1인 가구 청년 고독사 예방을 위한 목회돌봄에 관한 연구 = A Study on Pastoral Care for the Prevention of Solitary Deaths among Young People in Single-Person Households

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study deals with the problem of youth solitary deaths in single-person households, which has recently emerged as a social issue, and aims to suggest the direction of pastoral care and care approaches to prevent youth loneliness. Solitary death means to the death of people who live a life cut off from family, friends and society and end their lives alone. Solitary death has been regarded as a social phenomenon that happens mainly in the elderly living alone or middle-aged living alone until now. Dying alone, however, is no longer as a social phenomenon that applies only to the elderly or middle-aged, but also a social problem that occurs in young singe-person households. Above all, it seems that local churches and pastoral care lack awareness of young people’s lonely deaths, and strategies of pastoral care to help and heal young people in crisis of life are also insufficient. Accordingly, the research started the study feeling the need for care and prevention of solitary deaths for young people in single-person households who are on the verge of dying alone. This research will be conducted in three parts. First, it is an understanding of youth solitude by identifying the phenomenon and cause of youth solitary deaths in single-person households. The increasing number of single-person houlseholds and young people’s lonely deaths affected by them are not only due to individual problems, but also to social structures and social institutions. Therefore, this study aims to examine the causes of single-person youth solitary deaths and various social phenomenon through a sociocultural perspective. Second, from the perspective of public theology, it deals with the death of young people in single-person households and expands the field of pastoral care. The Korean church thoroughly distinguished the church from the world and did not publicize the stories that took place outside the church. Considering the single youth households in the blind spot of care and seriousness of the solitary deaths that come to them, the church needs to reflect on our appearance and redefine its role through critical reflection. In this regard, this study covers the public role of church and pastoral care and responsibility for social contribution through the perspective of public theology, and insights the need for church social contribution. Finally, the researcher proposes an integrated pastoral care that can help single-youth households in crisis of life. As the social isolation stage of single-youth households intensifies, young people experience various psychological and emotional problems such as depression, anxiety, tension, sadness, and loneliness, which eventually becomes a major cause of youth solitary deaths caused by suicide. This study, as a result, suggests approaches for pastoral care that can help single-youth households go beyond isolation and restore reciprocity.