아동문학에 나타난 한국 공무원 이미지 분석

How are public servants portrayed in children’s books in Korea? According to the political socialization literature, children’s books play an important role in their socialization process in which they come to form perceptions and attitudes toward public servants and the roles they play. Therefore, the image of public servants in children’s literature is very important in attracting talented people to the civil service and in improving citizens’ satisfaction with public services. This study conducted content analysis on the best-selling children’s books selected by the Kyobo Bookstore, Korea’s biggest retail book seller. Our results show that public servants, particularly fire-fighters, policemen, postmen, and soldiers, are generally portrayed as benevolent and competent. On the contrary, teachers are the most frequently appeared in the analyzed books but are depicted as rather incompetent and malevolent. This may raise concerns that children think public service is “jobs for men” and teachers and female public servants are incompetent and malevolent.