• Analyses & Alternatives
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.87-121
• /
• 2021

Since 2012, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe'sadministration began to promote women's participation and advancement in the workplace and established the Act on the Promotion of Female Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace (the Act) in 2015. Some criticize this Act as a way to utilize women for economic development and to deal with the shrinking working population. In contrast, others point out that it is a law that can be beneficial for women. As such, this Act serves as an interesting case of a women's policy promoted by a conservative government. This paper's objective is to shed light on if and how women are substantively represented in the Diet members' statements made during the legislative debate of the bill on the Promotion of Female Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace between 2014 and 2015. This paper asks two research questions. First, based on the mixed evaluation of the Act made in the studies about the Abe administration's women's policies, this research asks if the Diet members speak of women as resources to use for other economic and social goals or if women are substantively represented. Second, drawing insights from the literature on women's substantive representation, this research asks how Diet members speak for women. Particularly, based on the studies on conservatism and substantive representation of women, this question seeks to determine if Diet members engage in the conservative representation of women, taking women's roles as mothers and wives who provide care for children, husbands, and elders at home for granted. The results of the analysis demonstrate that the number of statements that explicitly claimed to use women was small. Second, while some Diet members of conservative political parties engaged in the conservative representation of women, there were more instances of non-conservative representation, in which a variety of types of women were represented. These findings reveal that even when the conservative government's intention to submit the bill was to utilize women rather than acting for women, Diet members could speak for various types of women and engage in the non-conservative representation of women. The findings also imply the importance of paying attention to formal and informal legislative deliberation rules to figure out how women's substantive representation can occur under a conservative government and in a legislature dominated by conservative parties.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
• /
• v.53
• /
• pp.129-153
• /
• 2003

This study examines the socio-economic impacts of recent welfare reform in the United States. Based on the neo-conservative critique to the traditional public assistance system for low-income families, the 1996 welfare reform has given greater emphases on reducing welfare dependency and increasing work effort and self-sufficiency among welfare recipients. In particular, the welfare reform legislation instituted 60-month lifetime limits on cash assistance, expanded mandatory work requirements, and placed financial penalties for noncompliance. With the well-timed economic boom in the second half of the 1990s, the welfare reform seems to achieve considerable progress; welfare caseload has declined sharply to reach less than 50% of its 1994 peak, single mothers' labor force participation has increased substantially, and child poverty has decreased. In spite of these good signals, the welfare reform also has several potential problems. Many welfare leavers participate in the labor market, but not all (or most) of them. The economic well being of working welfare leavers did not increased significantly, because earnings increase was canceled out by parallel decrease in welfare benefits. Furthermore, most of working welfare leavers are employed in jobs with poor employment stability and low wages, making them highly vulnerable to frequent layoff, long-time joblessness, persistent poverty, and welfare recidivism. Another serious problem of the welfare reform is that a substantial number of welfare recipients are faced with extreme difficulties in finding jobs, because they have severe barriers to employment. The new welfare system with 5-year time limit can severely threaten the livelihoods of these people. The welfare reform presupposes that welfare recipients can achieve self-reliance by increasing their labor market activities. However, empirical evidences suggest that many people are unable to respond to the new, work-oriented welfare strategy. It may be a very difficult task to achieve both objectives of the welfare reform((1) providing adequate income security for low-income families and (2) promoting self-sufficiency) at the same time, because sometimes they are conflicting each other. With this in mind, a possible solution can be to distinguish welfare recipients into "(Very)-Hard-to-Employ" group and "(Relatively)-Ready-to-Work" group, based on elaborate examinations of a wide range of personal conditions. For the former group, the primary objective of welfare policies should be the first one(providing income security). For the "Ready-to-Work" group, follow-up services to promote job retention and advancement, as well as skill-training and job-search services, are very important. The U. S. experiences of the welfare reform provide some useful implications for newly developing Korean public assistance policies for the able-bodied low-income population.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
• /
• v.19 no.1 s.43
• /
• pp.99-114
• /
• 2007

This study aims at investigating how middle school students perceive the content of the 'Me and My Family Relations' unit in the technology and home economics textbook, act on such perceptions and how this connects with their healthy family relations. In addition, the study also points at inquiring into what kind of differences and mutual influences can be found in the above-mentioned three factors according to family environment. With this objective. this research has analyzed survey data conducted on 401 7th grade middle school students residing in Incheon Greater city, collected by the random sampling method. The findings are as follow: First, the students were found to have positive perceptions on the 'family relations and communication' unit in the technology and home economics text book. However. they were also found to perceive that the content was not as realizable in their everyday family lives. Second, the number of students who perceived their family lives to be healthy was found to be quite high. The students perceived their family lives to be healthy projecting from such aspects as the degree of gratification and affection, extent of family bonding, communication patterns, and problem solving abilities, in the same order. In addition, the higher the families' socio-economic level, and in the cases that the students had working mothers and the fathers held higher degrees, the degree to which the families were perceived to be healthy was higher. Third, in investigating the influence that such factors as the students' family environment, the degree that students perceived the text book content positively, and the degree that the students perceive the content to be realizable have on healthy family relations, among these factors, the students' perceived degree of how healthy their family relations are had the most bearing over the above-mentioned factors. The second influential factor on how healthy family relations are was the family's affectional environment, found to be more influential than such factors as family type, the mother's employment status, living standards, and the parents' educational level. On the other hand, the perceived level of realizability was found to have a lower influence on the students' family relations than the perceived positivity.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.69-76
• /
• 2000

Purpose: The Pathogenesis of primary noctllrnal enuresis(PNE) is still controversial. Genetic factor and maturational delay of micturition reflex including arousal disorder, lack of nocturnal Arginine Vasopressin(AVP) release and functional bladder capacity have been suggested. We analyzed the risk factors of PNE. Methods: Fifty five children with PNE (20 enuretics diagnosed at school physical examination of the first grade students at Mok-Dong Elementary School and 35 enuretics (Age 6-7 year) diagnosed at Ewha Womans University Mok Dong Hospital) and 221 control students without PNE at school physical examination were included. Genetic, stress and developmental factors, arousability, water intake, urine volume, maximun voiding volume and daytime voiding dysfunction were compared. Results: 1) There was no significant difference between PNE and control group in sex ratio, birth order, percentage of working mothers, parental and child personality, age to start walking, school record and duration of sleep. 2) Family history in the PNE group was significantly higher than control group ($20.0\%\;vs\;2.7\%$)(P<0.05). 3) The difficulty in arousal in the PNE group was significantly more common than the control group ($70.9\%\;vs\;54.3\%$)(P<0.05). 4) Nocturnal water intake in the PNE group was significantly greater than the control group ($330{\pm}158.2\;mL\;vs\;235{\pm}129.5\;mL$). Nocturnal urine volume in the PNE group was significantly greater than the control group ( $390{\pm}61.5\;mL\;vs\;140{\pm}43.2\;mL$)(P<0.05). Daily water intake and daily urine volume did not significantly differ between the two groups. 5) Maximum urine volume per void in the PNE group was significantly lower than the control group ($107{\pm}35.9\;mL\;vs\;236{\pm}41.3\;mL$). Daytime voiding dysfunction in the PNE group was significantly more common than the control group ($80.0\%\;vs\;57.9\%$). The voiding frequency in the PNE group was significantly greater than the control group ($7.0{\pm}3.6\;vs\;5.4{\pm}1.6$)(P<0.05). Conclusion: In addition to genetic factors and maturational delay of micturition reflex (difficulty in arousal, nocturnal polyuria and decreased functional bladder capacity) nocturnal polydypsia was found to be the important risk factors fur PNE. So nocturnal fluid restriction should be encouraged as the first-line management of PNE.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.36-53
• /
• 1987

It is utmostly important to establish the efficient fitable way of peoples' active participation in primary health care especially in the areas where the public or governmental service input for the basic health care is insufficient like as in rural areas of Korea. In light of above reason, this study focused mainly on the evaluation of roles and activities of village health workers (VHWs) who were selected from grass- root level of village people in order to derive further motivation for active participation. This is believed to be a sort of feedback mechanisms. Actually, the authors collected the activity reports of VHWs who had been devoting themselves in the primary health care services of Jeomdong Area, of Yeoju Gun one of Korea University Community Health Action Programmes and survey record on the VHWs activity from correspondent people. 1 hose data were analyzed through computer programmed package. The activities performed by VHWs were limited to the performance in 1985 for conveniance. The summarized results were as follows; 1) General characteristics of VHWs. Among a total of 28 VHWs in the area, about 39.3g of them have been replaced up to the date since the implementation in 1983, because of moving out, occupational employment and of others. The age of majority (75.0%) lied between the range of 30-50, and educational background of 67.9% belonged to category of primary school graduation, about 50% of them experienced to be or were also entiled "chief of women club" of corresponding villages. 2) Work-load of VHWs. Each VHW was assigned for tasks of health care for average 55 households of 248 persons. They shared approximately 6 days a month for the activity in average and it covered 17 cases of basic health care in a month. A half of the VHWs performed home visits irregularly without solidified schedule. 3) Work performance analysis. Informations collected through VHWs were compared with data from official vital registration at local administration center "Myon Office" in 1985. VHWs collected 100.8 of new born, 116.2 of death, 58.3 of move in and 74.8 of move out in comparison with 100.0 of official registration each. Pregnant women of 79.8% of mothers among the total pregnancy of 94 which were confirmed as normally delivered or aborted cases by all means afterwards had been detected by VHWs as being pregnant and all of them received some of antenatal cares by VHWs. All(100%) of delivered women were detected by VHWs through home visits and they were cared postnatally. Whereas, according to the records of birth registration, the places of delivery were clinic in 33.7%, and mother's home in 66.3%, VHWs reported them to be clinic in 48.9%, midwifery in 20.2%. It was cleared that most of misinformation was caused by uncautious filling of birth registration at notification. Among the total of 717 eligible women under age 44 years, family planning status of 92.6% was reported by VHWs confirming practice of control to be 70.8% of reported fertile women. 4) Attitude of VHW on the roles and functions. Although 92.0% of VHWs expressed VHWs to be worthwhile, only 52.0% of them had dignity and satisfaction in their activity and 44.0% of them had passive attitude of working saying they followed direction regardlessly. Concerning difficulties in performance as a VHW, 60.7% of them pointed out lacking of medical and health related knowledge by themselves. Still, 64.0% of them thought visiting unfamilier house to be awful and 40.0% complained forms of activity to be difficult and hard. It was also revealed that 56.6% confessed lack of interest on community health service itself. Most of VHWs needed more educational training especially on clinical fields such as cares of gynecological diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic diseaes of the aged. Regular on-the-job basic trainings were said to be needed twice a year.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.97-106
• /
• 1990

1. Background Women's health and their involvement in health care are essential to health for everyone. If they are ignorant, malnourished or over-worked, the health &-their families as well as their own health will suffer. Women's health depends on broad considerations beyond medicine. Among other things, it depends upon their work in farming. their subordination to their families, their accepted roles, and poor hygiene with poorly equipped housing and environmental sanitation. 2. Objectives and Contents a. The health status of rural women : physical and mental complaints, experience of pesticides intoxication, Farmer's syndrome, experiences of reproductive health problems. b. participation in and attitudes towards housework and farming c. accessibility of medical care d. status of maternal health : fertility, family planning practice. induced abortion, and maternal care 3. Research method A nationwide field survey, based on stratified random sampling, was conducted during July, 1986. Revised Cornell Medical index(68 out of 195 items). Kawagai's Farmers Syndrome Scale, and self-developed structured questionnaires were used to rural farming wives(n=2.028). aged between 26-55. 4. Characteristics of the respondents mean age : 40.2 marital status : 90.8% married mean no. of household : 4.9 average years of education : 4.7 yrs. average income of household : \235,000 average years of residence in rural area : 36.4 yrs average Working hours(household and farming) : 11 hrs. 23 min 5. Health Status of rural women a. The average number of physical and mental symptoms were 12.4, 4.7, and the rate of complaints were 22.1%, 38.8% each. revealing complaints of mental symptomes higher than physical ones. b. 65.4% of rural women complained of more than 4 symptoms out of 9, indicating farmer's syndrome. 11.9 % experienced pesticide overdue syndrome c. 57.6% of respondents experienced women-specific health problems. d. Age and education of respondents were the variables which affect on the level of their health 6. Utilization of medical services a. The number of symptoms and complaints of respondents were dependent on the distance to where the health-care service is given b. Drug store was the most commonly utilized due to low price and the distance to reach. while nurse practitioners were well utilized when there were nurse practitioner's office in their villages. c. Rural women were internalized their subordination to husbands and children, revealing they are positive(93%) in health-care demand for-them but negative(30%) for themselves d. 33.0% of respondents were habitual drug users, 4.5% were smokers and 32.3% were alcohol drinkers. and 86.3% experienced induced-abortion. But most of them(77.6%) knew that those had negative effects on health. 7. Maternal Health Care a. Practice rate of contraception was 48.1% : female users were 90.9% in permanent and 89.6% in temporary contraception b. Induced abortions were taken mostly at hospital(86.3%), while health centers(4.7%), midwiferies(4.3%). and others(4.5%) including drug stores were listed a few. The repeated numbers of induced abortion seemed affected on the increasing numbers of symptoms and complaints. c. The first pre-natal check-up during first trimester was 41.8%, safe delivery rate was 15.6%, post-natal check-up during two months after delivery. Rural women had no enough rest after delivery revealing average days of rest from home work and farming 8.3 and 17.2. d. 86.6% practised breast feeding, showing younger and more educated mothers depending on artificial milk 8. Recommendations a. To lessen the multiple role over burden housing and sanitary conditions should be improved, and are needed farming machiner es for women and training on the use of them b. Health education should begin at primary school including health behavior and living environment. c. Women should be encouraged to become policy-makers as well as administrators in the field of women specific health affairs. d. Women's health indicators should be developed and women's health surveillance system too.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
• /
• no.8
• /
• pp.33-58
• /
• 2009

This paper examines four genre paintings on the subject of child education by Jean-Baptiste-Sim${\'{e}}$on Chardin(1699-1779). The Governess, The Diligent Mother, Saying Grace, and The Morning Toilette garnered critical attention after they were exhibited in the Salon from 1739 to 1741. After the exhibition, the paintings were made into prints and frequently sold to members of the bourgeois class in Paris. The iconographical details of Chardin's genre paintings have, thus far, been compared to Dutch genre pictures of the seventeenth century. Further, most studies conducted on Chardin's paintings focus on formal analysis rather than the historical and social contexts. Through attempting social-contextual readings of Chardin's educational series, this paper argues that the significance of Chardin's painting series of child education lies in his representation of the ideal French bourgeois family and the standard of early childhood education in the eighteenth-century French Enlightenment period. In each of the four child education paintings, Chardin depicted a mother with children in a domestic space. Even though this theme derives from traditional Dutch genre paintings in the seventeenth century, the visual motifs, the pictorial atmosphere and the painting techniques of Chardin all project the social culture of eighteenth century France. Each painting in the child education series exemplifies respectively the attire of a French gentlemen, the social view on womanhood and the education of girls, newly established table manners, and the dressing up culture in a 'toilette' in eighteenth century France. Distinct from other educational scenes in previous genre paintings, Chardin accentuated the naive and innocent characteristics of a child and exemplified the mother's warmth toward that child in her tender facial expressions and gesturing. These kinds of expressions illustrate the newly structured standard of education in the French Enlightenment period. Whereas medieval people viewed children as immature and useless, people in the eighteenth century began to recognize children for their more positive features. They compared children to a blank piece of paper (tabula rasa), which signified children's innocence, and suggested that children possess neither good nor bad virtues. This positive perspective on children slowly transformed the pedagogical methods. Teaching manuals instructed governesses and mothers to respect each child's personality rather than be strict and harsh to them. Children were also allotted more playtimes, which explains the display of various toys in the backgrounds of Chardin's series of four paintings. Concurrently, the interior, where this exemplary education was executed, alludes to the virtue of the bourgeois's moderate and thrifty daily life in eighteenth century France. While other contemporary painters preferred to depict the extravagant living space of a French bourgeoisie, Chardin portrayed a rather modest and cozy home interior. In contrast to the highly decorated living space of aristocrats, he presented the realistic, humble domestic space of a bourgeois, filled with modern household objects. In addition, the mother is exceptionally clad in working clothes instead of fashionable dresses of the moment. Fit to take care of household affairs and children, the mother represents the ideal virtues of a bourgeois family. It can be concluded that the four genre paintings of child education by Chardin articulate the new standards of juvenile education in eighteenth century France as well as the highly recognized social virtues between French bourgeois families. Thus, Chardin's series of child education would have functioned as a demonstration of the ideal living standards of the bourgeois class and their emphasis on early childhood education in the French Enlightenment period.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.103-129
• /
• 2004

This article examines the Korean adolescents and adults' social representation and trust of Korean society and people using indigenous psychological analysis. Respondents were asked to write in an open-ended questionnaire their perception of the following five aspects: Korean politics, economy, society, culture and people. They were then asked to report why they trust or distrust Korean society. A total of 1,064 respondents (218 middle school students, 200 university students, 218 fathers of the middle school students, 218 mothers of the middle school students, and 210 teachers) completed a questionnaire developed by the present researchers. The data were collected during April to June, 2003. The results indicate that 94.5% of Koreans view the existing political system and politicians as being corrupt, inept, factional, and lacking in integrity. A vast majority (84.9%) recognize the existence of systemic problems in the Korean economy. A total of 78.2% see problems in Korean society being dominated by selfishness, factionalism, conservatism, and social uncertainty. For Korean culture, a majority of respondents report being proud of its cultural tradition, accomplishment, and creativity. At the same time, 45.7% report loss of cultural identity and pride due to external influences. More than half of the respondents report negative aspects of Korean people (i.e., selfish, lack of morality, rushed, and overly focused on their social image), while nearly half of the respondents report positive aspects of Korean people as being compassionate, cooperative, good-natured and hard-working. As for reason for trusting Korean society, around a third report "because it is our country," followed by its future potential, and the good-nature and willingness of Korean people to work hard. The reasons for distrusting Korean society is the dishonesty politicians, corruption, institutional ineptness, and economic uncertainty. These results indicate a low level of collective efficacy in influencing and affecting change in Korean society.