• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.57-69
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• 1997

Objective：At the present time in Korea, for a considerable proportion of children and adolescent, delinquent behavior and violence has become as a way of life in their lives and a major social problem issue as well. The contributing factors to this problem were assumed to be the negative interaction between family environment and character of adolescent. The purpose of this study is to search the relationship between these constructs and juvenile delinquency. Method：Data were collected through questionnaire survey over a period of 2 months. Subjects served for this study consisted of 1,863 adolescents including 657 delinquent adolescents and 1,206 student adolescents in Korea, sampled from Korean student population and delinquent adolescent population confined in juvenile corrective institutions, using proportional stratified random sampling method. Their age ranged between 12 and 18 years. Data were analysed by IBM PC using SAS program. Statistical methods employed were Chi-square and principal component analysis. Results：The results of this study were as follows：Inconsistency by parental child rearing patterns tended to affect delinquent behavior among delinquent adolescents. On the other hand, adolescent students were consistently reared by their parent with democratic, flexible, trusting their children and reward-oriented attitudes. In comparison of both parents in the degree of influence on their children, it was revealed that paternal child rearing pattern was more influential on their children’s behaviors than maternal’s. The psychological instability of family, disharmonious parent-child relationships tended to be contributing to delinquent behavior among delinquent adolescents. Especially, It was an interesting finding that student’s mother is the higher employed than delinquent’s mother. However working mother was more prevalent in the student’ adolescents than in student adolescents in previous studies. The delinquent adolescents have more depressive trend, more complaints of psychosomatic symptoms, the higher degree of need frustration, the more maladaptive and antisocial personality pattern than student adolescents. Conclusion：Recently, many studies on association between family factor, character of adolescent and juvenile delinquent behavior have produced relatively consistent results. This study showed that family environment and character trait of adolescent also were linked with delinquent behavior such as smoking, drinking, runaway and physical assaults etc. The results of this survey may provide impetus for future speculation and study of correlation or reciprocal interaction between family factor, character trait of adolescent and delinquent behavior during adolescence and beyond.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.397-403
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• 2006

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) is categorized by the percentage of the predicted $FEV_1$(Forced expiratory volume in 1 second) result which is highly correlated with disease severity(morbidity and mortality). In COPD patients, dyspnea seems to be different from disease severity. We investigated whether dyspnea is correlated with disease severity, as measured by $FEV_1$, quality of life(QoL), occupation, and supporting level of family members and neighbors. Method: Thirty-six clinically stable patients with chronically irreversible airflow limitation were enrolled. We used the Medical Research Council(MRC) dyspnea scale to assess the level of dyspnea and the Korean St. Goerge's respiratory questionnaire(SGRQ) as measure the QoL. Result: The mean percentage of the predicted $FEV_1$ was 32.0%. Dyspnea was not correlated with GOLD stage using $FEV_1$(p=0.114). With deteriorating level of dyspnea the scores of symptoms(p=0.041), activity(p=0.004), impact(p=0.001), and total SGRQ score(p<0.001) were significantly increased. Dyspnea was not correlated with the level of occupation(p=0.259). The supporting level of family members and neighbors was significantly negatively correlated with dyspnea scale(p=0.011). Conclusion: In the management of COPD patients, we have to remember that the level of subjective dyspnea is correlated with QoL(symptom, activity and impact on society) and social supporting level as well as GOLD stage($FEV_1$).

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.479-499
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• 2019

State assessment of an operational tunnel is usually done by performing visual inspection and durability tests by following the detailed guideline for safety inspection (SI) and/ or precision inspection for safety and diagnosis (PISD). In this study, 12 NATM tunnels, which have been operational for more than 10 years, were inspected to figure out the cause of longitudinal cracks for the purpose of modifying the scoring items in the state assessment NATM tunnel related to the longitudinal crack and the thickness of concrete lining. All investigated tunnels were classified into four groups depending on the shape and usage of each tunnel. The causes of longitudinal crack occurrence were analyzed by investigating the correlations between the longitudinal crack and the following four factors: the patterns of ground excavation; construction state of primary support system; characteristics of material properties of the concrete lining; and thickness of lining which was obtained by Ground Penetration Radar (GPR) tests. It was found that influencing factors causing longitudinal cracks in the lining were closely related with the construction condition of the primary support system, i.e. shotcrete, rockbolt, and steel-rib; crack occurrences were not much affected by the excavation patterns. As for the properties of concrete lining materials, occurrence of the longitudinal crack was mostly affected by the following three items: w/c ratio; contents of cement; and strength of lining. When estimating the lining thickness of the concrete lining by GPR tests and taking thickness effect into account in the statement assessment, it was concluded that increase of the index score by an average of 0.03 (ranging from 0.01 up to 0.071) is needed; a more realistic way of state assessment should be proposed in which the increased index score caused by lack of lining thickness should be taken into account.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Food Science of Animal Resources Conference
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• 1995.11a
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• pp.1-48
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• 1995

식생활은 인간 생활의 주체이고 먹는다는 것은 그 수단이다. 그중 중요한 하나의 명제는 인간이 놓여진 여러 환경에서 어떻게 건강을 유지하고 그 개체가 소유하고 있는 능력을 최대치까지 생리적으로 성장 발전시킴과 동시에 최대한 수명을 연장시키기 위한 식물 섭취방법을 마이크로 레벨까지 해명하는데 있다. 인간은 일생동안 엄청난 양의 음식물을 먹는다(70세 수명일 경우 200만 파운드 즉 체중의 1,400배). 그러나 먹기는 먹되 자신의 건강과 장수를 위하여 어떤 음식을 어떻게 선택하여 어떻게 먹어야 하는 문제가 매우 중요하다. 최근 우리나라도 국민 소득이 늘면서 식생활은 서구화 경향으로 기우는 듯하다. 공해를 비롯한 수입식품 등 여러 가지 문제점이 제기됨에 따라 자연식과 건강식을 주장하는 소리가 높이 일고 있다. 그중에는 축산 식품이 콜레스테롤 함량이 다른 식품에 비하여 높게 함유하고 있다는 것으로 심혈관질환의 주범인양 무차별 강조하는 나머지 육식공포 내지는 계란 등의 혐오감 마저 불러 일으키는 경향까지 있는 듯하다. 따라서 본논고에서는 축산식품중의 콜레스테롤 함량수준이 과연 성인병의 주범인지 아니면 다른 지방산과 관련해서 올바르게 평가하고 그 문제점과 대책을 개관해 보고 요약하면 다음과 같다. 1. 사람은 유사이래 본능적으로 주변의 식물이나 동물의 고기를 먹고 성장하여 자손을 증식시키고 어느 사이에 늙으면 죽음을 맞이 하는 싸이클을 반복하면서 기나긴 세월동안 진화를 하여 오늘날의 인간으로서의 자태를 이루었다. 유인원과 같은 인류의 선조들은 수렵을 통해 육식을 많이 하였을 것이므로 인간은 원래 육식동물이 아닐까? 구석기시대의 유물을 보면 많은 뼈가 출토되고 “얄타미라”나 “라스코” 동굴벽화가 선명하게 묘사되고 있다. 2. 우리나라 선조 승구족의 일파가 백두산을 비롯한 만주 송화강 유역에 유입되면서 수렵과 목축을 주요 식품획득의 수단으로 식품문화권을 형성하면서 남하하여 한반도 민족의 조상인 맥족(貊族)으로 맥적(貊炙)이라고 하는 요리(오늘날의 불고기)를 먹었다는 기록이 있다. 3. 인간의 수명을 1900년대로 거슬러 올라가서 뉴질랜드가 세계최장수국(호주는 2위)로서 평균수명은 남자 58세, 여자 69세인 반면 일본과 한국은 당시 남자 36세, 여자 37세이던 것이 일본은 1989년에 이르러 세계 최장수국으로 등장했으나 1990년 당시 뉴질랜드${\cdot}$호주 등은 목축 및 밀(小麥) 생산국가였기 때문이라는 것과 일본은 오늘날 합리적인 식생활 국가라는 것을 간과해서는 안된다. 4. 우리나라 10대 사망원인중 (1994년도) 뇌혈관질환이 1위, 교통사고 2위, 암이 3위 순위로서 연령별로는 10~30대의 불의의 사고(교통사고), 40~60대는 암, 70대 이상은 뇌혈관질환이 가장 많다. 구미${\cdot}$일 7개국 정상국가들은 심질환 사망이 가장 높다. 5. 식생활의 변화에 있어서 우리나라는 주식으로 섭취해 왔던 곡류는 70년 대비 94년에는 0.7배 감소된 반면 육류 5배, 계란 2.4배, 우유는 무려 29.3배 증가되었다. 식생활 패턴이 서구화 경향으로 바뀌는 것 같다. 6. 71년도 우리나라의 지질섭취량은 국민 1인당 1일 평균 13.1g에 섭취에너지의 5.7%수준이었으나 92년도에는 34.5g으로서 총에너지 섭취량의 16.6%에 달하고 총섭취 지방질중 동물성 섭취 비율은 47%를 차지 한다. 국민 평균 혈청콜레스테롤 농도는 80년에 비해 88년에는 11%가 증가되었고 80년에 210mg/dl 이상 되는 콜레스테롤 혈증인 사람의 비율이 5%에서 88년에는 23%로 크게 증가했다. 7. 세계 정상국가들의 단백질 즉 축산식품의 섭취는 우리나라보다 적게는 2배, 많게는 6~7배 더 섭취하고 90년도 우리나라의 지질섭취량은 일본의 1/3수준에 불과하다. 8. 콜레스테롤은 인체를 비롯한 모든 동물체에 필수적으로 분포하고 있는 것으로 체내 존재하고 있는 총량은 90~150g, 이중 혈청콜레스테롤은 4%(6g)를 차지하고 있음에도 불구하고 이 아주 적은 콜레스테롤에 일희일비(一喜一悲) 논쟁은 60~70년 끄러오고 있다. 9. 콜레스테롤의 생체내 기능으로서는 (1) 세포벽의 지지물질 (2) 신경세포 보호막물질 (3) 담즙산의 합성 (4) 비타민 D의 합성 (5) 임신시에 반듯이 필요한 분자 (6) 기타 여러 가지 기능을 수행하는 것으로 필수적인 물질이다. 10. 우리가 식이를 통해서 섭취 콜레스테롤을 550mg정도를 섭취한다고 하더라도 이 정도의 양은 배설 소모되는 양과 거의 맞먹는 양이다. 피부와 땀샘에서 소실되는 양만도 100~300mg에 달하기 때문에 미국농무성에서 섭취량을 300mg로 제한하는 것은 무의미하다. 11. 콜레스테롤 운반체로서의 지단백질은 그 밀도가 낮은 것으로부터 킬로미크론(chylomicron), 초저밀도 지단백질(VLDL), 저밀도 지단백질(LDL) 및 고밀도 지단백질(HDL)으로 나누는데 LDL은 혈청콜레스테롤 중 약 70%, HDL은 약20%를 함유한다. 12. 혈중 콜레스테롤 수준에 영향을 미치는 요인을 열거하여 보면 다음과 같다. 1) 음식을 통해서 섭취되는 콜레스테롤 중 단지 10~40%정도가 흡수되고, 체내에서 합성되는 콜레스테롤이 증가할수록 식이콜레스테롤은 실제 혈청콜레스테롤 수준에 거의 영향을 미치지 않으므로 식이중함량에 대하여 공포를 느끼고 기피할 필요가 없다. 2) 고도불포화지방산, 단가불포화지방산, 포화지방산의 비 즉 P/M/S의 비가 균형되도록 권장한다. 3) 동맥경화를 비롯한 성인병의 원인이 되는 혈전증에는 EPA의 양을 높여줌으로서 성인병을 예방할 수 있다. 4) 오메가6지방산 아라키도닉산과 오메가3지방산인 EPA로 유도되는 에이코사에노이드 또는 프로스타노이드는 오메가6와 3지방산을 전구체로 하여 생합성되는 중요한 생리활성 물질이다. 5) 사람은 일반적으로 20세에서 60세까지 나이를 먹어감에 따라 혈중 콜레스테롤 수준이 증가하고 60세 이후부터는 일정한 수준을 유지하며 심장보호성 HDL-콜레스테롤은 감소하는 반면에 죽상경화성 LDL콜레스테롤은 증가한다. 6) 높은 HDL콜레스테롤 수준이 심장병 발생 위험요인을 감소시키는 기능을 갖고 있기 때문에 좋은 HDL이라 부르고, LDL은 나쁜 콜레스테롤이라 부르기도 하는데, 이것은 유전적 요인보다도 환경적 요인이 보다 큰 영향을 미친다. 7) 이것은 생활 형태와 영양섭취상태를 포함해서 개인적 생활패턴에 영향을 받는다. 8) 많은 실험에서 혈중 콜레스테롤 상승은 노년의 가령(加齡)에 적응하기 위한 자연적 또는 생리적인 세포의 생화학적이고 대사적인 기능을 위해 필수적일 수 있다는 것을 간과해서는 안될 것이다. 이 점으로 미루어 노년의 여성들을 위한 콜레스테롤 농도를 200mg/dl이 가장 알맞은 양이 아닌 듯하다. 9) 스트레스는 두가지 모양으로 유발되는데 해로은 스트레스(negative), 이로운 스트레스(positive)로서 긴장완화는 혈중 콜레스테롤 농도를 10% 떨어진다. 10) 자주 운동을 하는 사람들은 혈중 HDL콜레스테롤치가 운동을 하지 않는 사람보다 높다. 육체적인 운동의 정도와 혈중 HDL콜레스테롤 농도와는 정비례한다. 11) 흡연은 지방을 흡착시키므로 혈전증의 원이이 되며 혈관속의 HDL농도를 감소시킨다. 12) 에너지의 과잉섭취에 의한 체중 증가느 일반적으로 지단백질대사에 영향을 미치고, 간에서는 콜레스테롤 과잉 생산과 더불어 VLDL콜레스테롤의 LDL콜레스테롤 혈증을 나타냄으로 운동과 더불어 비만이 되지 않도록 하여야 한다. 13. 콜레스테롤 함량에 대한 조절기술 1) 식품의 우열을 평가할 때 단순히 동물성 또는 식물성 식품으로 분류해서 총괄적으로 논한다는 것은 지양되어야 한다. 이것은 그 식품에 함유하고 있는 지방산의 종류에 따라서 다르기 때문이다. 2) 인체의 원할한 기능 유지를 위해서는 P /M /S비율 뿐만 아니라 섭취 지방질의 오메가6 /오메가3계 지방산의 비율이 모두 적절한 범위에 있어야 하며 한두가지 지방산만이 과량일 때는 또 다른 불균형을 일으킬 수 있다는 점을 알아야 한다. 3) 닭고기는 오메가6지방산 함량을 높이기 위하여 사료중에 등푸른 생선이나 어분이나 어유를 첨가하여 닭고기는 첨가수준에 따라 증가됨을 알 수 있다. 4) 오늘날 계란내의 지방산 조성을 변화시켜 난황내의 오메가 3계열 지방산 함량을 증가시킨 계란의 개발이 활발해졌다. 14. 계란 콜레스테롤에 대한 소비자들의 부정적 인식을 불식시키고자 계란의 클레스테롤 함량을 낮추는 과제가 등장하면서 그 기술개발이 여러모로 시도되고 있으나 아직 실용 단계에 이르지 못했다. 15. 계란의 콜레스테롤 문제에 대한 대책으로서 난황의 크기를 감소시키는 방법에 대한 연구도 필요하다. 16. 계란 중 콜레스테롤 함량 분석치는 표현 방식에 따라서 소비자들을 혼란시킬 가능성이 있다. 또한 과거에는 비색법으로 분석했으나 오늘날은 효소법으로 분석하면 분석치에 상당한 차이가 있다. 17. 소비자의 요구를 만족시키고 버터 소비를 촉진시키기 위해 콜레스테롤을 감소시키는 물리적${\cdot}$생물학적 방식이 제안되어 있으나 현장적용이 가능한 것은 아직 없다. 18. 우리나라에서 이미 시판되고 있는 DHA우유가 선보였고 무콜레스테롤 버터의 경우 트란스(trans)형 지방산에 관해서는 논란의 여지가 많을 것이다. 끝으로 국가 목표의 하나는 복지사회 건설에 있고 복지국가 실현에는 국민 기본 욕망의 하나인 식생활 합리화가 선행되어야 한다. 소득이 늘고 국가가 발전해감에 따라 영양식${\cdot}$건강식 및 기호식을 추구하게 됨을 매우 당연한 추세라 하겠다. 우리의 식생활이 날로 향상되어 지난날의 당질 위주에서 점차 축산물쪽으로 질적 개선이 이루어진다는 것은 고무적임에 틀림없다. 이 축산물을 통한 풍요로운 식의 문화를 창출하면서 건강과 장수 그리고 후손에 이르기까지 번영하고 국가 경쟁력 강화에 심혈을 기우려야 할 때이다.

• Korean Security Journal
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• no.18
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• pp.73-99
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• 2009

There are three assassination and treatening cases in this thesis introduced as analysis data. They are shooting accidents of the U.S.A's President Reagun (1981,3.30), and the President Park Jeong Hee of South Korea(1974.8.15), assassination of the Prime Minister Lavin of Israel (1995.11.4) In March 30, 1981, there was an accident where criminal, Hinckley, fired ball cartridges right before the President Reagan got into the car to move to White House after completing the announcement of Hilton Hotel of Washington. As a result, the chest of president was shot and public information secretary and safeguard were wounded. In August, 15, pm 10:23, where the 29th 8.15 independent anniversay event was being celebrated by the people at the National theater in Jangchungdong, Seoul, the criminal Moon Sekwang fired ball cartridges, he failed to assassinate the President Park Jeong Hee of Korea, but shot the First lady Yuk Young Soo. She was wounded right part of head and died. In November 4, Saturday, pm 22:00 the Prime Minster Lavin had finished the supporting event of Middle Asia's Peace project and was taking on the car when he was killed by the criminal Amir's shooting, The accidents left very important lesson from the aspect of security analysis and it has been frequently used as a material for the education and training of safeguard organization. In Korea, as well as Presidential Security Service, national security departments have selected it as an important model for the subjects such as 'Security Analysis, 'Security Practice' and 'Security Methodology'. In the performance of security duty, security skill is the most important matter. Moreover, it has a close relationship with politics, society and culture. The purpose of this study is to analyze and reevaluate the case, which has been treated as a usual model from the aspect of security analysis, beyond its introduction. Attempted assassination of President Reagan was evaluated as a positive success example because of its rapid response of adjacent guards to evacuate Reagan, who is a guard target, within 10 seconds after the shot. When comparing it to President Kennedy Assassination of 1963, it was evaluated that guards were significantly specialized. In the study, however, it was possible to found many problems such as carelessness of guard, who is in charge of external area of event place, idle attitude for frequently used event place, confusion of wireless communication, risk of wireless security disclose, insufficient provision of compulsory record file, insufficient profiling of dangerous person and unsecured hospital and first-aid room.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.31-58
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• 2008

This study examines applying the elderly poverty labor hypothesis and skill-biased technological change hypothesis to labor force participation rate(LFPR) of older males in Korea. These hypotheses have hardly been examined on the this group. The analysis is based on the data "Summary of economically active population($1965{\sim}2007$)", "Population projection($1965{\sim}2007$)", "Report on wage structure survey($1993{\sim}2005$)" and "Korea Labor and Income Panel Study($1998{\sim}2006$)". The method employed for this study is logistic regression. The main results from this analysis are summarized in five points. Firstly, Korean older males' LFPR have been increasing since 1965 when industrialization was expanding at full steam. This trend has been different from the decreasing trend of industrialized countries. The second finding is that poor older males' LFPR is, on the average, 5.2% higher than that of non-poor older males from 1998 to 2005. The third result is that the non-elderly man has been increasingly positioned at higher grade occupations, while the elderly man has been held at lower grade occupations. The fourth is that labor demand for highly educated workers has exceeded the increased labor supply of the group, while the demand for low educated workers has decreased far beyond the declined labor supply. As a result, college premium has increased from 139% in 1993 to 157.8% in 2005. The final main implication of this study is that the industrialization theory and modernization hypothesis still holds for the LFPR of Korean older males. However, the elderly affluence hypothesis of the LFPR of older males are hardly persuasive in explaining Korean phenomenon. Especially, we find that the elderly poverty is the main mechanism in determining the Korean LFPR in old ages. This supports the elderly poverty labor hypothesis presented in this study. Skill-biased technological change hypothesis partially explains the LFPR of older man. However, we believe that other factors; human capital specially high school education rather than university education and skill required in less skill biased occupations or the poverty; also have taken effect.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.143-151
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• 2005

Purpose: Bereavement Memorial Service has been held every year by the hospice team at St. Vincent's Hospital for the purpose of supporting the bereaved family who feel grief and mourning. The purpose of this study is to find out the attitude of the bereaved attending at bereavement memorial service (BMS) and to find out the areas needing improvements to set up better memorial service. Methods: Hospice team sent invitation card to 180 families of patients who admitted and passed away at hospice ward Nov., 2003${\sim}$Oct., 2004. Among them 22 families attended the BMS meeting, which was held on 26th Nov., 2004. The researcher collected data from 22 families with 'Questionnaire' survey. Except identifying data and 2 dichotomy questions, we used open-ended questionnaire. 1 researcher conducted a telephone interview survey in 18 families who couldn't attend at BMS meeting. Results: The median age was 56 (range $16{\sim}19$) and there were 37 females and 3 males. They were patient's wife (22), mother (4), husband (5), daughter (4), mother-in-law (1), siblings (1), brothers wife (1). Duration after bereavement, $1{\sim}3$ months (17) was the highest frequency. 36 families agreed 'the dead experienced the death with dignity'. The reason of agreement to the death with dignity was 'the patient died in preparation' (16). 'the patient died in well-being condition spiritually' (9), 'the patient died in comfort physically (7). 4. persons thought the dead died with indignity. The bereaved defined 'the death with dignity' as follows: 'acceptance of death & death in spiritual well-being' (9), 'death in physical comfort condition' (7), 'the death in psycho-social well-being' (3), non-respondents (10). Most families (21) were still in difficulty to overcome bereavement grief. The answer regarding the method to overcome the difficulty was 'with spiritual sublimation' (13), 'with devotion of oneself in daily life' (10), 'with devotion to mourning as it is' (3). With regard to their attitude to invitation, 'having joy and thanks from hospice team' (21), 'grief' (4), 'suffering' (4). Toward the existence of hesitation about attendance at BMS meeting, the result as follows. Nonexistence of hesitation respondent (34), existence respondent (6), the reason for hesitation was various; 'the meeting reminds me of the suffering times', 'the meeting makes me to recall, and it will be likely to cry', and so on. The needs and feelings to memorial service meeting were various; 'it was meaningful time', 'it was good to recall about the dead', 'more meeting annually' and so on. In respect of the most difficulty after bereavement, in attendant family, 'depression' (10) was the highest frequency, whereas, in non-attendant family, the most difficult thing was 'financial problem/role difficulty (6). Conclusion: This study shows the rate of attendance was high in bereaved whose bereavement duration $1{\sim}3$ month. Most of bereaved were still suffering from bereavement grief within 1 year. Although most families didn't hesitate and felt positive mood to invitation, the rate of attendance was low. Comparing with two groups between attendant family and non-attendant, the latter felt more difficulty in 'financial problem/role difficulty, on the other hand, the former felt difficulty in 'depression'. Hereafter, the additional study about the factor relating to these attitude and needs of the bereaved relating to memorial service will be necessary.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.69-98
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• 2009

We investigated what factors motivate gamers to participate in a guild and why they continue to be engaged as members of the guild. We find that, based on the result of focus group interviews with MMORPG gamers, social support and self-esteem factors play important roles. Considering both prior research and the focus group interviews we have conducted, we define social support and character control as independent variables. Character identity, guild identity, and self-esteem are proposed as mediating variables while guild flow and game loyalty as dependent variables. Accordingly, we develop the research model and hypotheses, and verify them empirically. Based on our experiences of playing the WoW game, we proposed a research model and conducted focus-group interviews (FGIs). FGIs involve formulating a hypothesis and then collecting some relevant data. FGIs were conducted face-to-face with students of C University in Korea. We formulated structured interview schedules, and the questions were based on our research variables and personal experiences. The questions for the interviews encompassed the following areas: (a) the demographic characteristics of the focus group; (b) the number of years for which respondents had played online games; (c) the motive for starting a game; (d) the number of game-characters assumed by each gamer; (e) the type of game played; and (f) other issues such as the reasons for involvement in the play, the willingness to reuse the game in case new versions were released, etc. On average, it took two hours to interview each of three groups. A primary set of FGIs was conducted with three groups on the premise that there would be some differences caused by character race (Horde vs. Alliance) or by playable server (Normal vs. Combat). With respect to the manner of playing, we found that guild members shared information, felt a sense of belonging, and played computer games for quite a long time through the guild; however, they did not undergo these experiences when playing alone. Gamers who belonged to a specific guild helped other players without expecting compensation for that, freely shared information about the game, gave away items for free, and more generous with other members who made mistakes. The guild members were aware of the existence other members and experienced a sense of belonging through interactions with, and evaluations from, other players. It was clear that social support was shown within the guild and that it played an important role as a major research variable. Based on the results of the first FGIs, a second set of in-depth FGIs was carried out with a focus on the psychology of the individual within the guild and the social community of the guild. The second set of FGIs also focused on the guild's offline meetings. Gamers, over all, recognize the necessity of joining a community, not only off-line but also online world of the guild. They admit that the guild is important for them to easily and conveniently enjoy playing online computer games. The active behavior and positive attitudes of existing guild members can motivate new members of the guild to adapt themselves to the guild environment. They then adopt the same behaviors and attitudes of established guild members. In this manner, the new members of the guild strengthen the bonds with other gamers while feeling a sense of belonging, and developing social identity, thereby. It was discovered that the interaction among guild members and the social support encouraged new gamers to quickly develop a sense of social identity and increase their self-esteem. The guild seemed to play the role of socializing gamers. Sometimes, even in the real world, the guild members helped one another; therefore, the features of the guild also spilled over to the offline environment. We intend to use self-esteem, which was found through the second set of FGIs, as an important research variable. To collect data, an online survey was designed with a questionnaire to be completed by WoW gamers, who belong to a guild. The survey was registered on the best three domestic game-sites: 'WoW playforum,' 'WoW gamemeca,' and 'Wow invent.' The selected items to be measured in the questionnaire were decided based on prior research and data from FGIs. To verify the content of the questionnaire, we carried out a pilot test with the same participants to point out ambiguous questions as a way to ensure maximum accuracy of the survey result. A total of 244 responses were analyzed from the 250 completed questionnaires. The SEM analysis was used to test goodness-of-fit of the model. As a result, we found important results as follows: First, according to the statistics, social support had statistically significant impacts on character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Second, character control had significant effects on character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Third, character identity shows its clear impact on self-esteem and game loyalty. Fourth, guild identity affected self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Fifth, self-esteem had a positive influence on the guild flow. These days, the number of virtual community is rising along with its significance largely because of the nature of the online games. Accordingly, this study is designed to clarify the psychological relationship between gamers within the guild that has been generally established by gamers to play online games together. This study focuses on the relationships in which social support influences guild flow or game loyalty through character control, character identity, guild identity, and self-esteem, which are present within a guild in the MMORPG game environment. The study results are as follows. First, the effects of social support on character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem are proven to be statistically significant. It was found that character control improves character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Among the seven variables, social support, which is derived from FGIs, plays an important role in this study. With the active support of other guild members, gamers can improve their ability to develop good characters and to control them. Second, character identity has a positive effect on self-esteem and game loyalty, while guild identity has a significant effect on self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Self-esteem affects guild flow. It was found that the higher the character and guild identities become, the greater the self-esteem is established. Contrary to the findings of prior research, our study results indicate that the relationship between character identity and guild flow is not significant. Rather, it was found that character identity directly affects game players' loyalty. Even though the character identity had no direct effect on increasing guild flow, it has indirectly affected guild flow through self-esteem. The significant relationship between self-esteem and guild flow indicates that gamers achieve flow, i.e., a feeling of pleasure and excitement through social support. Several important implications of this study should be noted. First, both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to conduct this study. Through FGIs, it was observed that both social support and self-esteem are important variables. Second, because guilds had been rarely studied, this research is expected to play an important role in the online community. Third, according to the result, six hypotheses (H1, H5, H6, H7, H8, and H11) setup based on FGIs, were statistically significant; thus, we can suggest the corresponding relationships among the variables as a guideline for follow-up research. Our research is significant as it has following implications: first, the social support of the guild members is important when establishing character control, character identity, guildidentity and self-esteem. It is also a major variable that affects guild flow and game loyalty. Second, character control when improved by social support shows notable influence on the development of character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Third, character identity and guild identity are major factors to help establish gamers' own self-esteem. Fourth, character identity affects guild flow through self-esteem and game loyalty. The gamers usually express themselves through characters; the higher character identity is, the more loyalty a gamer has. Fifth, guild identity, established within the guild, has clear effects on self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Sixth, qualitative and quantitative methods are employed to conduct this study. Based on the results of focus group interviews and SEM analysis, we find that the social support by guild members and psychological factors are significant in strengthening the flow of guild and loyalty to the game. As such, game developers should provide some extra functions for guild community, through which gamers can play online games in collaboration with one another. Also, we suggest that positive self-esteem which is built up through social support can help gamers achieve higher level of flow and satisfaction, which will consequently contribute to minimizing the possibility for the players to develop negative attitude toward the guild they belong to.