• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.61-91
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• 2005

This study aimed to explore empirically social work practice skills that are being used most frequently in a variety of social work settings in Korea. Out of 669 questionnaire sent, 361 were returned. Exploratory factor analysis revealed 7 underlying axes from 132 most frequently used practice skills. They were named as: casework skills, group work skills, family work skills, community work skills, volunteer managing skills, program development and evaluation skills, and agency managing skills. Second factor analysis explored underlying sub-factors from each of the seven axes. Researcher identified 42 principal skills that can represent the underlying sub-factors explored in the previous stage. Finally, research checked if the different work settings use different practice skill axes. Study results can be used to connect social work education settings and practice fields in Korea. There has been an argument that Korean social work education has been teaching improper practice skills to the to-be-social workers.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.40
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• pp.131-156
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• 2000

Many different intervention methods have been developed to resolve the problem of clients, but research studies evaluating the effectiveness of such practices can be overwhelming to social workers because of the conflicting results of them. In this study, meta-analysis was used to make sense of this research, offering the general effect size of social work practice. Meta-analysis can answer the question, "how effective is the intervention?" beyond the question, "is the intervention effective?". It can integrate the fragmentated results of research studies and provide the guidelines for best practice. Combining the results of the 16 research studies, this study computed the general effect size of social work interventions. The mean d index was. 6636 (95 percent confidence interval of .5355, .8018). Conversion to Cohen's $U_3$ statistics allows for the inference that three-fourths (74.7%) of the clients who participated in an intervention group did better than the average clients of non-intervention group. This means that social work interventions are practically helpful to seven of every 10 clients who experience them. In conclusion, this study recommended the usefulness of meta-analysis, which can provide the intervention strategies based on empirical research and guide the best approaches.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.85-108
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• 2009

The quickening pace of international migration in the last twenty years brought fundamental demographic and social changes to the Korean society. Increasing number of marriage-based immigrant families imposes new challenges on social work community; however, the social work community has not been equipped with necessary practice models, sets of skills and professionals with cultural competency. This study aims to explore an integrative framework of social work practice with this client group. Research foci include the profile of marriage-based immigrant families in Korea, available social services at the time, challenges and issues they face, the compatibility of the empowerment based social work practice, and micro/mezzo/macro level concerns that arise for the effective service provision. Challenges among marriage-based immigrant families are converged into personal/familial, community related, and larger social-cultural issues. Empowerment is a multi-dimensional social process to help people gain control over their lives; a process that fosters power in people, for use in their lives, their communities and in their society. Empowerment based social work practice can be the most competent framework for working with multi-cultural families considering their multi-faceted acculturation issues while they navigate thru Korean society. Issues of educating and training of culturally competent social workers are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.49
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• pp.34-61
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• 2002

Recently, the concept of empowerment has become popular within social work practice. Despite of this trends, we have little empirical knowledge about what empowerment practice is and how it is applicable to practice settings in Korea. This study explored how social workers perceived and experienced the concept of empowerment. We used qualitative method to solve this questions. Individual and focus group interviews were conducted to 7 social workers serving in diverse settings. Research results are as follows: Participants had common perceptions of empowerment concept despite of the different settings. They perceived power as confidence, independence, self-control. The client/worker relationships were open, nonhierarchial egalitarian and characterized by mutuality and reciprocity. They emphasized the nature of empowerment as circular and diffusive process. Also, they orientated long term practice related to impatience of social workers. Finally, those who participated in this study challenged and reinterpreted the existing traditional "professionalism". We concluded that empowerment practice might demand infinite energies, social worker's creativity, trust of clients, and that empowerment practice would be a new approach in social work practice which influence on much more population because of its diffuseness.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.3
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• pp.125-177
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• 1982

• Korean Journal of Family Social Work
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• no.62
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• pp.103-139
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to explore the social workers' reflections developed during the participatory action research seeking practice methods in the community welfare center single parent self-help groups. Nine social workers and researchers sharing difficulties in the community welfare center single parent self-help group practice were involved in the participatory action research. We performed a circulatory research repeating 'plan-action-reflection-replan' cycles through ten sessions of research meetings including peer supervision in parallel with 4 self-help group practices. Multiple practice methods were derived as the result among which change in the social workers' perception was the key. We focused on the result that the social workers' perception was changed by reflections from participatory action research and the contents of the reflections were qualitatively analyzed using materials acquired during the study. As a result the following 5 themes were derived; 'recognition and worry on the lack of appropriate practice for the self-help group', 'specification of the social workers' role based on the changed perspective on the member-social worker relation', 'confirmation of the possibility of the concerned person initiated practice', 'detailed understanding of the single parent self-help group in the community welfare center', and 'renewed recognition of the development of the single parent self-help group in the community welfare center'. Based on these results, empowerment and reflection/reflective practice for single parent self-help group in the community welfare center were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Family Social Work
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• no.61
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• pp.93-136
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to find specific practice methods of single parents self-help groups in community welfare centers. A participatory action research was conducted to achieve the purpose. Six social workers and three researchers participated in the study who shared the problem of lack of specific practice methods even though a self-help group was useful for self-reliance and empowerment of low-income single-parents. Various activities such as reading articles, analysis of each self-help group, case studies, and learning facilitation methods were conducted during 10 meetings. At the same time, peer supervision proceeded at each meeting. The progress of each group was shared, the application of practice methods and plans were discussed, and applying discussed methods to group practice and reviewing the process and outcomes of the practice were repeated in the peer supervison. As a result, the following positive changes appeared: First, the goals and vision of each group became clearer. Second, initiative of the members was promoted. Third, intimacy, mutual cooperation, the attatchment to the group were strengthened. A qualitative analysis was also conducted on the content discussed. As a result, 17 practice methods were derived in four themes such as initiative/ empowerment, cohesion, leadership, and destandardization. Practice issues concerning single parents self-help groups in community welfare centers were discussed based on the results.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.67 no.4
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• pp.127-152
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• 2015

This study aimed to implement the enhancement program for the social work practice competency for children of community child center workers and to evaluate the program's effects. For this purpose, the program was implemented for ten community child center workers five times for five weeks(once a week, 120 minutes per session). For the quantitative evaluation, a non-equivalent control group design among quasi-experimental designs was used, and for the qualitative evaluation, the written materials related with the program were collected and analyzed. The results of the quantitative evaluation revealed that the social work practice skills and worker-client relationship empowerment of the community child center workers who participated in the competency enhancement program were significantly improved. In the qualitative evaluation, the subjective experiences were presented, including the improvement of the worker's practice competency and the worker's awareness of the changes in the child, the recognition of the strong points and the points to be improved in the program. This study is expected to raise the expertise and effectiveness of community child center workers, and ultimately, to contribute to the healthy development and the improvement of the mental health of children by improving the social work practice competency of the workers in community child centers, which comprise the representative service delivery system for children in South Korea.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.307-332
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• 2009

This study is about the development and effectiveness of the 'Empowerment Program' for the persons with disabilities caused by industrial accidents. The program was developed on the basis of the analysis of focus group interviews for the rehabilitation counselors who work with the persons with disabilities caused by industrial accidents. Also, it was based on Miley et al's empowerment model and the group social work practice. The goal of the program was to strengthen the level of empowerment and decrease emotional frustration for the persons with disabilities caused by industrial accidents. The program consisted of two different types: one for the hospitalized person and the other for the discharged person. The program practiced once a week for 6 weeks and 8 weeks by the choice of the rehabilitation counselors. In order to verify the effectiveness of the program, the participants included 11 persons for the experimental group and 10 persons for the control group. The empowerment scores of the two groups were estimated at the point of pre-test and post-test and were analysed through the Wilcoxon signed rank test and Mann-Whitney U test. As the results of the analyses showed, there were significant differences in the increases in the areas of total empowerment and self-image as a sub-scale between the two groups. In conclusion, the effectiveness of the program was confirmed. Also, it has been verified that the program can be an important social work practice tool for strengthening the empowerment level of the persons with disabilities caused by industrial accidents.

• Korean Parent-Child Health Journal
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 2008

Purpose: This study was to verify the effectiveness of group program for promoting empowerment and self-advocacy of the the mentally disabled persons' families. Methods: This program was set up for the mentally disabled persons' families to share their experiences, do consciousness raising, advocate themselves through group process. A pre-post control group design was used for this study. Results: The results of this study verified that group program was effective to promote empowerment and self advocacy of the mentally disabled persons' families. Also group program helped to express and ventilate family burden actively. Conclusion: This study suggests as follows. In the mental health social work practice we need to develop group programs for family to talk about themselves, to ventilate their emotions, to understand their circumstances and to initiative the change of mental health circumstances as well as education and coping skills about mental illness. For this, there is a need for mental health social worker to have a macroscopic viewpoint and work with family. Also there is a need for mental health social worker to promote family self-help groups and to support their construction and growth.