비행청소년의 신체적 아동학대 경험과 폭력행동에 관한 사례연구

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative case study is to explain the process by which physical abuse experiences in childhood and violent behavior in adolescence are related. This study is based on the qualitative research designs of case study and phenomenology. Case study in this study is a valuable tool for understanding human behavior in depth, providing an intensive and holistic description and analysis of a single entity and phenomenon. Phenomenology enables the researcher to discover and interpret concealed meanings and essences embedded in participants' experiences and narrative. The participants for this study were 3 male delinquents and 1 female delinquent, in the age of 18 to 19, who were physically abused in childhood and did violent behavior in adolescence. The data consisted of in-depth interview transcripts with 4 delinquents and focus group transcripts. Data were analyzed by line-by-line reading, open coding, and using matrices for data reduction and constant comparison. The qualitative data analysis showed that the association between physical abuse experiences in childhood and violent behavior in adolescence may be fairly clear. Delinquents who had experienced physical abuse as a child thought that their faults were a provocative factor to make parents violent. They also considered physical child abuse by parents as the forms of affection and discipline although they experienced feelings of coercion and helplessness caused by serious violence. As a result of physical abuse experiences and distorted understanding of physical child abuse, they tended to favor the use of violence as a legitimate and effective means of problem solving. This study findings suggest a need for the development of treatment programs that protect youth from dependency upon violence.