미성년후견인 선임 시도 과정에서의 역할과 딜레마 －아동복지 영역의 사회복지사 인터뷰를 중심으로－ = Roles and dilemmas in the process of appointing a legal guardian for minors : Focusing on social workers in the field of child welfare

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In order to explore the social welfare tasks and directions for the minor guardianship system to operate as a social parental role for child protection, this study aimed to identify the role and dilemma faced by social workers in the field of child welfare during the process of attempting to appoint a guardian for children.
With the goal of child protection, the content and scope of parental rights in the Civil Act have been revised several times to expand state intervention. However, the ideological and institutional familialism that emerged during the rapid modernization process of Korean society had the potential to produce various dilemmas in the operation of the minor guardianship system when the criteria for deprivation of parental rights are ambiguous. To verify this, thematic analysis were conducted with seven social workers’ interviews in the child welfare field to yield institutional and practical dilemmas. Research results are as follows: 1) The boundaries of parental rights and obligations were not clear. As the child’s birth parents were in need of care, the ambiguity of parental rights could be exacerbated. 2) The state intervention for guardianship was also unclear, which led to social workers experiencing role strains in applying the guardianship system because they prioritized return to the family of origin. Thus, they recognized the difficulty which require a legal basis for the initiation of guardianship and that they could not strongly refute when the parents did not accept state intervention. 3) Despite efforts to expand guardianship for children, there is still no guardianship training or support for social workers in the field of child welfare. In addition, child welfare workers in charge of parental care for children are concerned about their responsibilities and burdens if they become involved in guardianship. We suggest the need for institutional change in the integrated child welfare system that can deal with different types of families and the introduction of ‘loose guardianship’ utilizing the experience of child welfare workers.