• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• no.37
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• pp.429-455
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to generate a substantive theory that accounts for the social readaptation of the women who have engaged in prostitution and propose a practical program for them. We used the grounded theory developed by Strauss and Corbin(1990). Raw data were collected through the in-depth interview, documents and observation. We used constant comparative method for the data analysis. The nine women who had the exprience of prostitution have participated in this study. As a result of the data analysis, in open coding were generated 116 concepts, 29 subcategories and 12 categories, In axial coding the outcomes of a paradigm model were as follows. The causal conditions were named 'hostile environment' and 'the self endowed stigma'. The phenomenon turned out to be 'living as an anonymous being'. The contextual conditions were named 'cohesion of family', 'being pushed' and 'shrinked emotion'. The intervening conditions were presented to be 'desire of self restoration as a social being', 'reactionary reconstruction'. The action/interaction strategies turned out to be 'shifting of social status', 'neighbor alliance'. The consequences were presented to be 'psychological wayfarer' and 'tentacular living'. In selective coding we found a core category, 'repetition of leaving and returning from the life world'. Based on the phenomenon, two types of participants life attitudes were found as follows : present hesitating type, self concealing type. Following the adove results, We finally suggested the need to develope a community oriented case management model.