Extended Family Relations Case Study

Extended Family Relations. Having said that there is a difference in the family setting between the local and the foreign families, with the Filipinos dealing with extended family ties and the foreign families which dwell more on nuclear family setting. Being exposed to both might be confusing for a biracial person especially at an early age. However, with regards to the participants’ experiences, there emerged both positive and negative implications. Moreover, there is also a struggle towards socialization especially when some of the participants practice avoidance of socialization with their other family members through gatherings and family reunions. On the other hand, there also emerged positive family relations. Since most of the participants

Kase yung bond namin as a family we can joke around, we can be serious with each other… “Parang bestfriend na family. And the other relatives as well. It’s a good thing that we always feel accepted and loved despite our other race.” (Case 4)[D.63]

“It’s nice to have like a family like that.” (Case 6)[F.25]

“My my mom's family is so full of life they’re, they’re, they’re very kind and they’re very family orientated.” (Case 6)[F.78]

“They’re very kind and strong and they’re... I like visiting the province” (Case 6)]F.81]

“So there’s a feeling of closeness. Like the main house would be here.” (Case 6)[F.82]

“…everybody knows who you are, they say "hello how are you." (Case

You have to use your hands and... I was like.. it’s okay. It’s okay, we just use our hands.” (Case 6)[F.85]

“There’s no shame, like if you’re at the table you know like, when you’re seating with your knees up and you’re just eating there yeah, like our family is like that” (Case 6)[F.87]

“Well di ko sila masyadong nakikita. Di sila, minsan pumupunta sila samin pero hindi ko kinakausap masyado ganun, parang "hey" ganun lang tapos yun lang” (Case 5)[E.32]

Parenting. The influence of the foreign father is an emerging theme for most of the participants. The dominance of the father in terms of house rules and usage of language is quite apparent to most of the participants. Additionally, the participants also came across parental conflict, having not so good relationship with one parent due to perceived and apparent differences. There is also a change in family dynamics once the absence of one parent occurred. With this in mind, familial engagement to both sides might also be affected.

“If I needed to go out, they’d let me as long as they knew who I was gonna go with. So the freedom they gave helped a lot.” (Case 1)[A.15]

“So for me, the male side of the family was very responsible. They do everything for the family.”(Case