divorce economic hardship was associated with negative outcomes among children. Some custodial parents were forced to move with their children to a smaller house or to change schools, and this proved to be disruptive for the children Parental separation was equally traumatic for adolescents. They might outwardly appear cool when, in fact, they were inwardly hurting. Since most of them fall under the

lxxvii

concrete operational stage or formal operational stage of Piagets cognitive development theory, thoughts about how their parents separation might affect their future haunted them (Santrock, 2000). Unlike younger children, they rarely blamed themselves. Feelings of intense anger toward their parents sometimes dominated. Adolescents who were confronted with parental separation felt selfinferior, angry and confused. As a result, depression, decreased school performance, relationship

problems, inappropriate sexual behaviour, substance abuse, and delinquent behaviour ensued (Cohen, Hagan Jr., Coleman, & Foy, 2002). Adolescents who lost a parent to divorce displayed more symptoms of depression as compared to those who lost a parent to death (Murray, 2006). Yu (2006) found Canadian adolescents from separated or divorced homes engaged in more health-risk behaviours (i.e., smoking, intemperate drinking, not fastening seat belts) than those of intact families (Rice, 1999). The studies of Estaugh and

lxxviii

Power (1991), Lamminpaa (1992) and Isohanni et al. (1994) revealed that offsprings of parental divorce were more likely to drink alcohol excessively (Jeynes, 2001). According to Wallerstein (2004), offsprings of divorced parents exhibited a surge in alcohol and drug problems, more negative self-concepts, greater conflicts with parents, a lower standard of living, a greater risk of being a single parent, and a poorer physical health. Jeynes (2001) purported that parental divorce increased promiscuous behaviour. This was

substantiated by the studies of Gabardi & Rosen in 1992, Garfinkel and McLanahan in 1986,

Hetherington in 1973, Moore in 1995, Zill & Rogers in 1988. Based on the National Youth Survey (as cited in Lauritsen, 1998) of 1,621 youths between the ages of 11 and 17, premarital sex was more prevalent among adolescent females who came from singleparent families and who spend more time with peers. Consistent with McLanahan & Sandefurs (1994)

lxxix

findings, Wallerstein (2004) conveyed that one in five American girls had her first sexual experience before age 14 and that more than half were sexually active and had multiple partners during high school. In America, fatherless homes accounted for 90% of homeless and runaway children, 85% exhibited behavioural disorders, 71% became high school dropouts, 75% of adolescents became patients in drug abuse centers, 80% became rapists, 85% of youths were locked in prisons, and 63% of youths committed suicides (McIntyre, 2001). In line with McIntyre, Heron, Burton & Englers study (as cited in Hannum & Dvorak, 2004), college student maladjustment and distress were likewise linked to divorce. Lopez et al. found that compared with college students from intact families, those from divorced families reported relationships with parents as less warm and caring. They recounted being less happy and less close to their parents (Knox, Zusman & DeCuzzi, 2004). Moreover, Dillons (2005) study revealed that adult children of divorced parents

lxxx

harbored a greater fear of intimacy and were more negative in their marital attitudes (Klein, 2005). Furthermore, delaying parental divorce

seemed to benefit children more (Furstenberg & Kiernan, 2001). A few studies indicated there was a bright side to divorce be it from the adults or childrens perspective. White, Brinkerhoff, and

Booths study showed that children from divorced families reported developing especially close

relationships with their custodial parent (as cited in Hannum & Dvorak, 2004). Bhrolchin (2002) believed that there was insufficient evidence when it came to the long-term adverse effects of divorce on children. Liu (2004) found no evidence that lower academic achievement was attributable to parental divorce. Nevertheless, since only few divorces were preceded by a high level of chronic marital conflict, he indicated divorce probably helped fewer children than it hurt.

Local Studies.

lxxxi

Since there is a scarcity of local studies on self-concept written in 2000 to present, the

researcher gathered the available studies on selfconcept made in 1999 below. Lana, Santos, Ocampo, & Laig, 1997, referred marital separation as the breakdown of marriage wherein one or both parents left the home due to marital conflicts. In Cordero et. al. (1992) as well as Dayan, Tiongson-Magno, and Tarrojas study (2001), adultery was cited as the main reason of marital separation. Violence was another reason why couples separated. Although more than half of the women were abused by their male partners (Medina, 2001), they chose to stay for the following reasons: love for the husband; hope that he will change; for the sake of the children; to save face; economic insecurity, and fear of the husbands revenge (Peralta, 2001). Marital separation was often exhausting on the children involved. Most children of separated parents go through a stage of denial. They fantasized

lxxxii

that their father went on a business trip and will come home soon. The 2 to 4-year-old children got angry when someone used the fathers chair (Ortigas, 1996). The child then sank into depression when the parent did not return as he envisioned it.

Consequently, he lost his appetite, lost interest in studies, and dont enjoy playing with friends. He/she felt helpless, irritable, and guilty. Moreover, he/she displayed fear of being abandoned and there is lowered self-esteem (Ortigas, 1996). When the 36 Filipino children in AgravanteGos (1998) study were confronted with their parents separation, they experienced the following emotions: sadness (100%), yearning (88.9%), insecurity

(86.1%), dissatisfaction (77.8%), worry (72.2%), anger (69.4%), embarrassment (69.4%), hurt/pain (63.9%), emotional disturbance (55.6%), and

depression (47.2%). 88.9% felt that their parents no longer love them while 61.1% viewed the parent who left as irresponsible, 25% wished that their dad would change had, 32% come back and 52.8% rebelled or

lxxxiii

acted out. Behaviourally, 94.4% resorted to crying;

72.2% reflected and analyzed their situations as well as their options; 63.9% prayed more than before; another 63.9% wouldnt talk to their non-custodial parent; 61.1% got lower grades; 52.8% shield away from group conversations; 52.8% had difficulty in making/keeping friends; 52.8% rebelled or displayed aggressive tendencies; 47.2% hung out with friends and talked on the phone lengthily; and lastly, 47.2% became more responsible. Although 94.4% of the respondents cited losing a non-custodial parent as the number one stressor, 38.9% felt that it was better for their parents to separate. The next stressor mentioned was missing the non-custodial parent (86.1%), followed by the custodial parent had to work harder (80.6%). Memories of parental fights as well as worry over parents health accounted for 75%. 69.4% felt helpless while 63.9% feared that the custodial parent would have a new love interest. 63.9% experienced divided loyalty while 52.8%

lxxxiv

couldnt concentrate on their studies and got lower grades. 50% were afraid their classmates may find out and 47.2% said they had more responsibilities (Agravante-Go, 1998). Fernando and his colleagues (1994)

discovered that early Filipino adolescents who were deprived of one parent due to parental separation felt unloved and tend to have lower self-concept, as opposed to those who lost a parent due to death (Selvio & Ramos, 1998). Youth who suffered from the brunt of parental separation admitted being envious and jealous of those with intact families (Kagan & Gall, 1998). This kind of sentiment was harbored all the more on special occasions such as birthday, Christmas, and New Year (Albert, 2000). Eugenio (1994), who conducted a study on freshmen students from single parent families, inferred that respondents became the center of gossip and had difficulty in concentrating on their studies (Selvio & Ramos, 1998). In her study of 266 high school students whose ages ranged from 13 to

lxxxv

17, Salvosa (1992) found that the academic achievement and security level of father-absent respondents were much lower than those fatherpresent respondents. Batacan (2000) indicated that the academic performance of female adolescents with separated parents was significantly lower while their

misbehavior was significantly higher. This was supported by Agravante-Go (1998) whose study revealed that 52.8% of adolescents buffeted with parental separation had aggressive tendencies while 61.1% lost interest in school as evident by skipping classes, not doing their homework and getting low grades. It was said that the presence of both parents and peer influence were important determinants of adolescent smoking, drinking, and drug use

(Raymundo, Xenos & Domingo, 1999). Delinquent youth is defined by the National Youth Commission (1998) as those below 18 years old who committed a civil or criminal misdemeanor punishable under the Penal Code, but whose cases were not filed in court.

lxxxvi

Magnen (1992) purported that teenage boys with separated parents avoid committing to steady relationships while girls tend to fling themselves from one guy to the other (Abrina, Cuisia & Velez, 1995). In Pangilinan and Changs study (1995) of 80 adolescents (40 raised by complete parents and 40 raised by single parents), they concluded that there were no significant differences between the sex of the adolescents and parental composition to the adolescents concepts of masculinity and femininity. Adolescents with separated parents

mentioned unsatisfactory relationship, lack of love, communication problems, and over protectiveness as their problems with their custodial parents. On the other hand, they pointed out guilt and ill feelings, lack of love, and lack of role model as their problems with the absent parent (Selvio & Ramos, 1998). Synthesis The international and local studies mentioned above showed that marital separation adversely

lxxxvii

affected the self-concept of children. Since only a few studies validated that marital separation had positive consequences, the children of separated couples had to find ways on how to cope with their situation at home. Bearing those things in mind, the researcher hoped to have a thorough analysis on the cases of the subjects to contribute to the understanding of children with separated parents and come up with insights and sound reflections as a school counselor which will be beneficial to the helping profession.

lxxxviii

Chapter 2 METHODOLOGY This section describes the research design used for this study, how sampling was obtained, the instruments used, the process of data gathering and data analysis, and the methodological limitations.

Research Design The researcher employed a qualitative

descriptive design, utilizing case studies particularly the use of Case Study N=1 replicated three times. Three children with separated parents were the sources of the themes and sub-themes in this undertaking. This qualitative case study is an

approach to research that facilitates exploration of a phenomenon within its context using a variety of data sources. This ensured that the issue is not explored

lxxxix

through one lens, but rather a variety of lenses which allows for multiple facets of the phenomenon to be revealed and understood. The self-concept of children with separated parents served as the unit of analysis for this study. Since this research method is qualitative and interactive in nature, rich and extensive information were garnered regarding the topic of marital separation among the subjects. Qualitative

techniques were used in describing and interpreting the themes and sub-themes from the experiences of the participants.

Population and Sampling The researcher got his subjects from De La Salle Santiago Zobel grade school department where there were documented and undocumented cases of marital disruptions. This catholic school catered to both boy and girl students who were mostly from class A or B. Because of the topics sensitivity, the

xc

researcher used purposive sampling and chain referral sampling in choosing subjects for this study (McMillan & Schumacher, 2001). Hakim (as cited in de Vaus, 2001) coined the term focused sampling. In the study, the samples were selected based on these criteria: (1) has separated parents, (2) nine years old, (3) speaks Filipino or English as their first language, (4) at least three years old when their parents separated. The researcher coordinated with the Grade Three Counselor regarding the possible subjects who fit these inclusion criteria.

Research Instrumentation The design of the instrument was guided by techniques used in previous researches. Silvermans study (2000) affirmed the open-ended interview as an appropriate and preferred research technique. Yin (2003) likewise recognized the importance of

interviews for case studies needed for this study. Hence, the researcher used a semi-structured indepth interview guide which he made for this study.

xci

(Please refer to Appendix D, E and F). The interview schedule was designed in such a way as to guide the flow of conversation, allow flexibility, and to achieve breadth and depth. The themes and sub-themes gathered from the interview were the bases of interpreting their answers. As suggested by Ritchie and Lewis (2003), the researcher clarifications. called up particular subjects for

Data Gathering Procedures The researcher obtained first the proper authorization from the Grade School Principal of the school and coordinated with the School Counseling Office particularly the Grade Three Counselor to identify the possible three subjects of the study (See Appendix A and B). The researcher sent a letter to the parents of possible subjects to get parental consent, as well as, to see if the possible subjects fit the inclusion criteria set by the researcher (See

xcii

Appendix C). The researcher had an average of 3-4 sessions with each subject, and each session was approximately 30 minutes. The mothers of the subjects were also interviewed regarding them. However, due to distance and inaccessibility of the fathers of the subjects, they were not included in the interview. The subjects anecdotal records from the Schooling Counseling Office were also utilized to verify certain information about them and to provide triangulation of data needed to enhance this studys validity. Since the themes and sub-themes were derived from the answers of the subjects, informal way of interview or free flowing questioning was done. This allowed flexibility and not to direct the subjects to certain themes or tones. The researcher was guided by the answers of the subjects which aided in having a thorough analysis of their cases as children with separated parents. These case studies provided intensive descriptions and analysis on the self-concepts of children with separated parents

xciii

based on the themes and subthemes that rose up. During the actual interview, establishing of rapport was the first thing done by the researcher. Then permission to tape record the interview sessions was sought. In view of the fact that the indepth interviews served as the primary source of data for this paper, tape recording the interview sessions was imperative. Only then can the exact words, tone, and pauses of the respondents and their mothers were recorded in a permanent form and was listened to again and again. In the interview proper, questions were asked one at a time, giving the subjects enough time to respond. Throughout the interview session, the researcher attempted to draw out information by empathizing and actively listening to the subjects. Furthermore, the researcher took note of the subjects non-verbal cues. The researcher kept a field reflex journal which was composed of his ideas, reactions, ethical dilemmas, decisions, and questions for further

xciv

clarifications throughout the course of the subjects interview. During the interviews with the subjects, the researcher had a difficulty squeezing information from them as they could not express their answers comprehensively due to the limited vocabulary at their young age. Thus, the researcher had to resort to yes or no questions to further understand the subjects responses.

Data Analysis It is very essential that the data to be collected should be organized so that it can be presented in a clear and systematic way, thereby resulting to valid and accurate conclusions (Walliman, 2001). These case studies provided intensive descriptions and analysis of the effects of parental separation on the self-concepts of children. The data gathered were analyzed and to maintain the confidentiality of the subjects, their names were changed. A uniformed format was used

xcv

in writing the three case studies. After each case presentation, a summary table of the subjects thoughts, feelings, behaviour, as well as, a synthesis of the three case studies was provided to compare and contrast the experiences of the three subjects. To gather qualitative data, each of the interview sessions was transcribed to produce records of the participants and other people involved in the studys verbatim accounts. The researcher familiarized himself with the data and took note of repeated words or related phrases (Marshall & Rossman, 1999 as mentioned in Yu, 2006). Thereafter, data management techniques and decision-rules that document the chain of evidence or decision-trail were recorded. The codes,

categories, and themes and sub-themes used, including the drafts and preliminary integrative diagrams were included (McMillan & Schumacher, 2001).The data gathered were analyzed inductively to look for emerging patterns or themes and subthemes.

xcvi

To

ensure in the

rigidity

and

enhance the

trustworthiness

research

process,

researcher conducted the following procedures: peer debriefing, audit trail, and member checking. Peer debriefing pertained to the process of exploring aspects of the study with a colleague familiar with the particular discipline (Ezzy, 2002). As such, the researcher consulted a teacher/counselor who took up Bachelor of Science in Psychology and who is an MA candidate in Guidance and Counseling at De La Salle University Dasmarias, Cavite and has been in the counselling profession for six years. She helped in the formulation of themes and sub-themes of the study and was informed and aware on the progress of the study. Auditing and member validation, as proposed by Lincoln and Guba (as cited in Yu, 2006), was employed to enhance external and internal reliability. The auditing process involved the aid of two independent raters who checked the data analysis for clarity and consistency. Both of them worked as

xcvii

the Guidance Office heads of De La Salle Santiago Zobel School. One rater has been in the counseling profession for 11 years and an MA in Psychology candidate at the University of the Philippines-Diliman and the other one has 54 units of PhD in Clinical Counseling at De La Salle University-Manila and had been in the counselling service for 20 years and currently the head of Instructional and Performance Assessment for nine years. All three met with the researcher to deliberate on the emerging themes based on the interviewees responses. These themes and sub-themes were grouped and categorized under certain groups. The researcher also looked out for negative cases or discrepant data while sorting through the data, which may contradict the emerging pattern of meanings. On the other hand, member validation was used to confirm observations and participants meanings (Taylor & Bogdan, 2002). After the researcher analyzed and synthesized the data, the

xcviii

case study draft was presented to one of the parents of respondents to collaborate what was written. The researcher included his experiences, reflections and insights as one of those who experienced the marital disruption to strengthen the analysis of the data.

Chapter 3 PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA This chapter presents the analysis of data gathered based on the interviews of three children with separated parents including the data derived from the observations and interview with their

xcix

mothers and their anecdotal records from the School Counseling Office. Three case studies were included in this study to give a thorough description and understanding on nine year-old childrens self-concept with separated parents. The identities of the subjects were changed to protect their individuality and all three case studies were written in the same format.

The Case of Philip DEMOGRAPHIC DATA. Philip was a shy and silent boy and took time to warm up with the people new to him. He was nine years old, grade three, Catholic and the youngest of three children. He started studying in his current school since Junior Prep level up to present. He was tall for his age, spoke falteringly, and seemed to be skeptical. In fact, a lot of prodding had to be made for him to talk further. During the sessions, he answered the questions in few words.

FAMILY BACKGROUND. Philip lived with his mother and two brothers. His parents separated when he was five years old. Philip narrated that his parents separated because they kept on fighting. This was supported by his mother as she revealed that there were conflicts between her and Philips father due to individual differences that resulted to marital disruption. His mother disclosed that their marriage was still on the process of annulment but they were civil and friends for the children. Furthermore, Philip with his two siblings were being fetched by their father every Saturday to spend time with them and sent them back home in the evening of the same day. During summer breaks, his dad would bring them to an out-of-town vacation together with his dads girlfriend. Philip divulged that his mother and father had their own respective partners. His dad resided in Quezon City and worked as an employee in a TV station while his mother managed a family-owned restaurant and also had a boyfriend.

ci

After the separation, Philip lived with his mother who was supported by her maternal parents. As stated by his mother, the support of her family was strengthened financially and morally after the separation. Philip had two brothers namely Jeff (13 years old) and Arnold (12 years old). He claimed to have a good relationship with his siblings which was also accounted by his mother even though

sometimes Philip felt that his brothers laughed at him, there was no sibling rivalry. Philip even told that sometimes his brothers helped him with his

assignments and played with him. Philip looked forward to the visit of his father as he got excited on the nice places that his dad would bring him and his brothers in. He expressed that it would be fine with him if both parents would have their own families. He even told his positive relationships with the partners of his parents. When asked about the possibility of having brothers and sisters in the future, he preferred to have brothers only. However, he did not give any reasons for his

cii

gender bias despite the researchers continuous prodding. He even underscored that he liked male teachers and classmates more than females though female teachers were still fine with him. In an interview with his mother, she told that Philips maternal grandfather was the most important male figure to him. He used to go to the office of his grandfather where he was given simple tasks which he considered his work. He was even paid for these tasks by his grandfather. During the first interview session with Philip, he expressed his fascination of watching horror, comedy, and violent local and international films. He said that he just learned to watch those movies when he was in Grade three. According to his mother, Philip loved to watch movies and imitated how the characters spoke and acted.

THOUGHTS,

FEELINGS

AND

BEHAVIOUR

TOWARDS PARENTS SEPARATION When asked about the separation of his

ciii

parents, he stressed that it was the right thing to do because his parents kept on fighting. Though he was not certain if the separation occurred when he was five or six years old, he claimed to feel sorry when his parents were arguing and fighting but he did not expect his parents to part ways. He, together with his brothers, was just informed that their parents would separate which was explained by both parents. Both parents decided to have their marriage annulled and faced the court. The judge decided to let the three children stay with their mother while he granted the father the right to visit the children. Though he was quite young, Philip said that they were very sad when they were told that their parents had separated. He even asked his parents why they had to do that, and it was instilled to him that it was the right thing to do because of parents constant fighting. Philip claimed that it was very hard for him to have separated parents as he thought that his parents would not part ways. On the other hand, even though he accepted already that he had

civ

separated parents, he still wished them to reunite but he stressed that it was just a dream and would not happen. Philip said that it was very surprising to see a complete family as he didnt have any. Despite his present situation, he insisted that the separation of his parents was still the right thing to do to resolve their conflict.

PERCEIVED SELF-CONCEPT Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards

Friends. Philip claimed to have a friend named Jacob who was always playing with him. He uttered of having few friends from his section and other sections. He stated that making friends was easy for him and he could easily get along with them but he didnt talk with them regarding his personal concerns.

Thoughts,

feelings

and

behaviour

towards

Studies. Philip considered studying as boring. It was enough for him to pass all the subjects. He had line

cv

of seven grades in his Report Card and sometimes forgot to do his assignments but inspite of that he still considered himself a good student. Philip revealed that he was studying because he wanted to be intelligent to be able to work in the future. He liked everything in school most especially the canteen and the teachers because according to him, they were not strict and the school was good.

Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Self. Philip described himself as good, respectful,

obedient. He preferred to be in a group than to be alone. He considered himself as an important person but couldnt give reasons. For him, he is a lucky person because of many relatives who loved him and the money that they have. He admitted that sometimes he had a difficulty controlling his emotion when he was being teased. When asked about his talents or skills, he said that he was good at fencing only. Though it was a form of sports, he couldnt think of any talents he

cvi

was good at doing. Philip said that he was bored being himself but could not reason out why.

Thoughts, Physical

feelings Attributes.

and

behaviour

towards

On the other hand, he

expressed to be happy with the way he looked and didnt want to change anything with himself or to be another person.

Thoughts,

feelings

and

behaviour

towards

Family. Furthermore, when he was asked about the things that come to his mind about his father, he recalled his father as someone who imposed discipline on them. He stated that whenever they had trouble with his brothers, his father would hit them with his bare hands. Philip remembered his mother as a nice and kind person to him but always busy working while he thought of his brothers of getting older already. He perceived himself as an obedient child which made him an important member of his family.

cvii

The Case of Pamela

DEMOGRAPHIC DATA. Pamela was an articulate and gregarious girl. She was nine years old, grade three, Catholic and the second of two children. She started studying in her current school since Grade One up to present. She dressed neatly, sported shoulder hair, and very polite in talking. She is a lively, friendly and expressive person. She was very responsive during the interview sessions.

FAMILY BACKGROUND. Pamela lived with her mother, stepfather, maternal grandparents and halfsister. Her parents separated when she was three years old. Pamelas parents broke up because of constant conflict with each other. She said that her parents separated because of her fathers consistent absence in the house. Her mother narrated that

Pamelas father left out of anger and insecurity. She added that they (Pamelas parents) were avoiding having any conversation as it resulted to hostility

cviii

after a few minutes. Pamela rarely had a visit from his father though she received SMS and Facebook messages from him. The last time that she saw her father was in January 2010. Pamela said that her parents civil wedding was on the process of annulment. Her mother lived with her stepfather so as her father had a relationship with another woman. Her father resided in

Novalichez and worked as a government employee while her mother was employed in a foreign embassy here in the Philippines. After the separation, Pamela lived with her mother who was supported by her maternal parents. Her mother disclosed that Pamelas father did not give any support for their child despite several attempts to demand. Pamela had a half-sister named Anna (14 years old). She expressed fear towards her sister as the latter acted like a boss to her like asking her to get a glass of water. Pamela looked forward to the visit of her father. She said that she just wanted to see him.

cix

She had a good relationship with the girlfriend of her father. She even called her Tita Mommy so as to the partner of her mother whom she addressed as Daddy Bong. Pamela accepted the situation of her parents and wanted them to be friends. THOUGHTS, FEELINGS AND BEHAVIOUR

TOWARDS PARENTS SEPARATION When asked about the separation of her parents, she stressed what her mother and

grandmother told her that her father always stayed out of their home. Though before, she was not aware of what was happening to her parents, she expressed sadness on the separation of her parents. She told that she still wanted both parents to be together for her to have a complete family but she accepted the current set up of her parents. She just wanted them to be friends as much as possible. She was also sad on the thought that her mother would be filing an annulment against her father and would marry her stepfather but still insisted that she understood everything.

cx

PERCEIVED SELF-CONCEPT Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards

Friends. She claimed to have a lot of friends. She told that Chloe and Bernice were her best friends. However, she expressed to have difficulty in making friends with others as she didnt talk to them. She easily got angry with others as she thought that they said bad things about her. Nevertheless, she considered herself important to her friends as they could talk to her about personal matters. Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards

Studies. Pamela considered Math as her waterloo. She had line of seven grades in her Report Card. Her mother and sometimes their maid were the ones helping with her assignments and projects. She expressed that she seldom enjoyed schooling as some of her friends got a fight with her. She thought of studying as her way of attaining her goals though she could not identify her goals yet. Pamela looked at herself as a good student as according to her, she

cxi

focused on lessons in class.

Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Self. Pamela described herself as a weird person. She said that she always laughed wherever she was or even if she was with her friends. She could either be alone or in a group. She considered herself an important person as she thought that without her, her mother and sister were hopeless. When the

researcher prodded her to explain, she became silent. Pamela stated that the important things in

her life were her family, friends and studies. When asked about her talents or skills, she could not name even one. Pamela thought of herself as an unlucky person as she reasoned out her sister who was bossy to her at home.

Thoughts,

feelings

and

behaviour

towards

Physical Attributes. On the other hand, Pamela still liked being herself and considered her eyes as admirable parts of her body even though she got

cxii

affected by her uncle who told that she was ugly. She even added that she didnt like her height though it was appropriate for her age.

Thoughts,

feelings

and

behaviour

towards

Family. Furthermore, when she was asked about the things that come to her mind about her father, she expressed that she missed and wanted to see him. Pamela remembered her mother as someone who was always with her and if given a choice to choose whom did she want to stay, she would still choose her mother.

The Case of PJ DEMOGRAPHIC DATA. PJ was a friendly and an approachable boy. He easily warmed up with the researcher and opened up about himself. He was nine years old, grade three, Catholic and the only child of his parents. He started studying in his current school since Junior Prep level up to present. He was tall for his age, spoke confidently, and a handsome

cxiii

boy. He was an energetic and active student in the school.

FAMILY BACKGROUND. PJ lived with his mother and helpers. His parents separated when he was three years old. PJ narrated that his parents separated because they kept on fighting. His mother revealed that irreconcilable differences,

psychological incapacitation, physical and verbal abuse were the reasons why she decided to separate with PJs father.
Based on PJs profile, his parents were not married. His mother told that they (she and PJs father) had an open communication about their son but they were not friends. PJ got to see his father once a year during summer or Christmas. It was either he went to Australia with his cousins to visit his father or his father went to the Philippines to see him.

PJs mother was soon to get married with her fiance while PJs father had a girlfriend. His father resided in Australia and eventually became its citizen while his mother worked as an Assistant

cxiv

Principal in one of the International Schools in the country. After the separation, the court gave the custody of PJ to his mother. His mother said that PJs father was very supportive to their child financially and emotionally. PJ looked forward to the visit of his father as he got excited on the toys and gadgets that his father would buy for him. PJ agreed if both his parents would have their own family as he anticipated the wedding of his mother to her soon to be stepfather. As observed by his mother, PJ and

her partner were very comfortable with each other and enjoyed each others company. Furthermore, PJ expressed his eagerness to have brothers and sisters. In fact, he was always happy to meet the daughter of his soon to be stepfather to play with her.

THOUGHTS,

FEELINGS

AND

BEHAVIOUR

TOWARDS PARENTS SEPARATION

Upon realizing the separation of his parents, PJ cried and got mad at his parents. He blamed his parents for what happened to their family. He didnt talk to his

cxv

parents for four weeks because of his anger. His mother disclosed that PJ became too clingy at first and attributed it to the childs fear to lose his mother also. She said that PJ had a difficulty managing his emotions and most of the time had tantrums. PJ narrated that there were times when he preferred to sleep alone or with maid in his room. But when it was explained to him by both parents, he slowly understood and accepted his situation.

When his father left for a job in Australia, PJ missed him and thought of going to his maternal grandmother and cousins. He said that he just wanted to see and play with them. PJ accepted already that he had separated parents, and he preferred to be with this set up as his father was earning a lot to support him after the separation. He was also happy that his mother would marry his soon to be stepfather and would be his family. PJ said that he didnt get envious to those who had complete families but sometimes he got sad because he didnt have such.

PERCEIVED SELF-CONCEPT

cxvi

Thoughts,

feelings

and

behaviour

towards

Friends. PJ had a good relationship with his classmates particularly with the boys. He had a lot of friends not only in school but in their neighbourhood as well. On the other hand, he was not comfortable playing with girls or even just making friends with them. There was only one girl who could play with him and he considered a friend. He experienced playing with girls before but he was accused of cheating in the game. PJ could easily make friends with other kids. He initiated to approach the kids that he wanted to play with. Though he admitted that sometimes, he got into fights with his playmates, he considered himself important to his friends as he taught them how to play a computer game.

Thoughts,

feelings

and

behaviour

towards

Studies. PJ had an average academic performance as indicated by his grades except for his Math which was his difficulty. He stressed of having 75 grade in this subject and wanted to improve it. PJ enjoyed

cxvii

being in school most especially when it was their Computer Class when he had the chance to play computer games. PJ considered school as an environment to learn and to meet new friends. He also appreciated the teachers in the school who were kind to him. He thought of himself as a good student as he helped in maintaining the cleanliness and silence of their classroom.

Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Self. Philip described himself as kind, friendly and playful. He preferred to be in a group so that he could play and talk with them. He considered himself an important person as he thought of himself as polite and friendly and could be depended upon by his friends. PJ stated that he easily got angry when he was telling the truth and the people around him didnt believe in him. When asked about the important people or things in his life, PJ answered his parents, grandparents, friends and toys. PJ considered karate as his talent. In fact,

cxviii

he was a yellow belter already. Aside from karate, he claimed to be good at dancing and drawing. loved drawing cartoons like Naruto and Pokemon. Moreover, he regarded himself a lucky person as he appreciated the things that he had. He was happy with the way he looked and didnt want to change anything with himself or to be another person. He enumerated the things that he liked about himself such as friendly, playful and having a toy like DS. On the other hand, PJ didnt like himself when he became angry, mad and when in trouble. He felt responsible for whatever things happened to him. He thought that being a boy is different from others. PJ believed himself to be a good person as he shared his things with others. He

Thoughts,

feelings

and

behaviour

towards

Physical Attributes. When asked about the way he looked, PJ was happy and satisfied as he claimed to be a look alike of his father. In fact, he considered himself a handsome boy.

cxix

Thoughts,

feelings

and

behaviour

towards

Family. Furthermore, when he was asked about the things that come to his mind about his father, he recalled the toys his father bought for him. PJ

remembered his mother as a loving and caring person. He perceived himself to be a good son as he was helping his family in his own simple way.

Research question #1: What is the profile of the subjects in terms of: 1.1 demographic data 1.1.1 age 1.1.2 gender 1.1.3 grade level 1.1.4 religion 1.1.5 ordinal position 1.2 family background 1.2.1 age of the subject during the parents separation 1.2.2 cause/s of parents

cxx

separation 1.2.3 current setup of subjects parents 1.2.4 economic status of subjects parents; and 1.2.7 current person/s living with the subject at home? The respondents of this study were all nine years old, two were males (Philip and PJ) and one female (Pamela), all were in Grade Three and Catholic. Furthermore, Philip was the youngest among the three children in their family while Pamela was also the youngest of the two children in their family and PJ was the only child of his parents. (See Table 1)
Table 1

Demographic Data of Subjects

Philip Age Gender Grade Level Religion 9 Male Grade Three Catholic

Pamela 9 Female Grade Three Catholic

PJ 9 Male Grade Three Catholic

cxxi

Ordinal Position

Youngest

Youngest

Only child

In terms of respondents family background, their ages during their parents separation were five years old (Philip), and the other two were three years old (Pamela, and PJ). It was revealed that

respondents parents separated due to individual differences (Philips case), marital conflict (Pamelas case) and irreconcilable differences, psychological incapacitation, physical and verbal abuse (PJs case). Furthermore, the gathered data showed that the current set up of Philips parents was civil and friends while Pamelas parents were civil but tends to be hostile to each other and PJs parents were civil. All respondents parents belonged to the upper class level in terms of economic status. It was disclosed to the researcher that the current person/s living with the respondents were the mother and two brothers (Philip), mother, stepfather, half-sister, maternal grandparents (Pamela) and only mother (PJ). (See Table 2).

cxxii

Table 2

Family Background of the Subjects

Philip Age of the subject during parents separation 5 years old Pamela 3 years old PJ 3 years old Irreconcilabl e differences, psychologic al incapacitatio n, physical and verbal abuse Civil Upper Class

Cause/s of parents separation

Individual differences

Marital conflict

Current setup of subjects parents Economic status of subjects parents Current person/s living with the subject at home?

Civil and friends Upper Class Mother and two brothers

Civil and tends to be hostile to each other Upper Class Mother, stepfather, halfsister, maternal grandparents

Mother

Research question #2: What is the perceived selfconcept of the subjects based on the themes and sub-themes formulated? Answers are incorporated with the answers in question #3. Research question #3: What are the behavioural manifestations of the subjects based on the themes and sub-themes formulated from the study?

cxxiii

After the different procedures conducted as data management analysis techniques which include peer debriefing, audit trail, and member checking to get the emerging themes and sub-themes based on the interview sessions conducted with the

respondents and their mothers, anecdotal records of the participants from the School Counseling Office, and observations, the following were formulated: To be able to understand comprehensively the self-concept of the respondents, five domains were categorically made based on the themes and sub-themes. They were social, academics, self, physical attributes and family. The researcher gathered the thoughts, feelings and behaviour of the respondents towards the categories that had been formulated. Social domain. For Philip, categories like friendliness arose as he considered the one who is playing with him a close friend. Moreover, categories like selectiveness as he had a notion of choosing his friends, good friend as he treated them nicely, and

cxxiv

uncertainty as he was uncertain if he is important to his friends were seen in the interview. In the case of Pamela, categories such as withdrawn as she is having a hard time making friends and pessimism as she had not established positive relations with others were also manifested. In addition, PJs case revealed categories such as friendliness which referred to his good relationship with his friends, gender bias as he preferred male playmates than females, initiative as he easily initiated making friends and superiority as he thought of himself better than others. Among the three cases, a category of friendliness was common to Philip and PJs cases as they had positive relationship towards their friend/s. On the other hand, Pamela had a negative perception on this domain based on the emerging themes and sub-themes in her case. (See Table3) Lansdown and Walker (1991; in Po & Sarabia, 1997; Ni, 2005) mentioned that gradually the child begins to describe himself in terms of others. This

cxxv

means that he looks at himself in comparison with others. This may be demonstrated in the statement I am like him/her in the way I dress. It is also evident that the childs sense of self is affected by his interpretation of how and what other people feel about him. The promotion of social and emotional

development means helping children to develop a healthy personality and sense of self (Cook, Tessier & Klein, 2000). With emotional strength and healthy autonomy, the young child begins to develop effective social skills. Studies have demonstrated that a childs social competence is a critical development achievement for later social success. Social competence has been strongly associated with successful school performance, transition into school and work settings, better job opportunities with corresponding adult support, and improved overall interaction with others. Children with good social skills are better accepted by their peers, have better coping and attention skills and make better

cxxvi

adjustments to school and social situations as cited in Ni, 2005. These children have high regard of themselves- a positive self-concept which means that they understand themselves.
Table 3

Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Social

Categories Descriptions Exemplar Responses

Philip

Friendliness

Considered a close friend

"I'm always playing with him." (Philip)

Selectivene ss Good friend

Chose friends Treated friends nicely

"I only have some friends"(Philip) "I am good to them" (Philip)

Uncertainty

Uncertain if he is important to his friends

Pame la

Withdrawn

had a hard time making friends did not seem to have established positive relations with others

"Maybe."(Philip) "I just play with them." (Philip) "I dont talk to them kasi." (Pamela) "They keep on saying bad things about me." (Pamela)

Pessimism

"Because they called me mean." (Pamela) "Im fine. They keep on playing with me. " (PJ)

PJ

Friendliness

had good friendly relationship with others

cxxvii

Gender Bias

preferred male playmates than female

"Because shes the only girl who could play with me. (PJ)

Initiative

initiated to make friends with others

"Because, I make friends with Bryan and Erin, Im not Diegos friend who is close to them. Then I talk to them and we become friends. (PJ) "Because without me, they wont learn wisdom." (PJ)

Superiority

perceived self better than others

In terms of academics, it was found out that in Philips case, categories such as School interest (as he thought to be bored in school), mediocrity (as for him it was enough to pass the subjects), perceived school as social environment (as he enjoyed school because of friends), perceived school as source of knowledge (as he was studying to be intelligent) and positive view on school (as he liked everything in school). In the case of Pamela, categories such as academic difficulty (she troubled with Math),

perceived school as an avenue for goals (she had

cxxviii

reasons for studying) and positive self-regard (she perceived herself to be a good student) were manifested. Moreover, in the case of PJ, categories such as academic difficulty (he troubled with Math), positive concept of school (he had good notion of school), appreciation (he appreciated good treatment of his teachers, and positive self-regard (he

perceived himself as a good student) were seen as the emerging themes and sub-themes respectively. Among the three cases, positive

concept of school and positive self regard towards school were the common themes that could be derived from their responses. (See Table 4) Elbaum and Vaughn (2002) assert the factors that affect a childs self-concepts are related to his/her academic achievement. Students with lower levels of self-concept have lower levels of academic achievement and development of social skills Self-worth theory maintains that students who equate ability with achievement are more likely to be

cxxix

motivated by the desire to protect their own selfesteem than by the desire to master a task. Covington, 1984 as cited in Lin, 2003 stated that failure to maintain a sense of ability triggers shame and a loss of self-respect. He further stated that students feel that if they work hard and fail, anyway, they lack ability. However, if their failure is a result of a lack of effort, their ability status is uncertain and their self-worth can remain intact. In a situation that is likely to threaten a students self -image, there is a very pronounced tendency to reduce effort. Amato (2000) indicated that studies in the 1990s confirmed children with divorced parents scored lower than children with continuously married parents on measures of academic success (Astone & McLanahan,1991; Teachman, Paasch, & Carver, 1996), conduct (Doherty & Needle, 1991; Simons & Associates, 1996), psychological adjustment

(Forehand, Neighbors, Devine, & Armistead, 1994; Kurdek, Fine, & Sinclair, 1994), self-concept (Wenk, Hardesty, Morgan, & Blair, 1994), social competence

cxxx

(Beaty, 1995; Brodzinsky, Hitt, & Smith, 1993), and long-term health (Tucker et. al., 1997). On the other hand, Liu (2004) found no evidence that lower academic achievement was attributable to parental divorce. Nevertheless, since only few divorces were preceded by a high level of chronic marital conflict, he indicated divorce probably helped fewer children than it hurt.

Table 4

Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Academics

Categories

Descriptions

Exemplar Responses "I find this school boring" (Philip)

Philip

School interest

Bored in school

Mediocrity

Enough to pass the subjects

"My grades are good. 78 over 100. I sometimes do not do my assignment, but sometimes only." (Philip)

Perceived school as social environment

Enjoyed school because of friends

"I have a lot of friends here." (Philip)

cxxxi

Perceived school as a source of knowledge

Studying to be intelligent

"To be intelligent." (Philip)

Positive view on school

likes everything in school

"I like everything here." (Philip)

"The teachers are not strict" (Philip) Pamela Academic difficulty Perceived school as an avenue for goals Troubled with Math "Math is still hard." (Pamela) "So that you can complete your goals." (Pamela) "I pay attention." (Pamela)

had reason to study

Positive self-regard

perceived self as a good student

PJ

Academic difficulty

Troubled with Math

"Because my Math is not good. " (PJ)

Positive concept of school

had good notion of school.

"To learn. To meet new friends." (PJ)

Appreciation

appreciated good treatment of his teachers

"Because they are kind to me. " (PJ)

cxxxii

Positive self-regard

perceived self as a good student

"Yes, because I help the teacher maintain the room clean and I asked my classmates not to be noisy. " (PJ)

In terms of self domain, the categories that could be derived from Philips case were positive self regard (he described himself as a good person), sociable (he preferred to be in a group), regards on ones own talent (he considered sports as an area where is good at), self-regard (considered himself a lucky person), and average temperament (he

sometimes had difficulty controlling his temper). Likewise, the self domain categories that were seen on Pamelas case were self-critical (she viewed herself negatively) and superiority complex (viewed herself better than others). Also, PJs case revealed that positive self regard (he described himself as a good person), sociable (he preferred to be in a group), openness (

cxxxiii

he

was

open

to

mingle

with

other

people),

dependable (he perceived himself as someone others can depend on), honesty (he was truthful to himself), high regard of talents (he considered himself to be good at drawing and dancing), sense of gratitude (he appreciated that he could play), and responsibility (he took charge for his actions). Among the three cases, positive self-regard was common to the cases of Philip and PJ as they both perceived themselves as good persons. On the other hand, Pamela regarded herself negatively as she was critical to her actions and thoughts. (See Table 5) The results could be explained by the Personal theory which states that self-concept depends on how people view personal

characteristics such as intelligence, empathy, and integrity. These two assert that there are two kinds of views people take about their or personal

characteristics: Children with

entity-oriented entity-oriented

incremental. about

theories

cxxxiv

themselves believe that their personal characteristics such as intelligence are fixed or uncontrollable. On the other hand, children with incremental theories about themselves believe that their characteristics are malleable, increasable, and controllable qualities (Dweck and Leggett in Glover and Bruning as mentioned in Lin, 2003). In their view, the two types of theories lead to different kinds of self-concept. The former sees themselves as a collection of fixed traits that can be measured and evaluated while the latter views themselves as a dynamic, changeable set of qualities that is evolving over time through

individuals efforts. Whether children see themselves as fixed or changing makes a profound difference on how they see their world and what they do. Students who see their personal traits as fixed and

unchangeable are unlikely to believe that efforts devoted to studying, practicing a musical instrument or mastering a physical skill will be of benefit. In contrast, students who believe they are changeable also are confident that they can change themselves

cxxxv

through their own efforts. Study and practice are seen as important to self-development. This theory points out that childrens goals and the ways they evaluate them are important. Self-improvement goals in which children attempt to increase knowledge, enhance skills or change things about themselves seem to be associated with the development of incremental theories. Self-performance goals in contrast are associated with entity-oriented theories.
Table 5

cxxxvi

Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Self

Categories Positive regard of self Descriptions described himself as a good person Exemplar Responses "I'm good. I'm respectful. I follow" (Philip) "I would rather have a group than to be alone." (Philip) " "Good in fencing only. " (Philip) Ah, Im very important. I'm very lucky." (Philip) "Yes, and I have a lot of money." (Philip) "Sometimes, when I am being teased." (Philip) "Weird. Kasi, I laugh wherever I go and whenever I am with my friends." (Pamela) "Yes, because.without me they are hopeless." (Pamela) "Kind. Friendly. Playful. Yes, because I keep on sharing." (PJ) "To be in a group." (PJ)

Philip

Sociable

preferred to be in a group

Regards on ones own talent

considered sports as an area where he is good at

Self-regard

considered himself a lucky person sometimes had difficulty controlling his anger

average temperament

Pamela

Self-critical

views herself negatively

Superiority complex

views herself better than others

PJ

Positive selfregard Sociable

described himself as a good person preferred to be in a group

cxxxvii

Openness

open to mingle with other people perceived self as someone to depend on

Dependable

Honesty

truthful to himself considered himself to be good at drawing and dancing

High regard of talents

Sense of gratitude

appreciated that he could play

"So I can talk and play with anybody." (PJ) "Because I am polite and friendly, and my friends also can depend on me. " "When Im telling the truth and they dont believe me." (PJ) "Im good at drawing and dancing." (PJ) "Im so happy because I thank the Lord that I can play. Because I know that I still have other things with me." (PJ) "Yeah, because I think things would not happen if I am good." (PJ)

Responsibility

took charge for his actions

In terms of Physical attributes domain, Philips case had a category of sense of satisfaction as he was happy with the way he looks and didnt want to change anything with himself while Pamela had a self-regard as she passively accepted how

cxxxviii

others view her. On the other hand, PJs case revealed a category of attribution of happiness as he happily attributed himself to his father. Among the three cases, only PJ and Philip viewed themselves positively in this domain while Pamela had a negative perception of her physical appearance. (See Table 6) Mangalubana, Reyes, & Soleto, 2004

mentioned in their study that Zill (1990) found that only 26% of children from divorced families reported positive relationships with both parents in contrast to the 55% of children from intact families (Stanton, 1999). The subjects positive association of

themselves to their parents took great impact on how they see theire similarities. Thus, relationships and concepts of parents play vital role on their selfconcept.

cxxxix

Table 6

Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Physical Attributes

Categories Philip Sense of satisfaction Descriptions happy with the way he looks didn't want to change anything with himself physically considered himself a good looking person Pamel a passively accepted what others view of her Exemplar Responses "Yes, I'm happy." (Philip) "Nothing." (Philip)

Self-regard

PJ

Attribution of Happiness

Happily attributed himself to father

"I dont knowbecause my uncle told me Im ugly." (Pamela) "Yeah, because I look like my dad." (PJ)

In the last domain which is Family, Philips case had categories such as discipline (he

remembered how his father imposed discipline on them), positive regard (he appreciated having a good relationship), awareness of change (he saw the differences rather than similarities) obedience (he was following his family), and level of acceptance of the situation (he accepted the situation passively).

cxl

Similarly, the categories that could be derived from Pamelas case were sibling rivalry (she perceived her sister in a hostile manner), affectionate (appreciated the presence of her mother) and longingness (she missed her father and wanted to be with him) while on the case of PJ, categories were understanding (understanding why his father had to be away), sadness (he felt sad because of the separation), acceptance (he passively accepted the separation of his parents), withdrawn ( he temporarily inhibited himself from parents), resentment (he blamed his parents for their separation), longingness (he missed his father), tolerant (had control of his feelings), helping (he perceived that parents should help each other), sibling affection (he was excited to have a brother), family orientation (he valued the members of his family) and regards self as a good son (he perceived himself positively in the family). Among the three cases, longingness was the common category which was about their father. All expressed positively regarding their parents and

cxli

their self but only PJ and Philip had positive perception towards their siblings. On one hand, Pamela had a negative perception on her sister. (See Table 7) This is different from the results of the study conducted by Healy, Stewart, and Copeland which showed that one third of primary school children whose parents have separated blamed themselves (Amato, 2000). This in turn led to depression, externalizing problems, and lowered feelings of selfcompetence. These kids did not know that adultery was one of the primary reasons why their parents separated (Farrer & Zhongxin, 2003). Infidelity often caused greater marital instability, dishonesty,

arguments about trust, and time spent apart (Atkins, Yi, Baucom, & Christensen, 2005). White, Brinkerhoff, and Booths study showed that children from divorced families reported

developing especially close relationships with their custodial parent (1985, as cited in Hannum & Dvorak, 2004).

cxlii

Table 7

Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Family

Categories Descriptions remembered how his father impose discipline on them appreciated having a good relationship saw the differences rather than similarities following his family Exemplar Responses "When I was still young, when I would fight with my brothers, he would always make palo." (Philip) "She is nice." (Philip) "They are very becoming old already." (Philip) "Because I always follow." (Philip) "I just find it Ok, because thats the right thing to do because they kept on fighting." (Philip) "My sister always bosses me around." (Pamela) "Because shes always with me." (Pamela) "I want to see him." (Pamela) "Yes, because hes buying me toys. (PJ) "I cried a little." (PJ)

Philip

Discipline

Positive regard Awareness of change Obedience to family Level of acceptance of the situation Pamela Sibling rivalry Affectionate Longingness Understandin g Sadness

accepted the situation passively perceived sister in a hostile manner appreciated the presence of mother missed her father and wanted to be with him understood why his father had to be away felt sad because of the separation

PJ

cxliii

Acceptance

passively accepted the situation of his parents

"Because parents should not be like that, but my mom told me that some parents are having a hard and my daddy goes to work for his children and I said Ok. "Im not talking to them, because I was angry at them. When my dad called, I didnt answer it. " (PJ) "When she goes to the house, I didnt do anything; I just go to my room." (PJ) ": I said, its your fault that mommy doesnt like you and I told my mom that it is also your fault that daddy doesnt like you." (PJ) "When he went to Australia, I missed him because he is the one whos helping us." (PJ) "Because they have a complete family and I dont want to get envy with them. "If its a mom, Ill just tell them that they have to work to provide everything for their child, if it is a dad, they need to help the mom to provide. But I know one." (PJ) "So I can play with him." (PJ) "My dad, my mom, my lola, lolo, my cousins " (PJ) "Yeah, because I keep on helping them." (PJ)

Withdrawn

temporarily inhibited himself from parents

Resentment

blaming his parents for the separation

Longingness

missed his father

Tolerant

has control of his feelings

Helping

perceived that parents should help each other

Sibling affection Familyorientation Regard self as a good son

excited to have a brother valued family members perceived self positively in the family

cxliv

With regards to their parents separation, the categories that can be inferred were sadness (felt sad that parents separated), surprised (did not expect that fighting would lead to separation), confrontation (tried to talk his parents out of separation), hopeful (still wishes for parents to be together), anger (got mad parents upon confirming separation), withdrawn (refused to talk to parents or be with them), resentment (blamed their parents for their separation) and practicality (looked at the advantages of parent separation). (See Table 8) Children who were caught in the crossfire of their parents fight and subsequent separation became victims, torn between their mom and dad because pledging hurt allegiance the other. to In one 1994, would Rutter

undoubtedly

introduced the term divided loyalty, which referred to children who were close to their biological parent but are now have difficulty adjusting with their new parent/s because they feel they might be betraying

cxlv

their real parents.

Table 8

Thoughts, feelings and behaviour towards Parents Separation Categories Sadness Surprised Description Felt sad that parents separated Did not expect that fighting would lead to parents separation. Tried to talk his parents out of separation Still wishes for parents to be together Exemplar Responses very sad (Philip) so sad (Pamela) ...I thought that they would not be separated. (Philip) I told them not to separate (Philip) if given a chance would you like them to still be together? yes (Philip) so I can have a complete family
(Pamela)

Confrontation Hopeful

Anger

Withdrawn

Got mad at parents upon confirming separation. Refused to talk to parents or be with them

I got mad...parents shouldnt be like that. (PJ) Im not talking to them, because I was angry at them. When my dad called, I didnt answer it.; When she goes to the house, I didnt do anything; I just go to my room (PJ)

cxlvi

I said its your fault that mommy doesnt like you and I told my mom that it is also your fault that daddy doesnt like you. (PJ) Because my daddy works here, he just Looked at the have little money, but advantages of when he went there, he Practicality separation earned a lot and buy me toys. (PJ) Because my daddy works here, he just Looked at the have little money, but advantages of when he went there, he Practicality separation earned a lot and buy me toys. (PJ) Based on the five domains presented here, it Resentment Blamed parents for their separation can be said that Philip had positive self-concept in terms of social, physical attributes, and family while he had a negative self-concept on the domains of academics and self. On the other hand, Pamela had a positive self-concept in terms of academics and family while she perceived herself negatively on social, self, and physical attributes. Likewise, PJ had a positive self-concept in all the domains formulated in this study such social, academics, self, physical attribution and family. As products of broken homes, certain

cxlvii

domains of our childrens self-concept were affected and sometimes became worst if they were not helped. As a counselor, who had a lived experience of being in such situation, I felt the struggles and confusions of the children who have the same situation as mine. Longingness really could not be avoided as it asked for the missing pieces of our identity wholeness. No matter how parents explain to the children why they have to separate, the wishful thinking of children to a have a complete home will always live in their minds as for them, their identity and personhood is made up of two parents. Research question #4: What are the implications of this study on the field of the helping profession? This study is highly beneficial to the helping profession as it discussed the cases of children with separated parents who usually need the assistance and guidance of school counselors or even

psychologists at large. This gives a detailed picture of how the children with separated parents perceived their self-concept using qualitative approach.

cxlviii

The themes and sub-themes gathered in this study may be used as a basis to focus in the assistance and guidance given to the clients who may have similar cases. This will facilitate to understand the areas which may be explored in assessing the self-concept of the children with separated parents. Those in the field of the helping profession like counselors could reflect on this in handling the cases of separated parents. Their School Counseling Program may be improved in addressing the concerns of their students with separated parents such as creating an intervention program in

enhancing the students self-concept.

Research question #5: What intervention program can be proposed based on the themes and subthemes formulated from the study? In the light of the themes and sub-themes formulated in this study, the researcher proposes an intervention program which would serve as the

cxlix

product of the case studies conducted. The development of a strong sense of selfconcept during childhood is important if children are to withstand the family stresses, social pressures, and temptations of deviance encountered at earlier ages of life. Low self-concept in children is linked to poor health and deviant social behaviours such as smoking, substance abuse, poor academic

achievement, depression, suicide, and pregnancy (Daane, 2003; Shirk, Burwell, & Harter, 2003). Conversely, high self-concept is linked to increased school performance, improved health, and productive behaviour (Leary, Schreindorfer, & Haupt, 1995; Task Force on the Family, 2003). Such evidence suggests higher levels of self-concept may lead to more success in life and greater motivation for health maintenance behaviours The Self-concept Enhancement Program for children with Separated Parents will be a school-based, child-focused, supportive group

intervention program for children with separated

cl

parents (See Appendix G, H and I). The program is particularly designed not only to help the children cope with the emotional and behavioural difficulties which resulted from parents separation but also to develop a positive self-concept. The intervention programs are individually made based on the themes and sub-themes gathered and formulated from each case study. Since Philip perceived his self-concept positively on the domains of social, physical

attributes and family, these three domains will be further enhanced by the program while academics and self domains which are perceived to be negative will be developed. (See Appendix G) In the case of Pamela who viewed her selfconcept in the domains of academics and family positively, these two domains will be further

enhanced by the program while social, self, and physical attributes which were negatively perceived by the subject will be developed. (See Appendix H) The program created for PJ will try to

cli

enhance all the domains of his self-concept since the subject perceived them all positively.

The programs are anchored on the belief of Rogers (Saul Mcleod, 2007) that defined self as "the organized, consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself". The self is the humanistic term for who we really are as a person. The self is our inner personality, and can be likened to the soul. It is influenced by the experiences a person has in his life, and out of interpretations of those experiences. Two primary sources that influence our self-concept are childhood experiences and evaluation by others.

According to Rogers as cited in Mcleod 2007, people want to feel, experience and behave in ways which are consistent with our self-image and which reflect what we would like to be like, the ideal-self. The closer the self-image and ideal-self are to each other, the more consistent or congruent they are and the higher the sense of self-worth. A person is said to be in a state of incongruence if some of the totality of

clii

their experiences are unacceptable to them and denied or distorted in the self-image.

With these considerations, the domains formulated from the case studies were embedded to attain the goals of the programs tailored fit to the subjects. This will include various activities with the involvement of children, counselors, teachers and parents. Sessions may vary depending on the number of participants, conditions of children, and the needs of the situation.

The

researcher

proposes

the

success

indicator of the program using the evaluation form. (See Appendix J)

Chapter 4 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS This chapter contains the summary,

conclusions, as well as, the recommendations based

cliii

on the three case studies conducted.

SUMMARY The number of documented and

undocumented cases of separated parents in the country is increasing day by day. In the battle of fathers and mothers during their separation, children do not have a choice but to let it go through their veins and be at the losing end. This study serves to describe and analyze the three cases of children with separated parents focusing on their self-concept. The specific questions this study answered were: 1. What is the profile of the subjects in terms of: 1.1 demographic data 1.1.1 age 1.1.2 gender 1.1.3 grade level 1.1.4 religion

cliv

1.1.5 ordinal position 1.2 family background 1.2.1 age of the subject during the parents separation 1.2.2 cause/s of parents separation 1.2.3 current setup of subjects parents 1.2.4 economic status of subjects parents; and 1.2.8 current person/s living with the subject at home? 2. What is the perceived self-concept of the subjects based on the themes and subthemes formulated? 3. What are the behavioural manifestations of the subjects based on the themes and subthemes formulated from the study? 4. What are the implications of this study in the field of the helping profession? 5. What intervention program can be

clv

proposed based on the themes and subthemes formulated from the study?

The

conceptual

paradigm

was

created

based on the themes and sub-themes of the study. The researcher employed a qualitative descriptive design, utilizing case studies particularly the use of Case Study N=1 replicated three times. The methods used for data collection were interviews, anecdotal records from the School Counseling Office and observations. This study is limited to the three cases of children with separated parents, who are nine years old, Catholic, at least three years during the separation of the parents, can speak English or Filipino as their first language and residing in Metro Manila. To gather qualitative data, each of the interview sessions was transcribed to produce records of the participants and other people involved in the studys verbatim accounts. The data gathered were analyzed inductively to look for emerging

clvi

patterns or themes and sub-themes. The researcher conducted peer debriefing, audit trail, and member checking to ensure rigidity and enhance After trustworthiness the in the research and

process.

researcher

analyzed

synthesized the data, the case study draft was presented to one of the parents of the subjects to collaborate with what was written. Based on the themes and sub-themes

gathered in the study, the perceived self-concept of the subjects can be categorized into five domains. They were social academics, self, physical

attributions, and family. The subjects self-concepts could be clearly explained in terms of the domains presented here. In the case of Philip, four out of five domains were perceived by the respondent positively and they were social, self, physical attributes and family while only his academics had been perceived negatively. On the other hand, Pamela had two out of five domains perceived positively and they were academics and

clvii

family while she had negative perceptions of herself in terms of social, self and physical attributes. On the other hand, PJ had positive self-concepts in all five domains formulated in the study. The studys impact to the helping profession was also discussed as this seemed to be beneficial for the better understanding of children with

separated parents. An intervention program for each subject based on the themes and sub-themes gathered was designed as a product of the study.

CONCLUSIONS Realizing the results of the study, it can be said that the separation of parents creates great impact on how child develops his/her self-concept. In this study, five domains were labelled based on the results of data gathering, which were the areas to see in identifying the veracity of parents separation on the self-concept of children. It can be said that there might be other children who are products of

clviii

broken can still have a positive self-concept like PJ. This might be the result of good civil relationship of both parents and constant communication with him. On the other hand, some domains of selfconcept (if not all or some only) can be affected like the cases of Philip and Pamela. Their cases can be attributed to certain factors such as intense marital conflict, and loss or poor communication of both parents. Ones self-concept is really important as

this serves as his foundation to cope with lifes stages. From the moment people are born and become aware of who they are, it is very important that parents secure that their children develop positive self-concepts in terms of the different domains like what this study had presented.

RECOMMENDATIONS In the light of the findings of this study, the researcher recommends the following: 6. More in-depth studies should be conducted about children with separated parents

clix

employing longitudinal study to see the extent of impact on children. This might be a good presentation on understanding the behaviour, coping mechanisms and its effect on their views about family. 7. Comparative studies can be made on children with separated parents in Metro Manila and those in provinces to see if there are significant differences between the two. 8. Different areas may be explored like personality or emotions of the children with separated parents to set the common trends of the subjects. 9. Future researchers may conduct similar studies and may compare the differences between coping skills of male and female children. 10. The proposed self-concept enhancement program in this study can be a subject of another research regarding its feasibility

clx

and effectiveness.

REFERRENCES Abrina, M. L., Cuisia, J. C., & Velez, R. C. (1995). Interpersonal and intrapersonal adjustment difficulties of father-absent males and motherabsent females. Unpublished undergraduate thesis, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. Agravante-Go, T. R. (1998). Towards an understanding of the psychological dynamics of Filipino children of separated families. Unpublished graduate thesis, Ateneo de Manila University, Manila, Philippines.

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Albert, J. A. G.. (2000). The effects of gender and length of parental separation and coping strategies of adolescents. Unpublished graduate thesis, Ateneo de Manila University, Manila, Philippines. Amato, P. R. (2000). The consequences of divorce for adults and children [Electronic version]. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 1269-1287. Baldwin, S. A., & Hoffmann, J. P. (2002). The dynamics of self-esteem: A growth- curve analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 31, 101-113. Batacan, M. V. (2000). A profile of the female adolescent with separated parents: Their self-esteem, academic performance, misbehavior, interpersonal skills, stress, and coping strategies. Unpublished graduate thesis, Ateneo de Manila University, Manila, Philippines. Brinol, P., Petty, R. E., & Wheeler, S. C. (2006). Discrepancies between explicit and implicit self-concepts: Consequences for information processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 154-170. Bos, A. E. R., Muris, P., Mulkens, S., & Schaalma, H. P. (2006). Changing self-esteem in children and adolescents: A roadmap for future interventions. Netherlands Journal of Psychology, 62, 26-33. Bhrolchin, M. N. (2002). Divorce effects and causality in the Social

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Sciences. 17(1), 33-57.

European

Sociological

Review,

Bhrolchin, M. N., Chappell, R., Diamond, I., & Jameson, C. (2000). Parental divorce and outcomes for children: Evidence and interpretation. European Sociological Review, 16(1), 67-91. Booth, A., & Amato, P. R. (2001). Parental predivorce relations and offspring postdivorce well-being [Electronic version]. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63(1), 197-212. Brown, B. B., Larson, R. W., & Sarawathi, T. S. (Eds.). (2002). The worlds youth:Adolescence in eight regions of the globe. UK: Cambridge University Press. CBCP Research Office. (2000). The status of marriage in the Philippines: Trends and statistics. Manila: Author. Castro, C. C. , DC, K. A, Sarabia, M.K., (2001). Parent-child relationship of adolescents with separated parents. Unpublished undergraduate thesis, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. Chan, C. (2001). Relationship of support appraisal and network orientation to help seeking attitudes and behaviors. Unpublished graduate thesis, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. Chua, S.F, Dy, J. A. , Villa-Abrille, P. (2002). Experiences of sons who have separated parents and sons with nonproximal relationships. Unpublished

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undergraduate thesis, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. Cohen, G. J., Hagan Jr., J. F., Coleman, W. L., & Foy, J. M. (2002). Helping children and families deal with divorce and separation [Electronic version]. Pediatrics, 110(5), 1019-1023. Dayan, N. A., Tiongson-Magno, E. T., & Tarroja, M. C. H. (2001). Marriages made on earth. Malate: DLSU Press, Inc. De Civita , M. (2000). Promoting resilience: A vision of care [Electronic version]. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 9(2), 76-78. De Vaus, D. (2001). Research design in social research. London, Sage Publications Ltd. Diche, L.T. , Laserna, M.J. , & Pacampara, M.F. (2001). Its a small world! The self-concept of little people in Manila. Unpublished undergraduate thesis, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. Dillon, H. N. (2005). Family violence and divorce: Effects on marriage expectations. Masters Abstracts International, 43(05), 1847, (UMI No: 1425677). Dixon, W. A., & Reid, J. K. (2000). Positive life events as a moderator of stress-related depressive symptoms. Journal of Counseling & Development, 78, 343-347. Dunn, J. (2000). Understanding children familys worlds: Family transitions and childrens outcome [Electronic

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version]. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 50(3), 224. Dy, A. C. (2000). Weaving a dream. QC: Jesuit Communications. Ezzy, D. (2002). Qualitative analysis: Practice and innovation. London: Routledge Publishers. Feleo, Maria Rosario D. (2009). Social acceptance, peer status and selfconcept of children with learning disabilities in an inclusion setting. Unpublished graduate thesis, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. Fischer-Montalto, J. (2005 ). The impact of the mental representation of the father for latency-aged girls of divorce. Dissertations Abstracts International, 66(07), 2722, (UMI No: 3182857). Furstenberg, F. F., & Kiernan, K. E. (2001). Delayed parental divorce: How much do children benefit? [Electronic version]. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63, 446-457. Graff-Reed, R. L. (2004). Positive effects of stressful life events: Psychological growth following divorce [Electronic version]. Psychology, 48, 119-125. Hannum, J. W., & Dvorak, D. M. (2004). Effects of family conflict, divorce, and attachment patterns on the psychological distress and social adjustment of college freshmen[Electronic version]. Journal of College Student, 45(1), 27-42. Jeynes, W. H.. (2001). The effects of recent parental divorce on their

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children's consumption of alcohol [Electronic version]. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 30(3), 305-319. Johnson, B. (1992). Splashes of joy in the cesspools of life. Dallas: Word Publishing.Kail, R. V. (2001). Children and their development. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Kaisa Fact Sheet. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2003, from http://www.philonline.com.ph/~kaisa/kaisa_fac t.html Kim, P. H., Ferrin, D. L., Cooper, C. D., & Dirks, K. T. (2004). Removing the shadow of suspicion: The effects of apology versus denial for repairing competence-based versus integrity-based trust violations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(1), 104-118. Klein, H. K. (2005). Investigation of variables influencing college students' marital attitudes and fear of intimacy. Dissertation Abstracts International, 66(11), 6313, (UMI No: 3194873). Knox, D., Zusman, M., & DeCuzzi, A. (2004). The effect of parental divorce on relationships with parents and romantic partners of college students [Electronic version]. College Student Journal, 38(4), 597. Laursen, E. K., & Birmingham, S. M. (2003). Caring relationships as a protective factor for at-risk youth: An ethnographic study [Electronic version]. Families in Society, 84(2),614-626. Lee, R. M., Su, J., & Yoshida, E. (2005). Coping with

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intergenerational family conflict among Asian American college students [Electronic version]. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(3), 389-399. Leman, K. (1994). Living in a step-family without getting stepped on. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. Lemley. Nello Nicole (2004).The Reliability of the Piers-Harris Childrens Self-Concept Scale, Second Edition Lin, Chien-Chih. (2003). Self-Concept and Compensatory Approaches Applied to Children with Mild Retardation, Unpublished masters thesis, De La Salle University, Manila Liu, S. H. (2004). Parental divorce and child educational attainment. Dissertation Abstracts International, 65 (04), 1485, (UMI No: 3131275). Ludovice-Yap, T. S. (1999). Resiliency among Filipino cancer survivors. Unpublished graduate thesis, Ateneo de Manila University, Manila, Philippines. Mangalubana, K. L., Reyes, H., & Soleto, I.R. (2004). Blending in the new family: Adjustments of selected Filipino adolescent stepchildren. Unpublished undergraduate thesis, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. Marsh, H. W., Papaioannou, A., & Theodorakis, Y. (2006). Causal ordering of physical selfconcept and exercise behavior: Reciprocal effects model and the influence of physical education teachers. Health Psychology, 25, 316-328

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Medina, B. T. G.. (2001). The Filipino family (2nd ed.). Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press. Merriam, S. B. (2002). Qualitative research as practice: Examples for discussion and analysis. San Francisco: Joseey-Bass, A. Wiley Company. Mossa, Timothy, and Carrb, Tony (2004). Understanding Adjustment to Disfigurement: The Role of the Self-Concept Psychology and Health. December 2004, Vol. 19, No. 6, pp. 737748 Murray, C. L. (2006). A comparison of the effects of parental death and parental divorce in childhood on adult depressive symptoms and coping. Dissertations Abstracts International, 66(11), 6285, (UMI No: 3193394). Ni, Jin Xi. (2005). The Relationship of Parenting Styles with Self-Concepts of Children with Mild Retardation in Selected Special Schools in Metro Manila, Unpublished masters thesis, De La Salle University, Manila Ortigas, C. D. (1996). The solo-parent experience: A growing social phenomenon. Quezon City. Ateneo de Manila University. Panelo, Joy E. (1998). Effects of Mutual Storytelling Technique on SelfConcept and Anxiety of Children Survivors of Incest, Unpublished masters thesis, De La Salle University, Manila Pelzer, D. (2000). Help yourself. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc. Pena, Jocelyn S. (2004). Self-concept of blind workers. Unpublished

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undergraduate thesis, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. Philippines National Statistics Office. (2002). 2002 Philippine Yearbook. Manila: Author. Ritchie, J., & Lewis, J. (Eds.). (2003). Qualitative research practice. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Rodgers, K. B., & Rose, H. A. (2002). Risk and resiliency factor among adolescents who experience marital transitions [Electronic version]. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 1024-1037. Selvio, D. A., & Ramos, M. C. H. (1998). Problems and coping strategies of college students living with single parents. Unpublished undergraduate thesis, De La Salle University,Manila, Philippines. Silverman, D. (2000). Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Taylor, S. J., & Bogdan, R. (2002). Introduction to qualitative research methods. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Videon, T. M. (2002). The effects of parentadolescent relationships and parental separation on adolescent well-being [Electronic version]. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(2), 489-503. Wallerstein, J. S., & Lewis, J. M. (2004). The unexpected legacy of divorce: Report of a 25year study [Electronic version]. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 21(3), 353-370. Wallerstein, J. S., Lewis, J. M., & Blakeslee, S.

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(2000). The unexpected legacy of divorce: The 25 year landmark study. New York: Hyperion. Walliman, N. (2001). Your research project. London: Sage Publication Ltd. Wenar, C. Kerig P. (2000). Developmental Psychopathology: From Infancy through Adolescence. Singapore: McGraw-Hill Book.Co Wolchik, S. A., Sandler, I. N., Millsap, R. E., & Plummer, B. A. (2002). Six-year follow-up of preventive interventions for children of divorce: A randomized controlled trial[Electronic version]. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 228 (15),18741881. Yahaya, Azizi. (2000) Self-concept, Hope and Achievement: A look at the relationship between the individual selfconcept, level of hope, and academic achievement Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Designs and methods (3rd Ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc. Yu, Jeanette O. (2006). Perceived Effects of Marital Separation and Coping Strategies among Chinese-Filipino Children, Unpublished masters thesis, De La Salle University, Manila Yuson, N. L. (2000). Building bridges: Learning and growing up with your kids. Pasig: Anvil Publishing Inc.

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APPENDIX A LETTER TO THE PRINCIPAL

October 12, 2010 MRS. RUBY P. RAMOS Grade School Principal De La Salle Santiago Zobel School Muntinlupa City

Dear Mrs. Ramos, Greetings of Peace! I am currently writing my thesis entitled A ThreeCase Study Design on Nine Years Old Childrens Self-Concept with Separated Parents and the Lived Experience of a School Counselor and part of the paper is the gathering of data and selection of respondents. In this regard, I would like to ask your good office to allow me to get my possible respondents from the Lower Grades Department. I will have an in-depth analysis on the three cases of students with

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separated parents and hopefully will come up with a proposed program of intervention for the students with similar situations. I hope that my request will merit your approval. Thank you very much and God bless you!

Sincerely yours, MR. MARK ANTHONY V. BERCANDO Researcher

APPENDIX B LETTER TO THE DIRECTOR FOR STUDENT SUPPORT AND INFORMATION

October 12, 2010

MRS. TEODORA A. RIEL Director for Student Support and Information Services De La Salle Santiago Zobel School Muntinlupa City

Dear Mrs. Riel, Greetings of Peace!

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I am currently writing my thesis entitled A ThreeCase Study Design on Nine Years Old Childrens Self-Concept with Separated Parents and the Lived Experience of a School Counselor and part of the paper is the data of students with separated parents as the background of the study. In this regard, I would like to ask your good office if I could get the needed data of my study. Rest assured that any data from the school will be used solely for the study. I hope that my request will merit your approval. Thank you very much and God bless you!

Sincerely yours, MR. MARK ANTHONY V. BERCANDO Researcher

APPENDIX C LETTER TO THE SUBJECTS PARENTS

______________ Date

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

Dear _____________________, Greetings of Peace! I am currently writing my thesis entitled A Three-

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Case Study Design on Nine Years Old Childrens Self-Concept with Separated Parents and the Lived Experience of a School Counselor and part of the paper is the gathering of data and selection of respondents. In this regard, I would like to ask if you could allow your son _____________________ to become one of my respondents. This will include interview/s with your child and with the significant people around him like siblings, parent/s, and the likes (if possible). As a product of this study, I wish to come up with a proposed intervention program to help the children with separated parents. Rest assured that every single data will be dealt with utmost confidentiality which includes the change of names of respondents and the concerned people in the actual writing of the study. I hope that my request will merit your affirmative response. (Please see the Parental Consent Form). For questions and clarifications, please feel free to contact me at 0905-3116770 or markbercando@gmail.com. Thank you very much and God bless you!

Sincerely yours, MR. MARK ANTHONY V. BERCANDO Researcher

Parental Consent Form

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______________________ Date

Dear Mr. Bercando, Good day! I have read and understand your letter of request for my child to be one of your respondents. In this regard, (Please check your response below) ___________I am allowing my child to become a participant in your study. ___________I am sorry but I cannot allow my child to be a participant in your study. Thank you very much.

Sincerely yours,

___________________________ Signature of parent over printed name

APPENDIX D GUIDE QUESTIONS ON PARENTS SEPARATION

1. How old were you when your parents separated? 2. Would you know why they get separated? 3. Did you expect that your parents will separate? 4. Where did you stay together with your brother (s) and or sister (s) after the separation?

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5. Did your other parent visit you regularly? How often daily, weekly, monthly, yearly? 6. How did you feel when you found out that your parents have separated? 7. How did you express your feelings on that? 8. What did you feel to your parents when they separated?

9. Did you look forward to the visits? Why or why not? 10. What were the changes/adjustments in your life after the separation of your parents? 11. Did your parent/s blame you and your siblings for their separation? 12. What were your initial reactions to the break up? 12.1 Did you ever think that separation was the best thing that your parents could have done? 12.2 Did you ever think of going away from your parents/ friends/ relatives, or blaming God for the separation? 13. Did you blame any/both your parents for not making their relationship work? 13.1 Did the separation make it easier/harder for you to go through life? 14. Did you have any bad feelings on the parent whom you think caused the separation? 15. Were there any changes or adjustments that you and the other siblings had to adopt due to the separation like restrictions on activities, stop schooling or seeing the other parent frequently? Why? 16. Did you ever think of going to other relatives aside

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from the parent who lives with you to share your difficulties or fulfillment of growing up in a broken family? 17. Can you name or mention some difficulties that you have encountered due to the separation and how did you face it? 18. In what way do you like your family to be in terms of family set up? 19. What advice can you give to children who may come from a broken family, and so to those who may encounter it sometime in their lives?

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APPENDIX E GUIDE QUESTIONS ON SUBJECTS SELFCONCEPT

Friends:
1. Do you have a lot of friends? How are you with them? 2. Do you find it hard to make friends with others? 3. Do you easily get along with other people? 4. Do you often get mean with other people? 5. Do you consider yourself important to your friends? 6. Can you consider yourself a good friend? Why?

Studies
1. How are your studies? 2. Are you enjoying your school? 3. Do you have good grades in school? 4. Why do you study? 5. What are the things that you dont like in school? 6. What are the things that you really love in school? 7. Do you like your teachers? Why or why not? 8. Who is your favourite teacher and whos the teacher that you like least? 9. Did the separation of your parents affect your studies? 10. Can you consider yourself a good student?

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Personal Attitude
1. How do you describe yourself? 2. Which do you prefer to be alone or to be in a group? 3. Do you consider yourself an important person? 4. Do you easily get angry?

5. What are the things important for you? 6. Do you easily quit or give up when there are problems? 7. What are the talents/gifts that you think you have? 8. What comes into your mind when you have a problem? 9. Do you consider yourself a lucky person? 10. Do you like being yourself? 11. What are the things that you like about yourself? 12. What are the things that you dont like in yourself? 13. If you will be given a chance to change anything about yourself, what is it and why? 14. Have you felt sometimes you are alone or left out? 15. Do you sometimes wish to be different or another person? 16. What are the things that make you cry? afraid? sad? happy? and excited? 17. Do you consider yourself a good person? 18. Do you blame yourself when something bad happens? 19. Do you consider yourself different from other people?

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Physical Attributes
1. When you see your face, what comes to your mind? 2. Are you satisfied with the way you look? 3. Do you sometimes want to change something your face or body? 4. Do you consider yourself a good-looking one?

Family
1. What do you think when it comes to your father? mother? siblings? 2. Do you consider yourself important in your family? 3. What do you feel for your parents? Siblings? 4. What do you feel whenever you see a complete family?

5. Do you feel left out in the family of your parent/s? 6. Can you consider yourself a good son/daughter? brother/sister?

APPENDIX F

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GUIDE QUESTIONS FOR PARENT/S OF THE SUBJECTS

1. What year did you and your husband/wife separate? 2. How old was/were the child/ren that time? 3. What caused your separation? 4. What were the significant changes in the life of the child after the separation? 5. How did your child/ren react on the separation? 6. Whats the current set up of the child and the other parent? 7. Hows your relationship with your former husband/wife? 8. Hows the child relationship with his/her current stepdad/mom? 9. How is his relationship with his brothers? 10. At what age did the child know that his/her parents were separated? 11. How do you describe your child?

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APPENDIX G

SELF-CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR PHILIP Objectives: To develop Philips positive self-concept on academics and self while enhancing his selfconcept on social, physical attributes and family
Area Objective/s Activities Time Table 1-2 hours Person/s involved Counselor, parent and subject Materials Needed Interview forms and log book

To understand Interview the subjects with the situation mother Interview with the subject To establish Free play rapport with the subject

To gauge subjects understanding on parents separation

45 minutes - 1 hour (4 days) In-depth 30-40 Interview with minutes the subject

Counselor Toys, Play and subject area,

Counselor and subject

Interview form and log book

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To orient the subject and parent about the program Self

20-30 parent, minutes subject, and counselor Orientation of 30-40 the activities minutes To develop Identifying 40minut subject and Worksheets self-awareness es-1 counselor his likes and dislikes hour and the things that he is good at, processing will follow after the session

Meeting with the parent

Identifying
his good qualities and the things that he needs to improve, processing will follow after the session subject, 40 teachers, Worksheets minutes parent and to 1 counselor hour

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Academics To set goals on Career studying glimpse activity To provide Identifying motivation or easy and reinforcement hard on attaining his subjects short and long activity term goals Reward schedule To develop making good study habits

40 to 1 hour

subject and counselor

video clip and worksheets

30 subject, minutes parent and counselor

worksheets

Study habit
schedule making activity

40 minutes to 1 hour (the reward system will last for the whole school year)

worksheets subject, parent and counselor

worksheets subject and counselor

Academic
counseling

30 to 40 minutes subject and counselor 30 to 40 minutes

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Social

To develop social skills and conflict management skills

Bring Me a
Friend Activity Sentence Completion Activity Identifying who my friends are and who can be my friends

40 minutes subject and counselor 40 minutes to 1 hour subject and counselor 40 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes to 1 hour subject, subjects friends and counselor Worksheet s, video clip, sound system and pencils

To appreciate good friendly relationships

Physical Attributes

To boost selfconfidence and affirmation on their physical appearance

Stage
modelling

Different
clothes, music and sound system

Finding whats admirable in me activity

subject, teachers, parent/s 30 to and 40 minutes counselor

Worksheet
s and mirrors

Family

To encourage expression of family issues and concerns of the subject

Family Tree 40 to 1 subject and

hour making activity Letter writing 40 to 1 Activity My ideal and hour real family activity 40 to 1 hour counselor subject, parent/s and counselor subject and counselor

pictures, worksheets , paste,sciss ors paper, pencils

worksheets

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To evaluate Interview the programs with the effectiveness parent/s and determine Interview areas for with the improvement subject

40 to 1 hour

subject, parent/s 30-40 and minutes counselor

Observation sheets and interview forms

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APPENDIX H

SELF-CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR PAMELA Objectives: To develop Pamelas positive selfconcept on social, self, and physical attributes while enhancing her self-concept on academics and family. Area Objective/s Activities Time Person/s Materials Table involved Needed To 1-2 Counselor, Interview Interview understand with the hours parent and forms and the subjects subject log book mother situation Interview with the subject To establish Free play 45 Counselor Toys, Play rapport with minutes and subject area, the subject - 1 hour (4 days) To gauge In-depth 30-40 Counselor Interview subjects Interview minutes and form and log understandi with the subject book ng on subject parents separation To orient Meeting 20-30 parent, the subject with the minutes subject, and parent parent and about the 30-40 counselor program Orientation minutes of the activities

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Self

To develop selfawareness

Identifying 40minut subject and Worksheets es-1 counselor her likes hour and dislikes and the things that she is good at, processin g will follow after the subject, session 40 teachers, Worksheets Identifying minutes parent and her good to 1 counselor qualities hour and the things that she needs to improve, processin g will follow after the session

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Social

To develop Bring Me a 40 social skills minutes subject and Friend and conflict counselor Activity management skills Sentence 40 Completio minutes n Activity to 1 hour Identifying To subject and who my appreciate friends are counsellor good friendly and who relationships can be my friends 40 minutes to 1 To develop hour subject and sensitivity How would counselor you react and Activity empathy for others

Worksheet s

Worksheet s, video clip, sound system and pencils

Video clips

40 minutes to 1 hour

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To boost selfconfidence and Physical affirmation Attributes on her physical appearance

40 Stage modelling minutes to 1 hour Finding whats admirable 30 to 40 in me minutes activity

subject, subjects friends and counselor subject, teachers, parent/s and counselor

Different clothes, music and sound system

Worksheets and mirrors

Apprecia ting the 40 subject, uniqueness minutes parent, of ones to 1 counselor beauty hour

Short film about self contentment

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Academics

To set goals on studying

40 to 1 Career hour glimpse activity To provide Identifying motivation 30 easy and or minutes hard reinforceme subjects nt on activity attaining his Reward short and 40 schedule long term minutes making goals to 1 hour To develop (the good study reward habits system will last for the Study whole habit school schedule year) making activity

subject and counselor subject, parent and counselor

video clip and worksheets worksheets

worksheets

subject, parent and counselor

Worksheets subject and counselor

Academic 30 to 40 counseling minutes subject and counselor 30 to 40 minutes To evaluate Interview the with the 40 to 1 programs hour subject, parent/s effectiveparent/s Interview ness and 30-40 and with the determine subject minutes counselor areas for improvement Observation sheets and interview forms

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APPENDIX I

SELF-CONCEPT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM FOR PJ

Objective: To enhance PJs positive self-concept on social, academics, self, physical attribution and family. Area Objective/s To understand the child situation Activities Interview with the parent/s or guardian Interview with the subject Free play Time Table 1-2 hours Person/s involved Materials Needed

Counsel Interview or, form and log parent/s book or guardian and the subject

To establish rapport with the subject

To gauge In-depth Counsel Interview subjects Interview or and form and log understanding with the subject book on parents subject separation To orient the Meeting 20-30 parent/s, subject and with the minutes subject , parent/s parent/s and about the 30-40 counseprogram Orientation minutes lor of the activities

45 minutes - 1 hour (4 days) 30-40 minutes

Counselor and subject

Toys, Play area,

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To encourage Individual 30-40 subject expression of counse- minutes and feelings and lling counseclarify lor misconceptions, Self To enhance Identifying 40-1 subject Worksheets selfand their likes hour awareness counseand lor dislikes and the things that he is good at 40 subject Identifying minutes teachers his good to 1 , Worksheets qualities hour parent/s and the and things counsethat he lor needs to improve Individual 30 to subject proces40minut and sing es counselo r Physical To further Finding 30 to 40 subject , Worksheet Attributes boost selfminutes teachers whats s and confidence , admirable mirror and parent/s in me affirmation on and activity his physical counseappearance 30 to 40 lor minutes Individual subject processand ing counselor

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Social

To enhance Bring Me a 10 to 20 social skills minutes Friend and conflict Activity management skills subject and counselor

Identifying who my friends are and who can be my friends Academics To set goals Career on studying glimpse activity To develop Identifying good study easy and habits hard subjects activity Study habit schedule making activity To appreciate good friendly relationships

40 to 1 hour

40 to 1 hour

subject and counselor

Worksheet s, video clip, sound system and pencils video clip and worksheets

30 minutes worksheets

40 to 1 hour

worksheets subject and counselor

Academic counse- 30 to 40 minutes lling

subject and counselor

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Family

To encourage expression of family issues and concerns of the subject

Family Tree making activity Letter writing Activity My ideal and real family activity

40 to 1 hour

subject and counselor

pictures, worksheets , paste, scissors paper, pencils

40 to 1 hour subject , parent/s and 40 to 1 counsehour lor subject and counselor

worksheets

To evaluate Interview the programs with the 40 to 1 effectiveness hour subject , parent/s and parent/s Interview determine 30-40 and with the areas for minutes counsesubject improvement lor .

Observatio n sheets and interview forms

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APPENDIX J

SELF-CONCEPT ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN WITH SEPARATED PARENTS EVALUATION FORM

Name of Parent Optional):__________________________Date: ______ Directions: Read and answer the following statements based on your assessment to your child after he/she undergone the Self-concept Enhancement Program. Rate by encircling your answers using the scale provided: 5-Fully achieved Slightly achieved 4-Achieved not achieve 3-More or less achieved 1. The child expresses signs of self-awareness. 5 4 3 2 1 2. The child demonstrates self-confidence on how 5 4 3 2 1 he/she carries him/herself. 3. The child exhibits being friendly and has 5 4 3 2 1 good relationship with his/her peers. 4. The child expresses goals on studying and 5 4 3 2 1 had developed good study habits. 5. The child shows feelings of acceptance and 1-Did 2-

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5 4 3 2 1 understanding on the current set up of his/her parents. 6. Overall, the child displays developed 5 4 3 2 1 positive self-concept after the program. Comments and suggestions: __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ ______

CURRICULUM VITAE

Name Bercando Address

Mark Anthony V.

Gender Date of Birth Place of Birth Civil Status Religion Present Position Office Address Zobel School

: Block 6 Lot 27 Greenlane Villas, San Nicolas III, Bacoor, Cavite : Male : November 10, 1984 : Pasig City : Single : Catholic : School Counselor : De La Salle Santiago

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EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND Graduate Studies : Master of Arts in Education major in Guidance and Counseling University of Perpetual Help System DALTA Las Pias City November 2006-2011 Tertiary Psychology : Bachelor of Science in Normal

Philippine University-Manila March 2006 Specialization :

Reading Specialization Normal

Philippine University-Manila March 2006 Secondary High School :

Las Pias North National Ninth honor Las Pias City March 2002 Las Pias Elementary March 1996

Elementary : School-Las Pias City

EXAMINATION PASSED Licensure Examination for Teachers November 2006

WORK EXPERIENCES School Counselor De La Salle Santiago Zobel School June 2008-present

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Psychometrican/School Counselor University of Perperual Help System DALTA June 2006-May 2008 SEMINARS/TRAINING WORKSHOPS IPCAP National Convention February 3-5, 2011 Participant University of Baguio, Baguio City Case Notes Workshop February 4, 2010 Participant De La Salle Santiago Zobel On Becoming a 21st Century School Counselors 9th National Convention of the Guidance Counselors Circle Participant October 13, 2009 CSB Hotel International Conference Center APECA Midyear Workshop October 14, 2010 Participant CSB Hotel International Conference Center Nurturing a Research Culture in the

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Counseling Practice Participant Bayview Park Hotel, Manila February 20-22, 2008 Updating the Standards of the Professional Counselors Participant Philippine Normal University February 2, 2008 Crisis Counseling: How counselors can better respond to childs crisis January 19, 2007 Participant University of Perpetual Help Rizal- Las Pias Updating the High School Counselors Assessment Skills December 6, 2006 Participant University of the Philippines- Diliman Action Research in Counseling September 28, 2006 Participant Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Manila Going Global:

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Opportunities & Challenges for Psychology in the Phil. September 7, 2006 Participant University of Perpetual Help Rizal- Las Pias PNU Student Governments Leadership Seminar May 13, 2006 Resource Speaker Philippine Normal University- Manila Developing Metacognitive Readers Across Levels March 4, 2006 Participant Philippine Normal University