• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.201-210
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• 2014

Purpose: To provide an in-depth analysis of the physical changes in and marital experiences of immigrant women in Korea, considering the differences in their cultural backgrounds. Methods: A qualitative research methodology with a phenomenology perspective was used. Data were collected through interviews from four focus groups and through in-depth interviews from five individuals. Data analysis was carried out using Colaizzi's phenomenological analysis method. Results: Twenty-four participants from nine different nations were interviewed. Three phenomenological theme clusters were identified and six sub-themes were derived. These comprise: "emergence of physical changes", "experienced symptom with negative result", and "coping with my body". The derived themes comprise: "struggling for my body to survive", "changed body after pregnancy and delivery", "diagnosed as normal but", "neglected my health", "using familiar care", and "unfamiliar health service system". Conclusion: Immigrant women by marriage in Korea are new subjects of nursing care. Their physical changes and experiences in coping with marriage at an early stage of immigration as described by themselves provide valuable information for nursing professionals. Cultural differences, problems specific to women, and our social conditions regarding minorities and our patriarchal tradition that discriminates against women affect their health problems. We strongly recommend that nurses should actively determine and engage in the health problems of immigrant women.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.8
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• pp.251-263
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• 2013

To explore the device to allow the marriage immigrants' family to take jobs in our country, the social and economic environments that they face are investigated and analyzed through literature survey and field inquiry. The principal motive of the marriage to Korean is economic problem. But their actual economic conditions are inferior, and other legal problems, such as getting jobs and remitting money to their home country, drive them to unstable status. The present hiring policy is applied only to foreign workers with no domestic relations(E-9), hence the marriage immigrants are excluded from the domestic employment. To make institutional devices for giving them the employment opportunity, the modification of the existing laws are proposed. For examples, the 'Act on employment of foreign workers' can be revised to permit immigrant's relatives to get jobs, and 'Immigration control law' can be amended to guarantee legal qualification for taking jobs. It is desirable that the overall control be made by the Prime Minister's Office, and operation as well as surveillance be performed by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MGEF) and the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MEL).

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.729-741
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to examine conflicts between female international marriage migrants(FIMMs) and their family members, and living conditions of FIMMs in Korea. The results will be useful in understanding FIMMs' struggles and will help them to develop their adaptive ability to family life. This study analyzed the factors in three dimensions: a Sociodemographic factor, a marriage-related factor and a factor of the migrants' relationship to their family members. All conflicts result from the lack of mutual understanding between the migrants and their family, and the differences between their languages and between their cultures. Of course, FIMMs can not adequately express their feelings and opinions in Korean language. Their loved ones and relatives can not express their feelings in the immigrants' languages, either. It is evident that there are a lot of misunderstandings caused from their language barrier. The public support for the migrants is limited. They live a lonely life and no consideration. Most of them complains that their husbands have no careful concern for their feelings. That seems because most of the Korean husbands have never had education enough to understand their problems in terms of international marriage. A close watch of what can be learned from conflict and complaints of women. However, any sympathy for foreign women's complaints should be evaluated in cultural sides: especially family life education programs for Korean husbands and their family members are required for a good grasp of typical intermarriage issues.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.8 no.7
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• pp.861-871
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• 2018

This study aims to explore the cultural contact experience of the Vietnamese Marriage Immigrant's between Vietnamese and Korean culture which is based on the traditional holidays. In order to achieve the goal of this study, this study was conducted by case study method and the data collection was conducted through in - depth interviews with 7 Vietnamese marriage immigrant women. The results of the study are as follows. While Vietnamese married immigrant women have become familiar with Korean culture by experiencing Korean culture while experiencing their own culture, they are experiencing a lot of conflicts due to cultural differences between their home country and Korea. However, they were able to confirm their aggressive adaptation in their domestic and social environments through their experience of traditional Korean festivals. Based on these findings, this study proposes the following suggestions for successful immigrant marriage immigration. First, for a harmonious family life in a Vietnamese multicultural families, it is not a one-way education for married immigrant women, but a mutual culture Education should proceed. Second, marriage immigrant women expressed the feeling that they did not feel family bond and communication in the holiday place. Therefore, it is necessary to acquire the function of traditional festival that promotes the bond of community with more specific programs and events related to traditional festivals do.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.613-620
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• 2020

This study aimed to investigate the current state and trends of health literacy research conducted on female marriage immigrant in South Korea over the past 10 years. A total of 107 related studies were searched through the web database, and 10 of them that met the inclusion criteria were finally analyzed. Most of the studies conducted in the healthcare fields such as nursing. Of the 9 studies were descriptive study, and there were no intervention studies. Most of studies involving women from main country of origin such as Vietnam, China, and the Philippines, and many studies conducted convenience sampling of less than 200 subjects from some regions for reasons such as accessibility. As a tool for measuring health literacy, KHLAT was most frequently used. For future research, collaborative research with healthcare fields and other fields through interdisciplinary interaction is necessary, and a circumstance in which field workers actively participate in research should be prepared. In addition, further studies including larger sample and community-based intervention improve health literacy are needed. Finally, efforts to improve the methodological consistency in the application of health literacy tools and to develop standardized instruments are required.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.323-335
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze the current status of nutrition education programs for multicultural families and to provide policy suggestions for improvement. Methods: In-depth interviews of a total of 21 multicultural experts were conducted; 15 people were interviewed individually, while 6 people were interviewed in groups of three. Results: In-depth interviews revealed various problems related to the operation of nutrition education programs. The causes of problems were analyzed and categorized as four factors: systemic, practical, environmental and cultural. As for the systematic factors, insufficient linkage between related organizations and duplicate performance of several projects were identified as concerns Establishment of a control tower and strengthening the linkage among the related organizations may be needed to address this concern. With regard to practical factors, the study identified that language barriers, and lack of nutritional education media and tools translated into multicultural languages were limiting factors. These limitations the development of nutrition education materials that aretranslated into multiple languages, implementation of education programs that are different from the Korean education, and by providing interpreters. As for the environmental factors, low educational level and poor nutritional knowledge of multicultural women made it difficult for them to understand the contents of the education. Demonstration, practical training and urgent education on pregnancy and childbirth nutrition were identified as needs to address these concerns. Withregard to cultural factors, food culture conflict with Korean families, and difficulties in home practices were detected as concerns. Participants in the study suggested that getting education with family and facilitation of weekend and nighttime programs health of this community. Conclusions: Further studies are needed to adopt more effective and efficient nutrition intervention to promote the healthy eating of the married immigrant women based on the study results.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.75
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• pp.43-79
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• 2016

An increase in the number of immigrants to Korea since the late 1980s' has signified the proliferation of globalization and global capitalism. In Korea, most married immigrants are women, as the culture emphasizes patrilineage and the stability of the institution of marriage, particularly in rural areas. Immigrant women have experienced dual ordeals. The Aogra Internet community in Korea has been one of the most representative sites that has shown the power of communities in cyberspace since 2002, leading the discussion of social issues and deliberative democracy both online and offline. This paper analyzed Koreans' writings (such as long comments) on immigrant women in the Agora community. The analysis revealed the following results: first, immigrant women were referred to using terms related to prostitution, with excessive expression of disgust, which is called a "narrative of identity." Second, anti-multiculturalists called Korean men victims of married immigrant women and expressed hatred toward immigrant women, which is called a "narrative of sacrifice." Third, anti-multiculturalists justified their emotions as just resentment based on ideas of justice, equality, and patriotism, concealing the emotion of disgust, which is called the "narrative of justice, equality." Fourth, antimulticulturalists played roles to spread the emotion of disgust, by repeatedly referring to international marriage fraud and immigrant workers' crimes, which is called "narrative of crime." Fifth, some positive writings on immigrant women were based on empathy(a concept defined in this context by Martha Nussbaum), but they can be analyzed as narratives encouraging cultural integration through the perspective of orientalism. Therefore, comments on immigrant women in the Agora represent a "catch-22" dilemma. To deal with conflicts arising from disgust and violations of human rights, civic education focusing on humanism is needed in this multicultural era.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.40-53
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• 2008

A case study has been conducted on the changes in the identity and agency of international marriage migrant women who experienced a shift from a immigrant worker to a foreign spouse and a Korean citizen. The life histories of the eight female migrants living in Gumi area, a representative inland industrial complex in Korea, have been investigated by in-depth interview. The aim is to examine how the female migrants reconstruct and interpret their lives. The results reveal that the identy of a female migrant is flexible depending on her social positionality. The identities established from the past experiences in their native countries have been changed by their situations and conditions in Korea. The female immigrants recognize that their problems have been an important issue both in government policy and mass media. However, the female migrants express a strong revolt against the fact that they are considered as underclass victims or innocent people from underdeveloped countries. This implies their ambivalence toward international marriage that they selected subjectively. There is a finding to show a new possibility; the Transnational Marriage & Family Support Center supported by Government may provide a good ground for the female migrants to be a active group agent. The results illustrate that the international marriage migrant women could not be classified into a single group as wives. Called for are diverse researches reflecting the complex situations of migrant women.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.260-265
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• 2011

The objectives of this study were to develop a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for Vietnamese female immigrants in Korea and to evaluate the validity of the FFQ. A total of 80 food items were selected in developing the FFQ according to consumption frequency, the contribution of energy and other nutrients, and the cooking methods based on one-day 24 hour recall (24HR) from 918 Vietnamese female immigrants between November 2006 and November 2007. The FFQ was validated by comparison with 24HR of 425 Vietnamese female immigrants between November 2008 and August 2009. The absolute nutrient intake calculated from the FFQ was higher than that estimated by 24HR for most nutrients. The correlation coefficients between 24HR and FFQ ranged from 0.10 (vitamin C) - 0.36 (energy) for crude intake, 0.05 (vitamin E) - 0.32 (calcium) for per 1000 kcal, and 0.08 (zinc) - 0.34 (calcium) for energy-adjusted, respectively. More than 70% of subjects were classified into the same or adjacent agreement groups for nutrients other than fiber, sodium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E, while less than 10% of subjects were classified into complete disagreement groups. We conclude that the FFQ appears to be an acceptable tool for estimating nutrient intake and dietary patterns of Vietnamese female immigrants in Korea. Future studies to validate the FFQ using various biomarkers or other dietary assessment methods are needed.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.121-145
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to understand married female immigrants' life adjustment process in Korea by explaining the resources to which they have access and how they use them. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with ten female participants who have more than one child, have participated in programs of the multicultural family support center, have work experience, can communicate with Koreans, and live in Daegu. The major findings are as follows. The participants' personal resources differed. English language skills were very useful resources for making money and for earning the respect of family members and others. However, the participants without English language skills had sincerely and actively tried to learn the Korean language and gain bilingual competence. The participants obtained diverse family resources from their husbands and parents-in-law after adapting themselves to perform their gender role. Further, the participants used the social resources offered by public support systems as a starting point for learning the Korean language in their early adaptation process, and formed personal networks with staff members at the multicultural family support center. The results show that the participants used many kinds of resources for acculturation by interacting positively with their environment. Moreover, the resources from diverse levels of their environments affected their acculturation process.