Views with OMFW Returnees, and Comparative Non-OMFW with Their Family Members (Wife/Child) Were Conducted in Tagalog in the Philippines
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MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School Certificate for Approving the Dissertation We hereby approve the Dissertation of Karel Joyce Daba Kalaw Candidate for the Degree: Doctor of Philosophy ______________________________________ Director Kate B. de Medeiros, PhD ______________________________________ Reader Jennifer M. Kinney, PhD ______________________________________ Reader Suzanne R. Kunkel, PhD ______________________________________ Reader Kathryn B. McGrew, PhD ______________________________________ Graduate School Representative Carl T. Dahlman, PhD ABSTRACT “HOME FOR GOOD:” THE EXPERIENCE OF RETURN AMONG OVERSEAS MALE FILIPINO WORKERS (OMFW) by Karel Joyce Daba Kalaw This study examines the intersection between transnational migration, as one of the distinguishing features of Philippine society, and aging studies. The return experience among Overseas Male Filipino Workers (OMFW) is explored. Specifically, this study aims to answer the following questions: What is the return experience among OMFW?; What is the response of their family members upon the OMFW return?; and how do OMFW view their lives in older age? Interviews with OMFW returnees, and comparative non-OMFW with their family members (wife/child) were conducted in Tagalog in the Philippines. The life course perspective, life story narratives, and the inclusion of Filipino indigenous methodologies (FIM) served as the conceptual frameworks. The results revealed that return is expressed in different ways; has dimensions, challenges, impacts; and is related to overseas life and Filipino culture. Return transnational migration was integrated in the life course of the OMFW returnee and his family. The study describes the humanness of return experience and the returnees’ change in self- perception, familism, and final exit from work. In addition, familism is an important factor to describe return and later life, and informs the life course of the returnees and their families. Moreover, the use of FIM facilitated layers of rapport-building that are important in eliciting quality data from the participants. FIM also emerged as a method that was in many ways in contrast to Western research approaches. In FIM, the researcher learned by being a fully integrated part of the community of interest (OMFW) rather than as an outside observer, which is more typical in traditional qualitative research. The study is relevant to Philippine society for several reasons: it adds insight into existing transnational migration programs; it informs life course studies and cross-cultural gerontology; it demonstrates use of a culturally sensitive methodology (FIM); and it provides a voice to a previously overlooked yet important population. “HOME FOR GOOD:” THE EXPERIENCE OF RETURN AMONG OVERSEAS MALE FILIPINO WORKERS (OMFW) A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology and Gerontology by Karel Joyce Daba Kalaw Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2015 Dissertation Director: Kate B. de Medeiros, PhD © Karel Joyce Daba Kalaw 2015 Table of Contents List of Appendices ......................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………………….vii List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………...viii Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background of the Problem.............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Brief Theoretical and Conceptual Framework ................................................................ 3 1.3 Potential Original Contribution ........................................................................................ 4 Familism and definition of development within the household. ...................................... 4 Extending indigenous methodologies. .............................................................................. 5 1.4 Dissertation Structure ....................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 2: Review of Literature ............................................................................................. 7 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 What is Return Migration? ............................................................................................... 7 Typologies of return migrants. ......................................................................................... 8 Motives for return. ............................................................................................................ 9 Effects of return migration to individual, family, and community. ................................ 10 2.3 Trends in Philippine Labor Migration: The Research Context ..................................... 11 Asian labor migration: Male exodus to oil-rich Gulf regions. ...................................... 11 Understanding the Filipino culture. ................................................................................ 12 Kapwa and Filipino cultural values. ............................................................................... 13 2.4 The Life Course Perspective .......................................................................................... 15 Life course as a construct. .............................................................................................. 17 Life course as an explanatory theory. ............................................................................. 17 Life course and the return experience. ........................................................................... 18 2.5 Filipino Elders ................................................................................................................ 18 Profile of the Filipino elders ........................................................................................... 18 2.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 3: Filipino Indigenous Methodologies (FIM) ..................................................... 20 3.1 Understanding Indigenous Methodologies (IM) ............................................................ 20 3.2 Sikolohiyang Pilipino (SP): Filipino Psyche ................................................................. 21 iii Beginnings, development and impetus of SP. ................................................................ 21 Development of indigenous concepts and theories: Pagkataong Filipino (Filipino personhood). .................................................. 23 Development of indigenous research methods. .............................................................. 28 3.3 Kapwa as a Cultural Script ............................................................................................. 30 3.4 Relevance and Urgency of FIM ..................................................................................... 31 3.5 Reflecting on FIM .......................................................................................................... 32 3.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 33 Chapter 4: Research Methodology ...................................................................................... 34 4.1 Ethnographic Interviewing as a Method ........................................................................ 34 4.2 Life Story and Narratives ............................................................................................... 35 4.3 FIM: Pagtanong-tanong and Pakikipagkwentuhan ...................................................... 35 Pagtanong-tanong. ......................................................................................................... 36 Pakikipagkwentuhan. ...................................................................................................... 36 4.4 The Research Design ...................................................................................................... 37 Phase 1: Setting the scene. ............................................................................................. 37 Phase 2: Interview. ........................................................................................................ 39 Phase 3: Analysis. .......................................................................................................... 41 Chapter 5: Results: The OMFW and Their Return Experience .................................... 43 5.1 Description of Participants ............................................................................................. 43 5.2 Major Themes ................................................................................................................ 44 Themes on the return experience. ................................................................................... 44 Themes on old age. ........................................................................................................