The purpose of this study is to provide the adolescents in residental care (freshmen, juniors and seniors of high school) with the opportunity to think back to their past lives, to understand themselves right and to make self-realization. I studied a ...
The purpose of this study is to provide the adolescents in residental care (freshmen, juniors and seniors of high school) with the opportunity to think back to their past lives, to understand themselves right and to make self-realization. I studied a plan that guide them to the needs of leave preparation and material methods for self-examination and social adaptation so that they can live their remaining time in residental care better, and that execute preliminary training to improve their qualities for healthy family lives in the future.
Therefore, this study is to verify the effects of the program that I developed over 5 years in advance of this study (an integrated training program comprehensively on sense of values, emotions, the ways ahead, life attitudes and future family formation on the basis of the demands of adolescents in and from residental care, characteristics of healthy families and the people surrounding the adolescents in residental care).
The program of this study was tested from Jan.7.2001 through Feb.28.2001 and follow-up was maintained until Mar.31.2001, on 8 adolescents at their high school ages selected from an orphanage in Seoul. Program was tested in several different methods such as lecture, psychological test, motion activities and visits to actual scenes. The effect of the program was determined by the quantity evaluation that processes the scores before and after test with a statistical analysis (ANCOVA) and also by the quality evaluation that requires interviews immediately after the program execution and one month later.
Here is the summery of the result of leave preparation program for social adaptation and healthy family formation of adolescents in residental care.
Firstly, the leave preparation program was effective on finding self-identity, psychological welfare and personal relationship. Secondly, the program produced positive effect on self-understanding and growth of adolescents in residental care. The program helped them recognize that their own personalities, growing-up circumstances and family in root influenced on their self-understanding and growth. Most of the subjects said they accepted these factors in an affirmative way. The follow-up interview one month after the program execution showed that the adolescents in residental care had positive changes in their life attitude. Thirdly, the program gave a positive effect on their views of social adaptation and family formation after leave. However, the less remaining time they had, the more difficulties they had in making their dwellings and courses to advance.
In relation with the result of this study, I have a few things to discuss.
The program was tested for the whole period of a long winter vacation and a thorough follow-up was carried during the test and one month later. So it is believed to have influence positively on improvement of self-identity, psychological well-being and personal relationship and on the change of attitude case by case.
The adolescents in residental care had negative or passive feelings for parents and relatives but after training they expressed their hope to meet them. They hoped to meet their parents and relatives not because they wanted someone to take care of themselves but because they are uneasy about being left alone in society.
It is the reality that the present residental care facilities don't give adolescents the chances of technical training. More professional guidance to future courses and free technical training should be given to the adolescents who have to be left to the society without settling their occupation. Even those who are admitted to colleges in accordance with the special college admission system for orphans have difficulties because they are not supported college expenses. They can not but stay in the residental care, which brings them other kinds of difficulties than just being an old-aged orphan. For example, life expenses during off-study periods or vacations.
Lastly, self-support center is not publicized well. Because people know little about it or mistake it for an extension of residental care, some self-support center can't even fill the capacity. The support money for self-support is too small for the deposit money for monthly rent. On top of that, it is not delivered to the left adolescents until a half or one year passes after leave. It is not a practical plan for supporting the left. Conclusively, residental care facilities, government and the adolescents themselves altogether have to make endeavor to find practical solution about the course to advance.