A study of the helping relationship between university-level guidance volunteers and the children in the Children’s home

• Main Authors: Chang, Yu-Cheng, 張祐誠
• Other Authors: Weisu Hsu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/19057893182500030403

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 教育心理與輔導學系 === 99 === The study aimed to investigate the helping relationship between university-level guidance volunteers and the children in the Children’s home. The purposes of the study were as follows: (1) to know the stories of developing helping relationships between university-level guidance volunteers and children in the Children’s home; (2) to investigate the related influential factors on university-level guidance volunteers’ helping relationship development experiencing with the children; (3) to study the developing process of the helping relationship between university-level guidance volunteers and children in Children’s home; and (4) to study the features of the helping relationship between university-level guidance volunteers and children in the Children’s home. Data were collected through seven university-level guidance volunteers (4 females and 3 males, ranging from year 2 to year 4 university students in counseling program), who received semi-structured interviews based on helping relationship theories. Thematic analysis of qualitative method was applied to analyze and induct the data from the interviews. The results and discussions of the research included four parts: 1. The stories of guidance volunteers developing helping relationship with children in the Children’s home, including the experiences of the seven guidance volunteers developing helping relationship with children in the Children’s home,were presented in chronological order, according to the time that each volunteer began their guiding work. 2. The analysis results of the influential factors on guidance volunteers’ helping relationship development were presented as follows: (1) guidance volunteers’ internal influential factors included the following categories: the motivation for joining the volunteer services, expectations for self-growth in expertise, anxieties aroused from each session, the eventual reflection and learning of helping skills, and the reflection of core values generated from the process. These five categories were further divided into thirteen elements. (2) Influential factors from the interaction with children in Children’s home could be categorized as below: volunteer’s internal conflicts when working with uncooperative children, the development and the challenges of trust issues occurred from their interaction, the buildup of mutual attraction, the volunteers’ role image shaped during helping relationship, and the experience of separation. These categories were further divided into eleven elements. (3) External influential factors from the environment could be categorized into: group supervision for the volunteers, the support and limitations from the Children’s home environment. Eight elements were further divided from the above categories. 3. It can be concluded from the analysis of the helping relationship that the development process can be divided into five stages. Stage 1: Beginning volunteers felt ambivalent about being anticipating and afraid of harm when learning to help. Stage 2: Volunteers learned to adjust themselves when faced with the difficulties in early stage. Stage 3: The Children’s home, the supervisors, and the system stabilized the volunteers’ progress. Stage 4: Volunteers dispelled their presuppositions and focused on the interaction with the children, and this started a brand new mutual understanding. Stage 5: Trust was built out of the companionship of both parties. Even at the time of separation, intimacy between both parties emerged and their growth was apparent. However, there were no clear cuts between each stage. In the development of helping relationships, the influential factors affected each other even though they appeared in different stages. 4. The characteristics of the helping relationship between university-level guidance volunteers and children in the Children’s home were discussed in three sections. First, the influential factors on the helping relationship and its process of development. This section included: (1) how the influential factors become correlated and (2) the discussions concerning the development process of guidance volunteers’ helping relationship. Second, the discussions on the three elements in helping relationships. The elements were: (1) the countertransference manifested during the interview; (2) the development of “real relationship” out of the puzzle in the profession; and, (3) the reflection on the orientation and termination of working alliance. Third, the features of the helping relationship between guidance volunteers and children in the Children’s home. This section included: (1) the skills to accompany, understand, and share from which each volunteer developing on the basis of Person-Centered approach; (2) the influences that these professional training brought upon the guidance volunteers; and (3) the particularity of guidance work in the Children’s home. Finally, the researcher concluded the university-level volunteers guiding program in Children’s home and provided suggestions for future studies. Keywords: helping relationship, guidance volunteer, guidance for the children in the Children’s home, thematic analysis, university-level helper