 The Lived Experiences of Incarcerated Fathers: The Case of Malolos Bulacan Provincial Jail in the Philippines

Abstract

The research area on lived experiences of an incarcerated father has given different impacts on children’s social life and development. This research explored the parent-child relationships of incarcerated fathers, institutional barriers, and family barriers. This qualitative study delves into the experiences of incarcerated fathers with children, in terms of communication, including the effects on their children's relationships and fatherhood. Ten incarcerated fathers were the participants of the study. Data collected from the interviews yields three major domains: (1) Experiences of an incarcerated father. (2) Effects of incarceration on children's relationships. (3) Effects on fatherhood. The experiences of incarcerated fathers involved communication; they expressed excitement, unexplained feelings, mixed emotion, and felt a glimpse of hope. In giving advice, they have limited time and feel inadequate to give advice. For a special occasion, fathers feel blessed, exultant, and relieved of their sadness. For financial support, they cannot offer anything, which brought shame to the fathers. It is also reported that being incarcerated fathers can affect their relationship with their children; children feel sulky, are involved in early marriage, and look for a father figure. Incarcerated fathers are concerned with their responsibilities, they have limited time, and their guidance is rarely done in the aspect of modeling being fathers have no voice of authority: and they can express that they are a good model through their words only.