SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING OF UNWED MOTHERS IN SELECTED TOWNS IN BATANGAS PROVINCE

A Thesis
Presented to
The Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
JPLPC-Campus
Malvar, Batangas

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Science in Psychology

By:
ANDREW T. CLAUD
RENIER A. EVANGELISTA

October 2014

CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM Single mothers have a dual responsibility in their households. Compared to two-parent households, lone parents have not only reduced money but also half the adult time resources available. Single mothers manage many responsibilities including financial provision, housekeeping, and parenting. In addition, they lack a supportive spouse to turn to for counsel, cooperation, and comfort. The stress in the mother’s life and the way she deals with it also impacts her child. Current research suggests that professional help is sought for mental health reasons by single-parent mothers two to three times more often. Of all problems in domestic relations with which the social worker deals, that of the family unsanctioned by Church or State, unrecognized by the community, is probably the most difficult. Although we speak usually of the “unmarried mother” nevertheless the situation involves all the elements of a family group—mother, father, and child. Each of these has certain rights, the parents have certain obligations, and the relationship of the members of the group to the community must also be given consideration. “Every child has the right to be born with honor, and his birth should not be an obstacle to the fullest and highest development of his life and his social activities,” Thus “nobody’s child” of the English common law and the child who under the Code Napoleon was denied knowledge of his paternity, is, by the unanimous declaration of two