Psychological Adjustments and Coping Mechanisms of Mothers with Incarcerated Children

This study is expected be beneficial to mothers with incarcerated children offering them tools as they gain insights on what they are experiencing and they are becoming aware of their psychological adjustments that they use in order to adjust in their situation; wherein they are separated from their sons and daughters. They will see what really goes on with themselves and identify their mechanisms of coping to have a sense of understanding and responsibility towards mothering and support to their incarcerated sons and daughters. The study was conducted in the Lucena City Rehabilitation Center and Quezon Provincial Jail in Lucena City where the mothers visit their children who are incarcerated. The researcher chose this area in order to give further knowledge and insights to the mothers of Lucena City regarding the adjustments and coping mechanism of mothers with incarcerated children in Lucena City specifically in the said jails and rehabilitation center. The respondents’ gathered results on written questionnaires were analyzed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences in identifying the frequency counts, mean, percentages, ranks, and Chi- Square test. Analysis of the results reveals that the majority of the mothers were on the age bracket of thirty five to forty five years old, were married, most of the respondents have other specified occupations, majority of the mothers have at least one to two children and the majority on the number of years separated from their children were at least five to ten years. According to the mothers, they provide the necessary needs and do not forget their children and find time to do their responsibilities despite their work. They take good care of their children and doesn’t prioritize their ideals in life and their careers. Overall, the age of the mothers had a strong impact on how they deal with expressing their care and support to their incarcerated children especially in providing the necessary needs for their child because they think that this is one of the most important roles of being a mother. The results of the Chi-square test reveals also the years of separation had no impact on the level of adjustment of mothers, which means that the mothers are not affected by the length of separation from their children because they are still beside them and still assist their children with the support they need. The derived findings of the research should be acknowledged and adopted by the Department of Interior and Local Government and should launch a programs or activities that will involve mothers and their children while inside the correctional facility and must provide a clinical psychologist that will assist mothers whenever they are experiencing psychological distress pertaining to family problems.