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영어

The purpose of this study was to investigate social workers' personal experiencesproviding social support to multi-cultural family in a multi-cultural family center. Thedata were collected through in-depth interviews with 14 social workers at themulti-cultural familycenter, and were analyzed using a phenomenological researchmethod. The major findings were as follows : The social workers’ personal experiences withand understanding of social support wereclassified as 4 categories : ‘source of emotional support to the multi-cultural family’, ‘ diverse and systematic educational support’,‘excessive demands on material support’, and ‘daily life support and connection withcommunity network’. The social workersrecognized emotional and educational support as essential factors in providing social support to multi-cultural family. However, thesocial workers' perceptions of material support derived from negative personal experiences stemming from excessive demands andmisunderstanding for material support. These results showed that social workers at the multi-cultural family center providedmulti-cultural families with social support and that they interacted with community support system and multi-cultural families toincrease their satisfaction.