Social Shame of Unemployment: A Grounded Theory Study Among Unemployed Workers

Given the challenging economic conditions and the constraints faced by manufacturing firms, it has become increasingly crucial to focus on workers as valuable national assets and the driving force behind economic development.Facing job insecurity and unemployment can have a significant impact on individuals' personal lives and future careers.This paper aims to understand the process of workers' coping and dealing with unemployment and its associated harms.The study was conducted using an interpretive-qualitative approach and a constructivist grounded theory method.To collect the necessary data, the researchers participated in the field in three roles: worker, researcher, and employee of a support organization.To select participants, a purposive sampling method of convenience and theoretical sampling was used.With the number of samples reaching 37, theoretical saturation was achieved.Data analysis was conducted within the framework of constructivist grounded theory, and the text was coded in three levels of primary, focused, and theoretical.The findings showed that the experience of unemployment has various dimensions, including social stigma of unemployment, identity crisis, economic crisis, family crisis, experience of shame, and psychological distress.These dimensions are ultimately categorized under the concept of social shame of unemployment, which entails various aspects of the experience of rejection, personal failure, and inability to succeed.