이 연구는 취업한 정신장애인의 장기근속과정에 대한 실체이론을 개발하고자 하는 목적으로 실시하였다. 이를 위한 연구문제는 `취업한 정신장애인의 장기근속과정은 어떠한 것인가?`로 Strauss와 Corbin(2000)이 제시한 근거이론방법을 적용하여 분석하였다. 연구참여자는 만 2년 이상 동일 직장에서 근속하고 있는 정신분열병 환자 5명이었다. 연구결과 총 164개의 개념이 도출되었고 31개의 하위범주와 15개의 상위범주가 도출되었다. 취업한 정신장애인의 장기근속과정에 관한 패러다임모형에서 인과적 조건은 `어렵게 취업에 성공함`이었고 맥락적 조건은 `업무상 스트레스`, `인간관계 문제`, `현실적 요구`, 그리고 `재발과 재취업에 대한 걱정`이었다. 중심현상은 `홀로 고군분투하며 버티기`로 나타났고 이러한 현상을 촉진하는 중재적 조건은 `경험으로부터 깨달음`, `직장생황에 대한 만족감`, `기대와 배려에 부응하려는 마음`으로 나타났다. 작용·상호작용전략은 `현실을 수요하고 긍정적으로 생각함`, `참고 버팀`, `나름의 방식으로 고비를 넘김`으로 나타났으며 그 결과는 `안정감을 느끼고 현실에 만족함`, `시행착오를 겪음`, `자부심과 꿈이 생김`으로 나타났다. 취업한 정신장애인의 장기근속과정의 핵심범주는 `아무리 힘들어도 참고 견디며 직장에서 살아남기`로 확인되었으며 과정분석은 `초기던져짐 단계`, `고군분투 단계`, `고비극복 단계`, `안착 단계`로 나타났다. 이 과정에서 취업한 정신장애인의 장기근속과정 유형은 `현실만족형`, `적극적 대처형`, `단순버티기형`으로 구분할 수 있었다. 이 연구는 국내최초로 취업한 정신장애인의 장기근속과정을 근거이론방법을 활용하여 그 과정과 유형을 밝힘으로써 취업한 정신장애인의 장기근속과정에 관한 이론구축 및 사회복지실천과 정책적 개입에 주는 함의가 클 것으로 기대한다.
The purpose of this study was to develope a substantial theory on the long service process of a full-time employee with mental disorder. A question for the study was, "what is the long service process of a full-time employee with mental disorder?" Participants for this study were 5 patients with schizophrenia who have been working for over 2 years in the same company as a full time employee. The data collection and analysis was conducted via the Grounded Theory Method developed by Strauss and Corbin (2000). The data was collected through in-depth interview during the period from June to September, 2009. The result of this study revealed 164 concepts including `cold society`, `suffering unfairness` and `hard (work)`, 31 subcategories including `desiring normal life`, `uneasy to find a job`, and 15 categories including `vocational stress`, succeed in an employment with difficulty` in open coding process. According to the result of categorical analysis based on the grounded theory paradigm In axial coding, the casual condition on the long service process of a full-time employee with mental disorder was `succeed in an employment with difficulty`. The central phenomenon was `struggling and enduring unsupported`, and the corresponding the contextual conditions were `vocational stress`, `problems of human relationships`, `practical request`, `anxious about relapse and finding a new job`. The action·interaction strategies were `accepting real world and think positive`, `enduring`, `overcoming the crisis in their own way`. The intervening conditions were `realized by experience`, `satisfied with their career`, `willing to meet expectations and consideration` and the consequences were `feel stability and satisfy with normal life`, `undergo trial and error` and `take pride and dream`. The stage were `the first stage of be threw themselves`, `the stage of struggle unsupported`, `the stage of overcome the crisis`, `the stage of safe arrival`, according to the passage of time. The core category was `to survive, endure and keep going even if it`s too hard`, and adjustment types are varied according to intervening conditions that represented the result of different usage of the action·interaction strategies. There were 3 types that are "the type of satisfied with the present conditions`, `the type of active handle`, `the type of just enduring`. Significance of this study are to generate the substantial theory about the long service process of a full-time employee with mental disorder, the vivid experiences of them can give us an expanded understanding, and on the basis of that understanding, it can be also grounds of developing vocational rehabilitation programs to help their long service.