• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.354-372
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• 2020

This study analyzed how North Korean defectors recognized and overcame conflict in the South Korean job culture during the course of entering and settling into South Korea, and the association between their old career and adaptation within their new careers. The study selected 13 employed participants who entered South Korea more than five years ago and experienced working. Interviews were conducted over the course of five years. The topics were analyzed after performing interviews 60 to 120 minutes long by recording and transcribing the recordings and using semi-structured questionnaires for the 13 people. The results reflected the job environment in North Korea, their career background, factors for a successful new life, their constant efforts for employment, the difficult adaption to South Korean life, pursuing job stability, accepting South Korean culture, and career compromises. The results of this study are as follows. First, they undergo difficulty in the course of selecting jobs due to the converted environment from passivity to autonomy. Second, they cannot use their previous job history and they complained about prejudice and the lack of job information. Third, major problems included their lack of adaptability, stress, and loss of economic power. The study suggests that these North Korean defectors undergo an integrated course of cultural learning. Fourth, they were hardly able to adapt. Fifth, they tried to overcome conflicts of job culture according to their personal characteristics.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.595-605
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• 2020

This study was a qualitative research to investigate the adaptation process and stress experiences of female marriage immigrants to Korean culture, and to explore life experiences and meanings to cope with them. Participants in the study collected data through individual in-depth interviews targeting 5 female marriage immigrants with more than 5 years of marriage using the Healthy Families·Multicultural Family Support Center located in ◯◯-gu, Incheon City. Using the six steps of Braun & Clarke's topic analysis method, 3 main topics and 13 subtopics were derived. Research Results First, cultural differences experienced by female marriage immigrants in Korean life (daily life culture, tradition, family relations) Second, the cultural adaptation process experienced by female marriage immigrants (difficulties and fears-understanding cultural differences-efforts to overcome) Third, it was found that the cultural adaptation of female marriage immigrants is that Korean lifestyle becomes natural and familiar by knowing the difference in lifestyle between their mother country and Korean culture, and finding and practicing the way they want to live with Korean people. Based on the research results, a practical intervention plan for successful cultural adaptation of female marriage immigrants was presented.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.10 no.11
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• pp.29-38
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• 2012

This study conducted a survey 185 adolescents in multi-cultural family to measure the level of their social capital and their acculturation stress and examined how it affects them to adapt to school. Followings are the main results of this study. First, after measuring the social capital level of those surveyed, their average was lower than the normal level, showing 2.24(SD=.32), and their acculturation stress showed 2.54(SD=.58), a bit higher than the normal level. Second, their level of adapting to school showed 2.26(SD=.39), which was lower than the normal level, and there was statistically a meaningful difference between the groups depending on their grade, academic level, economic level, parents' marital status, mother's Korean ability. Third, the factors that affected in adapting to school were in the order of their network of social capital(${\beta}$=.225), mother's Korean ability(${\beta}$=.195), acculturation stress(${\beta}$=-.175), interpersonal trust of social capital(${\beta}$=.171), norm of social capital(${\beta}$=.161), parents' marital status(${\beta}$=.156), academic level(${\beta}$=.151), economic level(${\beta}$=.145). Based on these results, this study suggest ways to promote trust building among people and network formation through active use of information communication, and to improve multi-cultural acceptability by developing and using various contents.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.343-365
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• 2010

It is a follow-up study on acculturation types and adaptation level to South Korea among North Korean defecting adolescents who participated in the study with the same purpose five years ago(2003). The study of 2003(1st year study) was done with 90 adolescents, out of whom 46 participated in this study(2nd year study). The data from 46 subjects who participated in both 1st and 2nd studies were analyzed. The results on individual acculturation type showed that 40% of the respondents who belonged to 'marginal' or 'separated' types in the 1st study were changed to 'assimilated' or 'integrated' types in the 2nd. Twenty percent changed from 'assimilated' or 'integrated' types in the 1st study to 'marginal' or 'separated' in the 2nd. Furthermore, the higher is the acceptance level of South Korean culture, the lower are their psycho-social problems and the higher is the satisfaction level of daily lives in South Korea. While the higher is the preservation level of North Korean culture, the higher is aggression. Based on the results, the study developed discussion on diverse alternative plans for helping North Korean defecting adolescents in successfully adjusting to the South Korean society.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.11
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• pp.13-21
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• 2014

In this paper, we study on an 'e-Atlas of Society & Culture(e-ASC)', to develop and implement educational courseware for marriage immigrant women, to adapt Korean society. The 'e-ASC' can help cultural adaptation, such as the understanding of Korean people's common values and behaviors and can likewise provide opportunities to contribute to Korean society, for marriage immigrant women living in Korea. E-cultural map is a useful tool for providing educational experiences and sharing a sociocultural homogeneity, using three dimensional space, for both immigrants and residents. The 'e-Atlas of Society & Culture', suggested in this paper, using the notion of an E-cultural map, has a strong point. That is to say, the immigrants have contextual limitations about Korea and Korean culture, caused by some particular events in their motherland. This atlas provides an opportunity to overcome this contextual limitations and to help understand and adapt to Korean society for these immigrants. This 'e-Atlas of Society & Culture' can be an efficient educational tool for immigrants and can help marriage immigrant women understand and adapt Korean social and cultural phenomena. They might have contextual limitations about these phenomena in their motherland.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.14 no.1_spc
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• pp.487-518
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• 2008

The study identifies the major themes for integration education program which enhances the relationship between the north Korean refugees and their south Korean hosts. The themes were selected based on qualitative analysis of the socio-cultural conflicts experienced by the refugees and the hosts in the acculturation process. Twenty-eight north Korean refugees over age 20 participated in semi-structured interviews, and two south Korean groups in close contact with the refugees, police and volunteer teachers, were interviewed in focus groups. The interviews were recorded and transcribed for categorization and coding. The study views the acculturation issue as the two-sided integration task for both the north Korean refugees and the south Korean hosts rather than as the one-sided acceptance and assimilation task for the refugees.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.409-416
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of horticulture activity program on self-esteem and school life adaptation of multicultural adolescent. A non-equivalent control group pre-post test design with experimental group (n=39) and control group (n=36) was used. The program was conducted from Jan. 2 to Feb. 28, 2017, and the questionnaire was conducted before and after the program. Collected data was analyzed by SPSS(Ver, 24.0), conducting ${\chi}^2-test$, Fisher's exact test, t-test, paired t-test. There were statistically significant increase in self-esteem(t=2.41, p=.021) and school life adaptation(t=3.85, p=.000) by difference between a pretest and a posttest in the experimental group compared to that in the control group. Therefore, the horticulture activity program for multicultural adolescent have a significant effect for better performance of self-esteem and school life adaptation. Also, It was confirmed that the program used for improving adaptability of multicultural adolescent.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.21-43
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to examine cultural differences and related difficulties which KoreanChinese women in Korean society experience at work and the different styles of their cultural adaptation. For this, semi-structured interviews consisting of questions related to these issues were conducted on 17 Korean-Chinese women living in the metropolitan area (average age: 34, SD = 9.25, average stay in Korea = 4 years, SD = 2.24). After analysis of qualitative data based on Giorgi's(1985) method of phenomenological analysis, a total of 225 significant statements were found and those were grouped into 23 subcategories, which were then grouped again into 9 categories. Cultural differences and related difficulties appeared in identity, verbal communication, political and economic aspects, and relational and sexual affairs. It was also revealed that Korean-Chinese women adapted in the three ways of Active, Passive, and Avoident. Lastly, various social actions that can aid the adaptation of Korean-Chinese women to Korea based on these results were discussed.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.125-145
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• 2014

As Korea becomes a multi-cultural society, Korean government ministries are enforcing various multi-cultural services. Especially, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which is in charge of public libraries, is operating multi-cultural services for cultural diversity. The trends in the research on the multi-cultural services in public libraries, however, are rather on adaptation of the multi-cultural people in Korea than on the cultural diversity. In this exploratory study, we investigated the perception of local residences on multi-cultural library services with several in-depth interviews with the local residences not only for the adaptation but also for the cultural diversity. The results shows that they tended to regard public libraries as an institution of local life-long education, and then they think public libraries can take a role for coping with social adaptation and prevention of social problems in terms of multi-cultural population. Based on the results, public libraries would better consider to inform their roles in this multi-cultural society to their local residences based not only on adaptation but also on cultural diversity. For this, the libraries would develop programs, in which both multi-cultural and non-multi-cultural people can be participated, to encourage communication between them.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.101-123
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• 2023

As an effort to further extend the existing understanding on the Psychology of Working Theory, this study examined gender differences in the paths to the attainment of decent work with Korean emerging adults. A total of 311 South Korean employees (mean age = 25.96, men = 94, women = 217) completed online questionnaires. We found that economic constraints inversely predicted work volition and career adaptability, which were positively relatedin turn, led to decent work. The overall indirect effect of work volition and career adaptability between economic constraints and decent work was significant., hHowever, the specific indirect effect of work volition and career adaptability was not significant. Further analyses showed a gender difference in the paths. Specifically, economic constraint was significantly negatively associated with work volition, and work volition predicted decent work only for women, but not for men. Moreover, economic constraint was significantly inversely associated with career adaptability, and career adaptability positively predicted decent work only for men, but not for women. Work volition mediated between economic constraints and decent work for women, while career adaptability had a mediating effect for men. It suggests that career resources for obtaining a decent work may be distinctive by genderdifferent groups.