earticle

영어

The purpose of this study was to address the psychological changes correctional officers might go through in the death penalty execution and how they adapted themselves to the events through the execution process. The research issue was what the psychological challenges correctional officers faced in the execution process are and how they got over them after the end of the execution. Also, this study has been executed by applying the grounded theory based on Strauss and Corbin(1998). The data were analyzed into seventy four concepts, twenty seven subcategories and ten categories with the open coding process. The research also revealed three stages the correctional officers might experience during the execution process, which were “the stage of experiencing the death penalty execution”, “the stage of justifying their action” and “the stage of the resignation and acceptance”. The key category was “the effort for putting the experience of the execution behind and getting one’s own life back” and it was analyzed three ways, which were focusing on the health, abandoning themselves to despair and suffering the traumas. This study makes a suggestion that the introduction of counseling or treatment programs for correctional officers, who may experience a psychological shock through the death penalty execution, will be needed. There are many different sides to the death penalty debate and they need to be reviewed from a humanitarian point of view widely and deeply.

한국어

본 연구는 사형집행을 경험한 교도관의 사형집행과정에서의 심리변화와 적응과정을 규명하고 설명하는 실체이론을 개발하고자 실시되었다. 연구문제는 ‘사형집행으로 인한 교도관이 겪는 충격은 무엇이며 어떻게 그 충격으로부터 벗어나는가?’로 근거이론(Strauss & Cobin, 1998)방법을 적용하여 수행하였다. 연구 결과 개방코딩에서는 74개의 개념, 27개의 하위범주, 10개의 범주가 도출되었고, 과정분석은 ‘사형집행의 경험단계’, ‘사형집행의 정당성 내면화 단계’, ‘체념과 수용단계’ 등 3단계로 나타났다. 핵심범주는‘사형집행의 기억을 떨쳐버리고 새로운 삶 다시 일으켜 세우기’로 이를 중심으로 가설적 정형화와 관계진술을 정리한 결과 건강유지형, 체념형 그리고 상처진행형 등 3가지 유형으로 나타났다. 결과적으로 사형수뿐 아니라 사형집행으로 인한 심리적 충격을 입는 사형집행관에 대한 적절한 치유프로그램 마련 등 사형제도 전반에 대한 인도주의적 관점에서의 재검토가 필요한 것으로 보인다.