• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• no.37
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• pp.199-240
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• 2008

This study set out to investigate the adaptation process and experiential structure of those children who went through sexual abuse by looking into their inner worlds in order to understand what kind of meaning sexual abuse had on them. For that, the investigator conducted in-depth interviews with 13 children aged 8~16 who lived at the shelter after experiencing sexual abuse. The methodology of Grounded Theory by Strauss and Corbin(1990) was used to analyze raw data. The analysis results indicate that the core theme of the adaptation process among the children living at the shelter after sexually abused by kin and kith was "hoping to appear the same as others." According to the results, the core phenomenon was "blaming the victims." The causal conditions include "broken families," "antihuman sexual abuse," "making sexual abuse a public issue," and "the trap of the family." The contextual conditions include "the chain named family," "family as the last fortress" and "structural enforcement of silence." The intervening strategies was "dual emotions toward the shelter." The action/interaction strategies include "aftermath of violence" and "trying to escape." The consequences were "preparation for the future" and "uncertain future." The identified stages include the confusion, keeping the secret, leaking the secret to others, intervention by others, social support and challenge and adjustment stage. The three identified types were "withdrawal and avoidance," "settling down in reality" and "overcoming and challenging." Based on the analysis results, discussions were made about the social welfare plans and intervention strategies in the conclusion.