The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of social support and self-esteem of North Korean defectors on their social adjustment, and to seek practical plan for their social welfare so as to encourage their social adjustment.
For this purp...
The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of social support and self-esteem of North Korean defectors on their social adjustment, and to seek practical plan for their social welfare so as to encourage their social adjustment.
For this purpose, I chose 189 over 18 years old who have lived in South Korean over than 6 months out of the North Korean defectors as the subjects. And I analyzed the data from those subjects. The results are as followings.
First, in the view of social support, there was difference according to the general characteristics. In viewing the sub-type, I could see that there was difference in informational support, emotional support, and appraisal support according to the presence of job. That is to say, the persons with the job had more social support than those without the job.
Second, when viewing the general characteristics, it was shown that there was difference in self-esteem according to the age. That is to say, the persons in the 30s had higher self-esteem than those over 40s.
Third, it was shown that there was difference in social adjustment of general characteristics according to the age and health. That is to say, the persons in 20s and with good condition showed higher social adjustment than those over 40s and bad condition.
Fourth, as a result of investigating the effect of social support and self-esteem on their social adjustment in the environment where general characteristics are controlled, it was shown that their physical condition, emotional support, appraisal support, and self-esteem had influence on their social adjustment.
On the base of the findings above, I suggest a practical plan for the social welfare to increase social adjustment of the North Korean defectors. They are as followings.
First, it needs the effort to form social relation so as to reinforce social support. Especially we have to develop and operate self-support meeting and various programs for the elderly and women.
Second, it needs counseling, education, emotional support program for the psychological intervention to reinforce self-esteem and make psychological & emotional stability.
Third, it needs to reinforce job ability and technology, operate systematic program relating to job for economic activity, and prepare various intervention plan to improve and reserve physical condition so as to help their social adjustment. And also we have to develop and operate various programs including social technology training, social adjustment training, education on South Korean society and culture, interpersonal relationship training, and job training. The organizations which process the work for the North Korean defectors have to encourage various programs and access to them with ease so that they can intervene those North Korean defectors in many ways.
Fourth, we have to reinforce cultural competency to understand and help those North Korean defectors so as to understand and help them in this multi-cultural society.
Finally, we have to make a plan both for the methodological way, as various social supports and increasing self-esteem, and for the practical way so that they can make social adjustment in the South Korea.