The purpose of this study is to find out adolescent's family conception via open questions, such as "What is a family?" or "What are criteria in endorsing various family types as a family". By getting the concept, this study realized the difference an...
The purpose of this study is to find out adolescent's family conception via open questions, such as "What is a family?" or "What are criteria in endorsing various family types as a family". By getting the concept, this study realized the difference and similarity from the previous concept. Finally I would like to provide information of a family policy for adolescents. For this study, the phenomenological method was adopted and the data was analyzed by the method of Colaizzi(1978).
The participants in this study were from 13 families of various family types(within intact family, one parent family, international marriage, step-family, non-resident parents).
The interviews were performed two times in a closed and separated room for 50-80 minutes from April to May. Two of the interviewees were involved in the preliminary study of April 2006.
The results of this study are as follows. The answers of participated Adolescents divided into 104 meaningful descriptions, 26 meaningful units and 3 clustered themes. The first theme was the criteria by the interviewees and the second was the dynamic relationship and function. And the third was the changing and adaptive family as a natural entity. The Adolescents's endorsement of family types was categorized into endorsement, non-endorsement, and depending on situations. By analyzing endorsements characterized by blood relationship, we suggested policies based on the concept of family.
Interestingly, the participating adolescents used their own concept of family from their experiences and standards. And they had flexibility in family. They have boundaries among the family members were determined by degree of intimacy. They emphasized the dynamics of family from interaction. Thus they thought that other persons(none blood ties) or pets can be member of family if they were intimate enough. They considered social recognition or prejudice in the case of endorsing non-blood tied family members. In the case of non blood-tied family member, it was decided by their own decision. The participants thought that "Girugy" family(separated parents for children's academic achievement, especially mother and children were far from father, father lives by himself and sends money to child) was not likely a family. The participated adolescents applied many standards for discerning various family types due to their unique life history. For instance, one adolescence, not remembering his father whom he separated for long time, do not think of his father as his family member. Another adolescence lived in shelter accepted their companions(orphanage adolescents) as their family member. Most of the adolescents are experiencing the changing a family and its concept. Adolescent are adapting themselves to the changing family although they are experiencing ambivalence, through releasing negative emotions and strengthening their internal capabilities.
This study concluded that most of participated adolescents experienced the change of family and family concept. Experiencing ambivalent feeling, toward a family their negative feeling is released and adapted the changed family by self-empowerment.
In this study, the participated adolescents did not restricted the concept of a family as a blood tied family type. When a family does not make a benefit for the adolescent, the government policy maker must expand its concern to the various family type members and institutes for the purpose of caring for disorganized family. Moreover, social/cultural acceptance must be realized in endorsing various type of family.