The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate a counseling program using a Narrative Therapy designed to improve self-esteem and adaptability of the middle school students who show maladjustment in school. The research questions to accomplish t...
The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate a counseling program using a Narrative Therapy designed to improve self-esteem and adaptability of the middle school students who show maladjustment in school. The research questions to accomplish the above purpose of this study are as follows. First, what is the content and construction of this program? Second, what effect does this counseling program using Narrative Therapy have on the students in improving their self esteem? Third, does this program work in helping the students adjust in school?
This study, to accomplish the purpose, explores the distinctive features of the students who have shown trouble in adjusting in school. The counseling program using a narrative therapy is designed based on the theory developed by White & Epston(1990). This program is also designed, modified and supplemented based on the ‘counseling program development model’ by Kim, Hye-kyoung(2008) and the ‘narrative counseling program’ by Kang, Soon-mi(2007) after taking 15 hours narrative counseling program course. This program is composed of ten group counseling sessions with seven students which are performed by an in-school counselor.
The subjects that this study selected to evaluate in relation to the effect of the developed program were students attending ‘B’ boys middle school located in Incheon city, Korea. 14 students with a higher level of maladjustment were put into experimental group and another fourteen with non-participation in the counseling program were put into controlled group. A self-esteem test and adjustment test were given to the students in both groups before and after the counseling program. The data collected was statistically analyzed using Mixed ANOVA on SPSS/Windows 12.0 Counseling reports from each session, program assessment questionnaire and overall observation from the counselor were analyzed in order to supplement the limits of reliability of the quantitative results.
The results form this research are as follows. First, this self-esteem and adjustment counseling program using a Narrative Therapy can be composed of subordinate elements of four domains. These are general self-esteem, home self-esteem, social self-esteem and academic self-esteem. These are integrated for the purpose of understanding narrative counseling program and improving motivation. Second, the maladjustment scale in the experimental group treated with Narrative Therapy became significantly lower compared to the control group. The analyzed results also showed positive reaction to the treatment from the program. And thus it is considered that a counseling program using a Narrative Therapy has a significant effect in helping the group overcome their weakness in adjustment.
The implication from this study is that a special counseling program for the maladjusted students can be implemented in school. In addition, the program developed by this study can be useful because of its empirical approaches in dealing with possible situations in school.
For further study in accordance with the research conducted so far, I propose the following: Maladjustment in school comes from various causes, therefore, it is necessary to develop a multilateral and systematic program that takes into account pattern of maladjustment, age and gender of the subjects.