• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.35-49
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was examine the depression among Mongolians in South Korea. We also determined the effect of acculturative stress and social support on depression. In this study, total of 200 adults over age 18 completed the BDI-II of Mongolian Version, Acculturative stress scale for international student, The Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Data were analyzed by using the factor analysis, correlation analysis, t-test, and hierarchical regression analysis. We used SPSS 22.0, AMOS 22.0. We found significant difference in mean scores between groups according to socio-demographic characteristics. The level of depression was high in over 3 years immigrants group (M = 8.41, SD = 9.6954), marriage immigrants group (M = 19.1, SD = 16.7649), and female groups (M = 7.61, SD = 9.2188) than compared to reference groups. Acculturative stress and social support of Mongolian immigrants had a significant impact on depression (β = .365, p <.001; β = .- 555, p <.001). There was a moderating effect of social support on the relationship between acculturative stress and depression (β = 1.080, p <.001). The limitations and implications of the study were discussed. We conclude that this study can be used to assess the depression and the mental health of Mongolians in South Korea.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.45
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• pp.153-186
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• 2023

Since the 2000s, Korean society has been transitioning into a multicultural society with a sharp increase in the influx of various non-Koreans including immigrant workers, immigrant spouses, international students, and refugees. As a result, Korea, which had maintained religious peace and coexistence as a multi-religious society, is showing signs of increased risks of social problems such as the surfacing of conflicts between religions. Religion can contribute to the integration and safety of communities in the process of becoming a multicultural society, but at the same time, it requires discussion from an educational perspective because of its ambivalence in potentially causing conflict within communities. Considering that one of the main functions of religion is social integration, religious education is required for the stable settlement of multicultural societies. In recognition of this, discussion regarding a new perspective on religious education is needed to respond to religious diversity and to understand the current society and the means of becoming a global citizen. This new discussion would be a 'general religious education' model that provides an education covering various religious and non-religious worldviews in order to cultivate 'religious literacy.' However, in a multicultural society, while general religious education may be useful in reducing prejudice and discrimination among students in an integrated environment, it should also be recognized that a 'special religious education' would be needed to acknowledge the unique values of each human group. This would be the most effective approach to multiculturalism. Therefore, this study proposes a form of 'cooperative religious education,' which combines general religious education and special religious education as a direction for religious education. In providing readers with background context, this study will review Korean religious policies and religious education, and then present realistic methods that can be implemented in schools.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.30-42
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to provide basic materials and assistance for developing a nutritional education program targeting marriage immigrant women, and it was carried out on 86 female marriage immigrants living in the Gyeongbuk region. An average age of the female marriage immigrants who participated in this survey were 28.6 years, and their home countries were the Philippines (32.6%), Vietnam (29.1%), and so on. Exactly 59.3% of subjects had been married for 1~5 years, and 40.7% of the subjects had an education status of less than middle school graduation. The majority of them (65.1%) had one more children, and 51.2% of subjects were a part of a nuclear-family, with the husband's age between 40~49 years old (58.1%). Concern for nutrition label was significantly different according to number of children (P<0.01), period of marriage (P<0.001), and education level (P<0.05). It was demonstrated that a higher level of education was associated with a higher need to learn about nutritional information. Understanding nutritional facts and knowledge was significantly higher among the women with two children than no child (P<0.05), period of marriage >10 years than <1 year (P<0.01), and education level of college & university graduation than less than middle school (P<0.05). Sixty percent of the women surveyed participated in the education program of 'Korean language' as they were in their country, and the most preferred education program was 'Korean dietary life and culture' (39.5%). Regarding participation and educational method, the majority of subjects responded that they wanted to learn nutritional education in a cooking academy or school (52.9%) and public health center (34.1%).

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.589-602
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• 2012

The Korean society has gone through a dramatic change in its population, with rapidly increasing number of multicultural families through international marriages since 1990s. This study investigated the differences between multicultural families and Korean families in three areas related to dietary behaviors: diet-related behaviors and perception, and food preferences. A cross-sectional analysis was performed in 500 Koreans from Korean families and 104 couples from the multicultural families with Vietnamese wives. More subjects from multicultural families grew up in the countryside, received less education and also had lower income than the subjects from Korean families. Multicultural families ate traditional Korean meals more often at home and dined out less often than Korean families. The multicultural families focused more attention on nutritional aspects of their diets than Korean families. The Vietnamese wives in multicultural families favored Vietnamese foods but they rarely ate those foods in Korea despite an easy accessibility to Vietnamese ingredients. In conclusion, the multicultural families had more traditional Korean dietary patterns than Korean families, which could have been influenced by their socioeconomic factors. Further research with a quantitative analysis is needed in future studies to understand the effect of dietary patterns on nutritional status and quality of life in multicultural and Korean families.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.129-145
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• 2016

This study focuses on the differences in family values, which is a cause of family dissolution and conflicts of marriage immigrant women. This study was conducted on 441 women in Vietnam. It was done to explore their family values. Specifically, the following were examined: the overall family values and martial status of Vietnamese women; differences in their family values by region (northern, central, southern). The survey questionnaire consists of the following content: 'family perception'; 'gender-role values'; 'elderly parent support value'. The characteristics of family values of Vietnamese women are as follows. First, the scope of family perceived by them was relatively narrow. In particular, most of them didn't perceive the parents of a spouse as a familymember. Second, in terms of gender-roles, they perceived men and women as equal and didn't have strong perception of traditional gender roles. Third, they felt strongly about supporting elderly parents. The perception of supporting elderly parents is based on equal gender roles, instead of the paternalistic approach. They preferred financial support to living with parents. There were also differences in family values by region. Also, their values seemed to be the opposite of the ones well-known by region. In addition, their values were changing amid economic growth and modernization. Residents in Can Tho in the south - known to have open-minded Southeast Asian values - had the most patrilineal, traditional values with strong perception towards supporting elderly parents. Residents in Hanoi in the north - known to have heavy influence of Confucian culture - had non-traditional values with positive attitude towards liberal sex culture, divorce, and remarriage. Residents in Da Nang, a central region, had a mixture of northern and southern characteristics in terms of family values.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.270-282
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• 2013

The present study aims to investigate the effects of bicultural characteristics and social capital on psychological adaptations such as depression and self-esteem. A survey was conducted on 295 foreign-born mothers and their 305 children, ranging from third to sixth grade in elementary school up to seventh to ninth grade in middle school, residing in South Korea's seven major cities, including the city of Seoul. The results of this research are the following: 1) With regards to factors that influence depression among children in a multicultural family, less support from a friend leads to a larger exposure to multicultural programs. Also, the lower the perceived income level of his or her family, greater is the state of the child's depression. 2) Significant factors that influence self-esteem for multicultural children are friends' support, level of mothers' Korean language proficiency, teachers' support, and numbers of multicultural programs. Two implications may be addressed from this study. One is the need to consider bicultural characteristics and social capital to enhance psychological adaptability for children raised in multicultural families. Another is to apply social support characteristics such as friends' and teachers' support to multicultural programs.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.2079-2088
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• 2015

Most overseas Korean seniors live in China and Japan due to Korea's historical background. Although Korean seniors living in Korea China and Japan share some similarities, the overseas seniors have become culturally different as they adapted to their countries of residence. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide basic reference data for future senior health enhancement models by comparing and analyzing the health of Korean and overseas Korea seniors. The number of subjects in this study was 603 people, which was comprised of 231 Korean seniors, 246 overseas seniors in China, and 126 overseas seniors in Japan. The average age of the subjects was 74.4 years old. The Korean seniors displayed higher average health score than the overseas seniors. Therefore, the study believes that cultural elements should be considered in a future senior health enhancement model.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.159-169
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to investigate Korean food adaption, eating behavior and dietary intakes of married female immigrants by age, number of residence years in Korea and level of income. The survey included 67 female marriage immigrants attending the Korean language class at the multicultural family support center within the northern part of Kyonggi province from October 2010 to July 2011. General characteristics, Korean dietary life adaptation, and eating behavior were collected and dietary intakes were assessed using 24-hour recall. The home countries with regards to all subjects were Vietnam (40.3%), China (23.9%), Japan (11.9%), Philippines (7.0%), and Mongolia (3.0%). Total energy intake was 1432.5kcal and there were significant differences in nutritional intake concerning vitamin B1 and vitamin B2 by age (p < 0.05). More than 50% of subjects did not meet estimated average requirements for calcium (56.7%), zinc (52.2%), vitamin C (55.2%), and folic acid (76.1%). Food adaptation scores were significantly correlated with general characteristics (age, residence year, drinking alcohol and acquisition of nationality), total scores of eating behavior, and nutritional intake (energy, protein, fat, fiber, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, niacin, vitamin E, and zinc). These results might suggest that the better their Korean food adaptation, the more desirable their eating behavior and nutritional status.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.103-114
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• 2017

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the married female immigrants' experience on Korean dietary life adaptation, especially identifying the symbolic meaning and nature of experiences. Methods: This study was conducted with six married female immigrants through an analysis of the qualitative materials which consisted of in-depth interviews, field notes and materials. Data was analyzed using Giorgi's phenomenological research methods. Results: The results were deduced as 116 significant statements, 17 formulated meanings (sub-theme), and 6 theme clusters. Six theme clusters comprised of lack of preliminary knowledge and information, conflict and support in relationships, Korean food culture which is different from homeland, adaptation attitudes of Korean food culture according to situation, sharing of homeland food culture, and practical difficulty and expectative service. The participants started Korean life in the dark about Korea and Korean food culture, so they were subjected to trial and error. The conflict between Korean mother-in-law and foreign daughter-in-law came from lack of consideration of daughter-in-law's cultural background. Some participants were hurt because of misunderstanding and nitpicking. They were learning about cooking method, ingredient, seasoning, table setting and manner. Some participants integrated Korean food culture and their homeland food culture. Some of them assimilated with Korean food culture. One of them maintained homeland food culture. The participants who adapted Korean food culture well could share homeland food amicably. They sometimes didn't apply the services which were offered by the government, because the services did not fit their needs. Some of them didn't know the usage route of the services or information. They had resistance about home teaching and it showed that outreach service was not always effective. Conclusions: This study suggested that it is necessary to develop a practical support plan which covers married female immigrants' real needs and system improvement measures.

• Proceedings of the Safety Management and Science Conference
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.471-479
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• 2011

한국의 어두운 역사적 배경 속에서 '혼혈아'라 불리던 국제결혼자녀 또는 미군아버지로 부터 버림받은 사생아들은 한국 사회에 포용이 될 수 없었다. 더불어, 그 이후 유입된 새터민, 외국인 노동자, 중국동포의 다문화 가정자녀들도 외국인도 내국인도 아닌, 외계인으로 사회적 고립으로 말미암아 소외계층으로 밀려나야 했는데, 이는 단일 민족주의를 긍지로, 여기는 한국의 주류층과의 차이가 차별(discrimination)로 변질된 현상에서 원인을 찾을 수 있다. 하지만, 이들의 차이는 '잠재적 역량'이 될 수 있는 이면적 장점을 내포하고 있다는 사실을 한국의 사회. 문화적 신념에 의한 배타적 성향을 지닌 한국 주류층들은 물론이거니와, 다문화사회 구성원들조차 인식하지 못하거나, 활용되지 못하는 것이 현 실정 이었다. 글로벌 사회의 도래로, 다문화 사회를 바라보는 전체사회의 의식변화를 요구하는 사회 각계각층의 목소리가 높아지고 있으며 이에 대한 활발한 연구가 시작되고 있다. 우리나라도 체류외국인 100만 명 돌파의 시대에 돌입 후 정부는 다문화사회 도래에 대한 다양한 대비책을 마련하는 현 상황에서 다문화사회 구성원들의 정부시책에 대한 관심과 자체적 노력이 더욱 요구되며, 이런 노력 하에 전체사회의 변화가 용이해질 뿐만 아니라, 다문화사회의 미래인 그들의 자녀들을 위해 교육적, 제도적, 정책적 인프라구축의 노력에 결실을 가져오리라 본다. 한국사회가 송출국에서 수민국가 대열에 서게 된 이 시점에서 다른 국가들의 이민과 교육정책을 살펴보고, 한국의 이주자 대상별로 전반적 다문화 가정 자녀의 교육 현실 및 한국 다문화 교육 정책의 문제점을 살펴보고, 이에 대한 미래지향적 다문화 교육에 대한 앞으로 한국의 다문화교육이 나아가야 할 방향을 제시해 보고자 한다.