HOLY NAME UNIVERSITY

INTEGRATED BASIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT (IBED)

The Lived Experiences of Students Who Came from Broken

Families: A Phenomenological Study

In partial fulfillment of the requirements in

PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1

Presented by:

Group 4

BARBARONA, MA. MYLENE B.

DALING, SOPHIA NOREEN B.

GOMEZ, LANCE EMERSON B.

NORONIO, TENSHI LOUISSE E.

OLANO,KIMVERLY FAITH L.

QUIAO, SHEIN D.

Gr-11-STEM- OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

MR.CELSO TAPARANZA

Practical Research 1( Teacher )

Introduction

Family is the basic unit of society. This is the most essential component of a

country. A home is where a family lives. No one wants to lose the secure feeling that a

family provides. No matter how ideal a family in terms of their relationship, there are still

hardships and misunderstandings that will come along the way. It is just part of any

relationship anyway. But the sad part is that when one of the family members gave up

and the others have no choice but to accept and let go. Thus, the family starts to be

broken. (Saikia 2017)

Family is regarded as the first institution where a person learns how to equip

themselves for growth. However, variations exist within every family. Everyone aspires to

have a happy and healthy family. Many, nevertheless, were unable to succeed. Even the

healthy families have broken apart because of various issues. Many families have been

shattered and their members split up when unwelcome things arise. This awful event is

occurring for both regrettable and unconstrained reasons.

According to Shakira (2014) Broken family is one where the parents (mother and

father) of a child or children have split up and no longer share a single-family home as a

family unit. This is also known as a shattered home. Lost communication and

misunderstanding of one another’s points of view in society are the usual causes of
broken families. But occasionally, a parent’s decision on their children comes from too

many arguments that could result in broken families.

According to Galang (2015) on the Implication of Broken Marriages to Filipino

Children, the common reasons why Filipino couples separate include financial problems,

lack of communication, infidelity, and domestic violence. Due to their personal

experiences, students from broken homes may endure significant negative effects on

their general well-being, social adjustment, and academic performance. This

phenomenological study aims to explore the lived experiences of students from broken

families and determine how these experiences impact their social, psychological, and

academic cognition, emotions, and actions. We will conduct in-depth interviews with a

chosen sample of people to determine the major themes that characterize these students’

life experiences.

They may also exhibit tearfulness, depression, and slowed academic

development, which can lead to poor educational outcomes (Muhammed sha E.K,Desai

2022)

Additionally, students from broken families might develop a cynical attitude toward

relationships, harbor feelings of mistrust, and face challenges in socializing with others

(Desk 2015).The purpose of the study is to comprehend the experiences and impacts of

students from broken families.

“This study aims to gain a better understanding about the experiences of the

students who came from a broken family. The following questions were specifically

addressed.”

1. What are the experiences faced by students from broken families toward their

academic endeavors?

2. How did these experiences impact their lives?

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

This study limits its coverage on the SHS students of Holy Name University who

came from a broken family. This study is about the lived experiences of 9 Grade 11

students having a broken family. The age range of the participants is from 15 to 18 years

old and studying at Holy Name University. The main focus of this study is to determine

the experiences and academic impact faced by the students. To highlight the boundaries

or limitations, this study excluded broken families caused by the death of one parent.
Significance of the study

The result of this study will then be beneficial to the following.

STUDENTS- This is for students to be informed of how to deal with problems and help

fellow classmates who are also in this situation.

PARENTS - Parents can benefit from this study since it may shed light on the causes of

family dissolutions and help them prepare for future difficulties. They are the foundations

of their children’s personality and academic performance.

SCHOOL- This will benefit them in helping the students that is involved in a broken family

to guide them.

TEACHERS - This will be helpful on the part of teachers for them to be able to know how

to handle their students who are having a hard time in coping with their academic

performance.

Theoretical Background

The study's three underlying theories. These are Family System Theory, The

Theory of Moral absolutism, and the social cognitive theory. Each of these theories gives

the literature conceptual support. These theories provide an in-depth understanding of

the study.

Family System Theory

The family system theory, developed by Murray Bowen between 1913-1990, is a

relationship theory that focuses on understanding human behavior and problem

management. It is based on natural science understanding, evolutionary biology, and

family study. Bowen established a 4-concept foundation, including anxiety, basic life,
emotional system, and the family as an emotional unit. Anxiety is a significant variable in

human functioning, with two types: acute and chronic.

The family system is controlled by two life forces: unity and individuality. Unity drives

needs for social support, love, and affection, while individuality motivates self-

improvement. The emotional system governs much of human functioning, with the mental

system governing complex and abstract ideas.

Bowen's theory suggests that the family is an organism with characteristics higher than

its individual components, and each component depends on each other emotionally.

Emotional interdependence drives individual form-fused relationships when anxiety is

high.

Bowen's theory suggests that understanding the patterns established by families over

generations can help create strategies for dealing with anxiety and influencing future

career preferences. The theory also explains the relationship between family structure

and student academic achievement.

Social Cognitive Theory

The study is supported by Bandura's (2002) social cognitive theory. It states, that human

development is influenced, in part, by environmental agents. The environment in which

one finds himself plays a massive role in shaping up all the endeavors of the individual

including academics. The Family is an environmental agent that has an impact on both

human development and hence student achievement. The family of an individual finds
himself or herself in does not only play a role in determining their behavior but also plays

a role in their academic achievement.

Theory of Moral Absolutism

The third theoretical framework for this literature review is the theory of moral

absolutism. This theory contends that there are morally correct and incorrect actions

(Hawley, 2008). Moral absolutism suggests that the morally correct way to raise a child is

through an intact family structure that is comprised of two biological parents (or adoptive

Parents from birth), one male and one female, cohabitating in a marital relationship. It

supposes that, in raising a child, two parents are better than one. This theory also offers

in-depth insights into the academic achievement of students based on the type of family

they find themselves in.

Family is the first foundation where one equips himself to develop as a whole

person. It is said that the family has the primary role in molding a child to be productive

and pro-social in the society. A happy and healthy family is everyone’s dream, but due to

differences, some do not succeed in having that dream. When unwanted disparities arise,

many families tend to break causing separation of the members of a family leading to a

broken home. A family being the foundation of an individual has the responsibility for

ones’ development. The character and perspective of an individual as member of the

society is highly influenced by the family.Having a complete and happy family is one of

the most common objectives of an amidst challenges and difficulties that may arise

(Saikia, 2017)

According to Maria Marquiza A Felisilda and Leandro C Torreon (2020) Students

often see their parents, siblings and things in their immediate environment to be most

significant and they are capable of promoting or diminishing him/her in self-worth and

academic performance. The family, being a powerful influence on the child and its

importance as a primary agent of socialization could in no doubt enhance or hinder the

academic achievement of the child depending on the social climate in the family. Variance

in psycho-social emotional fortification in the family background could be an indicator to

high or low academic performance of students, bearing in mind the intervening effect of

high and low socio-economic status and emotional stability of students which is a pre-

requisite to academic achievement. Broken families may have profound negative impact

on students’ academic performance as parents play an important role in most children’s

spend on their child’s academic work.

According to Felia Agriani (2023) Especially in the case of broken home students

in adolescents, where students are in a phase of searching for identity, and broken home

students are different from other students, they have quite serious personal problems,

one of which is loss of motivation to study. The results of this study are that the guidance

and counseling teacher's service in increasing the learning motivation of broken home

students in class IX has been going well, the service used by the counseling teacher in

this case is group guidance, but in students with weak cases the motivation to study is

quite serious so causing students to be reluctant to go to school, counseling teachers use

home visit services.

According to Woosley (2009), Broken Family is not an intended event in a family's

life. It is something that can affect each individual of the family differently and at different

times. Today a family chance of getting broken is of high percent. Since this is an event

that is not intended to happen, many factors need to be considered when children are

involved. Literature shows that children from broken families' experienced difficult

adjustments such as social, academic, and behavioral compared to children of intact

families, also concluded that children from non-intact families lend to have lower

psychological well-being as compared to those from intact families.

Broken family can be deal and at the same time, it can be stop from happening

(Saika, 2017). Adolescents from complete families are more adoptable in respect of their

personal and social adjustments levels than the students from broken families (Elmaci,

2006). One of the main factors that most of the broken families encounter is the economic
support (Heijden & Schmidt, 2007). Family break up affects the children in dealing

problems because of the lack of attention coming from their parents (Qureshi, 2016).

There is a significant variation of performance in school of students from a one-parent

family and students from two-parent family (Uwaifo, 2012). There are unstable

differences in the effects of broken homes between genders (Wells and Rankin, 1991).

The individual who came from broken homes were mostly found in delinquent peer groups

than those from unbroken families (Quensel et. al., 2002). One issue that is seen in

broken family is that they have a higher degree of saving measures (Yusufoglu & Kizmaz,

2016).

Academic performance is the measurement of student achievement across

various academic subieces and considered as important indicator on students learning.

Tence. Several studies has been proven that there are different determinants of the

academic performance of a student (Ainley et al., 1995; Casinillo et al., 2020a; Casinillo

and Guarte, 2018; Chunmei et al., 2009; Kabre & Brown, 2011; Mushtaq & Khan, 2012;

Nathan, 2008; Schuman, 2000;Weintraub & Sax, 2018). In particular, Fabien pointed out

that the factors that determine academic achievement are student characteristics such as

innate endowment, perception of self, achievement motivation and attitude towards

learning (Fabien, 1991). However, Saikia piercing out that one of the most influencing

factor on academic performance of students is their respective family background. And it

is found out that broken homes or single-parent homes has negatively affects students’

academic achievement and learning attitudes (Saikia,2017). Abudu and Fuseini asserted

that teachers should give pupils from single parent homes attention to enable them cope

and that they should equally be counseled to make them adjust to the academic
environment because it is evident from their study that students from two parent homes

has significantly higher academic performance than the single parent (Abudu & Fuseini,

2013). Thus, it is concluded in several studies that a single parenting has a negative

impact on the child’s academic performance (Azuka-Obieke, 2013; Pinquart &

Kauser,2018: Turner et al.. 2009: Wong et al. 2018).

Methodology

This study presents the methodology used in the study

Research design

In this study, the researchers use qualitative research methods about the lived

experiences of students, which is from broken families. They will collect qualitative data

through interviews.

Qualitative research design is primarily exploratory research. It is used to gain an

understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It offers an

understanding of the issue or supports the development of concepts or theories for

potential quantitative study. It is also used to uncover trends in thoughts and opinions and

dive deeper into the problem. (Defranzo, 2011).

The researcher used Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) for the treatment of

the qualitative data gathered. It is focused on the in-depth analysis of individual lives. The
themes that will emerge from the gathered interviews will be extracted through interviews

and observation of the lived experiences of students who came from broken families.

Research Locale

This research study was conducted in Holy Name University specifically in the

Senior High School Department in Dampas, Tagbilaran, Bohol. Holy Name University is

a private, Catholic co-educational basic and higher education institution run by the

Philippine Southern Province of the Society of the Divine Word in Tagbilaran City, Bohol,

Philippines. It was founded by Fr. Alphonse G. Lesage, SVD a Divine Word Missionary in

1947.

Participants of the study

The participants of this research study are senior high school students, specifically

those in the 11th grade from the ABM and STEM strands, who came from broken families

and willingly agreed to do the interview.

In this chapter, A particular question was answered:

1. What are the experiences faced by students who came from broken families

towards their academic endeavors?

According to the participants they’ve experienced that something has been missing in

their lives since their family broke apart when they were young. It is painful for them to

see their family break apart. Seeing their other classmates have a complete and happy

family made them envious, and they knew that they would never experience that in their

lives. They also experience that they need to go to another town where their other parents

live just to be with them, and it’s kind of a hassle. It is not easy for them to see their mother

and father having another family, and they are being left out. Some of the participants

experience very stressful situations in their academic lives because no one is there to

help them with their studies. But some of the participants are used to it, and with the help

of their grandparents, uncles, aunts, and friends, they manage to overcome it. Some

participants experienced that they cannot tell their problems to their parents because they

live with their aunts and their parents have another family, and they felt so lonely. That’s

why they cannot focus on their studies and academic endeavours. Some of the

participants witnessed a lot of arguments between their parents almost every day which

caused them to be traumatized by what they witnessed and after their family broke apart.

They lost motivation to study because of what happened to their family. They lost

concentration to the point that they often failed the exams. It’s really hard for them to see
if their family break apart. They experience brain fog due to a lack of sleep from the never-

ending thoughts that get in their heads and how their family will go back to where they

used to be. Procrastination was a thing that occupied most of their time. It was supposedly

a time for studying and doing school tasks. They also had difficulty understanding the

lesson and organizing their thoughts to produce the best answers on the test because

they were thinking about what happened to their family. Time management was also their

problem because their lives were now separated on two sides.

Chapter 3

In this chapter, it aimed to answer the particular question:

2. How did these experiences impact their lives?

Most of the responses from the participants significantly impacted their academic

performance and personal life. A person’s life and academic achievement can be affected

by broken families in several ways, students from broken families may experience

emotional discomfort, such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, adjustment issues

and rage, or sadness. This mental turmoil can have a negative impact on a person’s

general well-being and make it difficult for them to focus on their studies. Education

disruption and broken homes can cause a student’s education to be disrupted. This could

be because parents are struggling to provide financial support or because they are

required to care for younger siblings. Lack of support, students who come from broken
homes may not have a strong support network, which can make navigating the obstacles

of school challenging for them. Their academic performance may suffer as a result of this

lack of support, which can also make it challenging for them to ask for help. A broken

family also impacted the student’s time management in her academic life. This also

causes them to be envious of another classmate with a complete and happy family.

However, some of the participants stated that there was no impact on their academic life

but a minor impact on their personal life because, with the help of their friends and

grandparents, they managed to overcome it, and since their parents broke up since they

were young and departed ways, they lived with their grandparents, and their grandparents

fulfilled all the love and support that they needed from their parents. Some of them have

one parent who lives with them, while the other parent lives apart. This makes it difficult

for them to make the transition from childhood to adolescence and early adulthood

because one parent is not present, even though the parent who is there tries their best to

provide the love and support they require.

Overall, broken families still have a significant impact on the student’s lives. It may be

academic or personal, but most of them had a difficult time dealing with that situation.
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academic performance. Indonesian Journal Of Educational Research And Review, 3(3),
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Agriani, F. (2023). Counseling Guidance Teacher Services in Increasing Student
Learning Motivation from Broken Home Families. Elementaria: Journal of Educational
Research, 1(1), 1-13.
Aquino, J. (2017). Chapter 1 Shattered and Torn: Lived experiences of broken families.
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Socialization of Students with Broken Family. International Journal of Social Science
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Interpretation

Most of the responses from the participants are that three participants, broken

families have had an impact on their academic life, with one participant stating that broken

families have impacted her academic performance during family events and another

participant saying that broken families have impacted her time management in her

academic life. Additionally, two participants stated that they have no experiences that

have impacted their academic performance, while one person responded that overcoming

the challenges caused by having a broken family with the support of her friends has

helped her overcome any negative impact on her academic performance. Overall, these

responses suggest that family circumstances can play a role in academic performance,

with some individuals experiencing negative impacts while others are able to overcome

such challenges with the support of friends and other sources of support. Most

participants indicated that broken families affected their academic life for three

participants One participant stated that broken families affected his academic

performance at family events, while another participant stated that family breakdown

affected his time management in academics Additionally, two participants said that they

had no experience that affected their academic performance, but one participant believed

that getting through the difficulties of family breakdown with the support of friends helped

overcome the negative impact on academic performance They answered that it was

helpful Overall, these answers indicate that family circumstances can affect academic

performance, with some being negatively affected and others being able to overcome

such challenges with the support of friends and other sources of support It suggests that

there are some Three of the participants responded that broken families has an impact
towards their academic life, One participant stated that broken families affected his

academic performance at family events, while another participant stated that family

breakdown affected his time management in academics Additionally, two participants said

that they had no experience that affected their academic performance, but one participant

believed that getting through the difficulties of family breakdown with the support of friends

helped overcome the negative impact on academic performance They answered that it

was helpful Overall, these answers indicate that family circumstances can affect

academic performance, with some being negatively affected and others being able to

overcome such challenges with the support of friends and other sources of support It

suggests that there are some.

Conclusion

The study highlighted the lived experiences of students who came from broken

families. Students from broken homes have varied and different experiences, and their

family situation can have significant impacts. According to the study, students from

broken families can experience a range of emotional, academic, and social difficulties,

such as resentment, nervousness, sadness, depression, anxiety, shame, and feelings of

humiliation. These challenges can have a negative impact on their overall well-being and

impact their ability to succeed in academics. One of the most important conclusions was

that the majority of students from broken families may experience emotional discomfort

in the form of anxiety, despair, low self-esteem, issues with adjustment, and unstable

mental health. Additionally, there’s a chance that some of the students from broken

homes lack the resources and support networks of their peers, which raises the possibility

of academic failure or dropout. They also battle to maintain a contented and typical family.

However, some of them appear normal because they have been used to it since they

were young and have managed to go through difficult times in their families with the

support of friends, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

Despite these challenges, The study’s participants demonstrated resilience and

adaptability in spite of these difficulties. They discovered methods for building social
connections, looking for sources of encouragement, controlling their emotions, and

developing a sense of identity and self-worth.

Overall, this study highlights the importance it is to give students from broken

families the resources and support they require to thrive in academics and in society, as

well as to provide them with loving and supportive environments. It is our responsibility

as researchers and educators to look more closely at these students’ actual experiences

and try to improve their outcomes.