Effect of Group Social Welfare Intervention based on Strengths Perspective on Improving Self-Esteem of Elementary School Students from Single-Parent Families

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Research has shown that children from single-parent families have a high level of positive self-evaluation when their self-esteem is high, positively affecting their adaptation to school life. However, empirical research on ways to increase self-esteem is lacking. Therefore, this study examined the effectiveness of a strengths-perspective-based group social welfare intervention in improving self-esteem in children from single-parent families, and suggested an optimal intervention plan. Children living in N-gu, Seoul, were randomly selected and assigned to an experimental (n = 10) or comparison (n = 12) group. After statistically confirming the homogeneity of both groups, the program intervention was implemented 12 times to clarify the intervention's structure and intensity in the experimental group. The experimental design was schematized to compare outcomes before and after the intervention. The strengths perspective-based group social work program intervened in the experimental group was conducted according to the group development stage. A paired-samples t-test was performed, and revealed significant pre–post differences in the experimental group’s self-esteem scores ;however, no significant change was observed in the comparison group. Additionally, regarding the sub-factors of self-esteem, the experimental group exhibited significant changes in general self, social self, and academic self, whereas the comparison group did not exhibit any significant changes. Additionally, neither group exhibited significant changes in the family self . These results suggest that the structural and functional deficits of children from single-parent families should be addressed using multidimensional and multisystemic factors. Further, the results support the effectiveness of the strengths perspective group social work intervention. The paper also presents implications and suggestions for social welfare practice. In follow-up research, there is a need to conduct longitudinal studies to determine how long the effects of change last. Above all, because this study was conducted as a pre-post single case study without a control group, there are limitations in generalizing it to all groups. Therefore, in follow-up studies, it is necessary to compare and analyze more diverse single-case experimental studies with a control group.