청년 실업지원 프로그램에 참여한 청년실업자의 역경 대처과정 : 근거이론을 중심으로

Abstract

This study was conducted to develop a theory of reality that explains the process and structure of adversity coping with unemployment for young unemployed people. For this purpose, interview data were used for 13 unemployed young people who were willing to work for 20-39 years or younger but were unemployed for more than one year after their last job search. The interview data were interviewed in depth and analyzed according to Strauss and Corbin(1998)'s grounded theory procedure. As a result of the study, 190 concepts, 62 subcategories, and 22 categories were derived from open coding. Categorical analysis results by the paradigm show that the central phenomenon was “facing myself objectively” in the process of unemployed youths coping with the adversity of unemployment. Its causal conditions included “advice and support from family and resources”, “uncertainty of career goals” and “physical and mental exhaustion caused by overwhelming stress”. Contextual conditions reacting to the central phenomenon include “feeling dissatisfied and pressured in the employment system”, “experiencing economic difficulties”, “social isolation of not being able to belong anywhere” and “irrational organizational culture within the workplace”. Interventional conditions include “assessing my value based on my employment”, “limitations in policies related to youth unemployment”, “being self-motivated and taking a chance to challenge myself” and “having an active mindset for changes”. Interactive/reactive strategies include “adaptive coping strategies”, “having negative thoughts about oneself”, “avoiding the employment reality”, “finding a compromise between reality and ideal and trying my best in the reality” and “acting out for changes”. These interactive/reactive strategies led to the following outcomes: “taking a new perspective about myself and unemployment situation and changing its meanings”, “developing control through self-regulation”, “taking a leap for a new life”, “being sensitive to interpersonal relationships” and “feeling frustrated due to repeated failure”. In selective coding, the core category was a “growth process through small challenges by facing myself and having realistic optimism in an adverse situation”. Unemployed youths underwent six stages over time as they coped with the adversity of unemployment “fighting unsupported”, “being in a dilemma”, “accepting myself”, “facing myself”, “trying changes” and “taking a step further”. When they failed to accept and face themselves at the stage of “being in a dilemma”, unemployed youths repeated the four steps of “escaping from reality”, “losing my fighting spirit”, “supports being cut off”, and “giving myself up”. At the stage of “fighting unsupported”, they focused only on preparations for employment to overcome repeated failure after experiencing the adversity of unemployment for a long time. They were not able to use proper measures and made too much effort for their capacity alone. At the stage of “being in a dilemma”, they thought over of their career choices after their prolonged fight unsupported. They lacked in confidence about their careers despite their goals. They either had conflicts or settled for reality, being at a loss at a turn-off. At the stage of “accepting myself”, they got to accept themselves after having contemplation over their career and fighting unsupported at the stage of being in a dilemma. At the stage of “facing myself”, they renewed their perceptions of themselves and looked squarely at their problems or aspects through self-acceptance. At the stage of “trying changes”, they made an attempt at taking an action for changes, stroke balance between reality and ideal, and made gradual efforts they could do in reality. At the stage of “taking a step further”, they started to have a desire to restore themselves from adversities and take a challenge after trying changes through small achievement experiences and entered a practical stage for a life they wanted. The core category to explain the process of unemployed youths coping with the adversity of unemployment was a “growth process through small challenges by facing myself and having realistic optimism in an adverse situation”. That is, unemployed youths with adversity experiences accepted their failure or frustrating situation, faced themselves objectively, predicted the best scenario while recognizing reality accurately, made small challenges to achieve it, and made efforts for growth. There were four types of coping with the adversity of unemployment among unemployed youths: “active leap type”, “change exploration type”, “reality settlement type”, and “resignation type”. The type of “active leap type” involves active action strategies to pick a career fit for themselves by changing their given situations or adjusting their surrounding environments to cope with the adversity despite the harsh and difficult reality. Unemployed youths in the type of “change exploration type” prepared themselves for a better job after work experiences in the past. Although their economic difficulties were smaller than those of people with the “active leap type”, they stood at the crossroads of finding a compromise between reality and ideal and making preparations for changes. Those with the “reality settlement type” did not try to break through the adverse situation of unemployment actively, remained optimistic about their future, and were overall satisfied with their current situations. Those with the “resignation type” had huge frustrations and suspended their attempts at employment after repeated failure experiences of being rejected for a job. This study is expected to contribute to the overall and practical understanding of the adversity coping process of young unemployed, as well as to be used as basic data for counseling and program development focusing on the adversity coping process and type of young unemployed. Specifically, based on the process of coping with adversity, it is to identify what stage young unemployed people remain at, and to develop various counseling approaches that can intervene to move on to the next stage. In addition, if young unemployed people are differentiated by type and developed a program that combines mental health and economic support according to each characteristic, it is expected to compensate for the limitations of the unemployment support program that has been underway. Based on the results of this study, discussions on the process of coping with adversity by young unemployed people, limitations, and suggestions for follow-up studies were made.