• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.109-122
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• 2010

The present study aims to investigate cultural similarities and differences that influence interracial couples (between Korean men and Vietnamese women) when adapting to Korean family culture in terms of interculturalism. The interviewees consisted of three generations. This study used in-depth interviews. Data was collected from January to August 2008. 15 families (45 people) were used for analysis. Results were as follows: (1) the patriarchal culture of the two nations had a positive influence on the adaptation of members during family interactions(2) the culture of filial piety is a value system that both nations believe is important. However, different rituals had a negative influence on the practice of filial piety (3) the community-oriented culture is regarded as important in the two nations. However, Vietnamese wives cannot lead a free community life because Koreans see them in negative terms (4) the Vietnamese traditional wedding custom called "NopJjeOh" had a negative influence on the adaptation to the Korean family culture (5) the preference for sons in Vietnam is not as high as in Korea. This difference had a negative influence on adaptation (6) clear differences between the daily lives of the two nations had a negative influence on adaptation to Korean family culture. In conclusion, Korea and Vietnam have many similarities in culture, which enable Vietnamese wives to adapt to Korean culture more easily than other foreign wives. If various programs are developed to promote the mutual understanding between both cultures based on these research findings, it would further contribute toward social integration in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.63 no.2
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• pp.319-336
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• 2011

There is recent recognition that the approach toward family members is crucial for understanding problems in multi-cultural families by emerging from typical approach focused on migrant women. While researches have reported serious conflicts and adaptation problems from cultural difference between parent-in-law and foreign daughter-in-law, cultural stress of parent-in-law has not been systematically examined. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scale to measure acculturation stress of parent-in-law who have a foreign daughter-in-law. The sample consisted of 266 parents-in-law from three provinces of South Korea. Initially, 16 items were generated based on the existing scale of acculturation stress and they are tested by item-analysis through the descriptive and correlational analysis. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to investigate the factor structure of the scale and a confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the scale. By item-analysis, five items were deleted from initial scale items because of redundancy. Findings from an exploratory factor analysis provided the evidence that the scale consists of three factors which are the perception of prejudice and discrimination, conflicts from different cultural value, and daily discomfort. Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ for the scale is 0.86. Multiple fit indices from confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the hypothesized three-factor model for acculturation stress achieved a good fit with the data. Results showed the evidence for the reliability and validity of the scale for acculturation stress of the parent-in-law who have foreign daughter-in-law. The scale would have potential effects for assessing psychological stress for parent-in-law in research and clinical practice. Further implications and limitation of the study and suggestions for future studies were discussed.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.167-181
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• 2010

This research was designed to explore the meaning of housing among Korean Chinese in Harbin, China. In particular, the meaning of housing was examined by using the pathway approach. Utilizing qualitative research methods, this study administered the in-depth interview on the oral history of an individual life, and the 5 elderly persons in their 60s and 70s participated in the individualized interviews that were conducted from May 28 to 31 in 2010. The main findings of meaning of housing were as follows; 1. Similarly to the meaning of housing in 1970s and 1980s in Korea, house was viewed as both a shelter for family members and relatives and a place for their comfort. 2. Prior to multi-story residences, Harbin had only 3 different forms of single-story houses available; Chinese style with Kang and soil room(地室), Korean style with 'Ondol', and Russian style with open floor and Pechka, The promotion at work enabled participants to move to multi-story residences, their moving time varied from 1970 to 1991, and the residential moving determined their current housing status. 3. Multi-story residences were available around 1970s, floor-heating system was introduced from 1990s, and high-rise apartments were built from 1998. Korean Chinese(朝鮮族) weren't satisfied with the spatial composition of individual units embedded into the Chinese culture, especially, entrance, kitchen, bathroom and veranda. 4. Based on assimilation through socialism, adaptation to socialist society and capitalist acculturation, the lifestyles of the interviewees were categorized into five types - capitalist-proactive(Ms. KS), socialist-pragmatic(Ms. J), socialist-inducive(Ms. KY), family centered-conservative(Ms. L), and socialist-adaptive(Ms. P). This study implies that housing-related services for Korean Chinese are necessarily provided so as to embrace their life style and cultural identity in housing design, and further studies need to be explored.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.91-105
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• 2017

Korea is rapidly becoming a multicultural society in recent years, and the number of multicultural families in 2015 exceeds 3.5% and 800,000. Also, as international marriage rate exceeds 10% by 2016, the number of multicultural families is expected to steadily increase. This study is a design of a metadata application profile as part of the foundation for providing learning resources and content tailored to the needs and preferences of married immigrant women and multicultural family members who need to adapt to Korean society. In order to verify the necessity of the research, we conducted an in-depth interview by screening consumer groups, and analyzed the relevant international and Korean national standards as de-jure standards for the design of metadata standard profiles. Then, we analyzed the contents characteristics for multicultural members, and organized the necessary metadata elements into profiles. We defined the mandatory/optional conditions to reflect the needs of content providers. This study is meaningful in that the study analyzes the educational needs of married immigrant women and presents the necessary metadata standards to develop and service effective educational content, such as korean-to-korean conversion system, personalized learning contents recommendation service, and learning management system.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.165-175
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• 2018

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of self-efficacy of married immigrant women on the quality of life and the moderating effect of family support in the effect relation. For this purpose, the study carried out a questionnaire survey to married immigrant women who attended multi-cultural family support centers in order to take language education and job education. Total 279 were selected as valid samples. The specific analysis results of this study are as follows. Firstly, the self-efficacy of married immigrant women has positive (+) effect on the quality of life. Secondly, the informational support in the family support has negative (-) effect on the quality of life, but evaluative and material support have positive (+) effect. In the interaction with self-efficacy, the emotional support has negative (-) effect, but the interaction with evaluative and material support has positive (+) effect. But, the interaction with informational support has no significant effect on the quality of life. The key factor affecting the quality of life on married immigrant women is the Korean family. Therefore, their quality of life can be enhanced as well as stable settlement in Korea if the families of husbands accept married immigrant women as their family members and support them.