• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.54
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• pp.149-176
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to examine the degree of community integration of visually impaired people who have the limitation of mobility in comparison with another disabled and to find factors affecting community integration. The data were obtained through telephone interview with visually impaired people. The final sample was consisted of 1,004 respondents. The data were analyzed using statistical techniques such as crosstabulation, t-test, and hierarchical regression. In this study, the factors affecting community integration was divided into four dimensions : the attribution to disability, physical functioning, psychology and social support system. The major findings of this study were as follows: First, the factors affecting community integration of visually impaired people were age, education, economic status, social support, information support and participation of rehabilitation service. Second, the factors affecting community integration of the low vision and the blind are the limitation of daily activities and social support. But the factors affecting community integration of the blind are participation of education for braille and that of the low vision are information support and participation of rehabilitation service. Finally, the person losing eyesight since school age were the more limitation of daily activities than the person losing eyesight in babyhood. The factors affect community integration of the former are social support, information support, participation of education for braille, and rehabilitation service. The current findings suggest that intervention and policy aimed at improving social support system and formal services such as education, rehabilitation services should be considered by rehabilitation professionals and policy makers.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.189-224
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• 2010

Nowadays Korean society has a fast growing population of North Korean immigrant youth. Especially, North Korean immigrant youth, who are discontinuing formal education, experience difficulties in social exclusion and adaptation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of adaptation and social support of North Korean immigrant youth discontinuing formal education, and to seek affirmative supporting plans and solutions for their adaptation. The methodology utilized for this study was a case study research. On the basis of the results and categorization, 'a network between overall categories and of early adaptation' was derived. The major findings of this study are summarized as follows. First, the participants of this study experienced major difficulties during 'economical adaptation', and their economical adaptation was strongly interrelated with their 'educational adaptation'. The discontinuing of their education resulting from their fleeing period caused 'academic differential and age disparity.' Thus they could not enroll in the formal education system, and their insufficient educational background resulted in low wages and overwork due to manual labor jobs. Second, participants recognized 'interpersonal relations' as the most essential factor in adaptation, and 'social support' from the interpersonal relations played an important role in adaptation to and comfort in Korean society. 'Interactions with South Koreans' was recognized as a significant resource for gaining informational and appraisal support, but was not activated satisfactorily. On the other hand, interaction with North Korean immigrants was avoided by the reason that 'there's nothing to learn', however emotional support from North Korean immigrants of close relationship played an important role in participants' adaptation, especially in all aspects of psychological adaptation. Third, participants experienced a lot of difficulties and stresses in their 'physical health and psychological adaptation'. Their chronic diseases worsened by remaining untreated, and female perceived symptoms were observed more often than in male. Meanwhile, excessive 'stresses' from the unfamiliar environment of South Korea negatively affected their psychological adaptation. However, they were satisfied with sense of liberty and security from living in a democratic society.

• 한국노년학
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.377-394
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• 2009

Using the Socio-cultural Stress and Coping model, this study proposed a path model to explore how cultural values affect the physical health of Korean American caregivers through caregiver burden, receipt of informal social support and utilization of formal care services. For physical health outcomes, three physical health indicators were employed: self-reported global physical health, self-reported blood pressure, and salivary cortisol. The path model was analyzed by using a sample of 87 Korean caregivers living in Los Angeles County and Orange County, California, USA. The major findings of this study included the following: 1) Stronger belief in cultural values was associated with more frequent utilization of formal care services, leading to lower levels of systolic boold pressure; 2) Cultural values did not affect the physical health of Korean American caregivers through caregiver burden. The demonstration of positive effects of cultural values on the physical health of Korean America caregivers through social support utilization call attention to the need of further research on the understudied group providing family care to frail older family members.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.97-129
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• 2013

This study aims to investigate causes of the emergence of so-called 'family-care workers' in the Long-term Care Insurance system in Korea. The LTCI system introduced in 2008 financially support the utilization of formal care services for the eligible elderly with care needs by paying for services of their care workers. Interestingly, 38.4 percent of payments for the in-home services were claimed by family members registered as qualified long-term care workers in 2012. We interviewed ten family care workers in depth and analyzed the needs of the aged and their families to explain the emergence of family care workers. The emergence of family-care workers is an inevitable result of choice by family members who face a dual burden of living and caring; be the additional choice following discharge the duty to support the elderly; be the alternative choice to fulfill unaccepted needs for services. These results suggest the needs for a comprehensive public provision of both income and social service support for the aged and an introduction of financial support for family care complementing the formal care support in the LTCI in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.117-196
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• 2000

The purpose of the study was to provide ground information to develop social adjustment programs for North Korean residents who might migrate into South Korea when free transmigration is allowed in the process of reunification. For this purpose, two research methods were employed. First, depth interviews for 10 North Korean defectors were used to find out their social adjustment realities and problems. In addition, empirical survey research was carried out with 397 subjects to identify South Koreans'altitude toward North Korean defectors and the willingness to support them financially and emotionally. North Korean defectors's social adjustment problems were approached based on lifestyle. The depth interviews revealed that difficulties the defectors had experienced at first were mainly in the aspect of consumption caused by lack of understanding about capitalism. However, they could overcome difficulties and assimilate their ways of living to those of South Koreans soon. Other adjustment problems in family living and child rearing especially related with values had more complicated issues. Results of the empirical survey showed that South Koreans' level of interest in defecters was moderate but they thought them rather positively, sympathetically. Concerning supports, South Koreans were agreeing with governmental support more with emotional support than financial support by individuals. In conclusion, present formal education programs provided to defectors were not effective enough for them to team South Korean living culture. To learn by living with interactions with South Koreans was one of the best policies to help defectors' adaptation. Findings that South Koreans were willing to help them emotionally matched and balanced with defectors' needs.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.93-109
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• 1984

The purpose of this study is to investigate the direction and strategy of education for sex role concepts of children on the basis of factor analysis of the present situation in sex role concepts and their formation. Although some maintain that sex role concept of our society has been changing slowly, the traditional sex role concept still dominates and is potentially immanent. the analysis of present condition of our society indicates that the formal as well as informal education are facing with various crucial problems in providing the direction of behavior demanded for carrying out the role. The close analysis of the three theories, psychoanalytic theory , social learning theory, cognitive development theory, lends a support to the laim of the study that cognitive development theory provide an integrated frame of reference for us to see the sex role education analytically Furthermore, the factors which are found to have influences on the formation of sex role have been analyzed in three areas: Family, School and society. 1)The factors in family such as parental behavior of upbringing and their concepts of sex role have a direct relationship with the nature of sex tole concept of children. Therefore, the first step to make children to habe a new type of sex-role conception appropriate for modern societies is to change that of parental conception and attitudes. 2)the quantitative as well as the qualitative aspects of school education showed no exceptional trend from the dominant conception of the society, although school are expected to lead the society as formal education institution rather than just reflect the society. The educational activities and contents such as the conceived goal of education for eoch sex, textbook constitation, teaching behavior and sex-role concepts of teacher are found to be still dominated by the traditional sex-role assumption. 3) The social factors that have direct relationship with children's sex-role formation are social and cultural, which include social milieu, condition of employment, family structure and mass-media. Since family and school do not educate the young in a social vacuum. their educational function of sex-role formation are doomed to be limited and determined by these social factors. Unfortunately, the analysis of present conditions showed the dominance of traditional types of sex-role concepts in all these social factors. The education of sex-role concept for children should be treated as one of the most crucial value problems related with many other important problems, such as direction and patterns of behaviors of each sex, the degree of self-development and capabilities, and consequently human right, equality, humanization and the quality of happiness. Neverthless, the analysis of researches on sex-role education which have been surveyed in this study lead to a conclusion that concerted effort to change the education, formal as well as informal should be provided in every aspect of social life. If the sex role education of the past has aimed at the "feminization"of girls which indoctrinate girls into a limited and fixed role of house wives, the new education in the future should be directed foward "humanization" of both sexes which opens the diversity of roles for both boys and girl on equal levels and provide future possibilities in accordance to their individual capabilities and interests.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.213-233
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• 2012

This descriptive study about a community center for elderly users identifies factors influencing economic dependency. The objective of this study is to find factors that contribute to increased economic dependency and to provide basic data for preventing conflict between caregivers and elderly dependents. The subjects are 204 elderly persons who are community-center users in SongPa-Gu. Thirteen dongs (administrative areas) were chosen randomly in a cluster sample from among 26 dongs in Soungpagu containing a total of 158 community centers for the elderly. I obtained informed consents for my research from all subjects, and collected data by conducting interviews from June 28th, 2011 to August 7th, 2011. The data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Duncan test and multi regression analysis. The mean economic dependency score was 3.23, meaning that subjects with this score are dependent at a level that is "over intermediate". The level of formal education, homeownership, financial assistance from family and the number of families, financial assistance to the family and the number of families, economic life satisfaction, self efficacy and social support.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.111-122
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• 2004

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify health problems and support received from the health and welfare service using MDS-HC(Minimun Data Set for Home Care) in the aged living at home. Method: Eighty-one elderly persons were selected from those listed in community-welfare service centers in Seoul and Kyunggi Province between December 2002 and January 2003. Result: Eleven health problems per elderly person on average were identified, and the frequent care needs were in order: preventive health measure, health promotion, visual function, depression & anxiety, communication disorders, social function, pain, environmental assessment, oral health, cognition and falls. The number of health problems by the level of ADL was ‘ADL 1(Independence)’ 9.87, ‘ADL 2(Partial independence)’ 12.78, ‘ADL 3(Dependence)’ 13.73. Utilization of formal health & welfare services among the elderly was ‘meals on wheels’ 40.7%, ‘home helper’ 38.2%, ‘visiting of social welfare worker’ 21.0%, ‘physical therapy’ 19.6%, ‘day care center’ 12.3%, ‘volunteer's service’ 9.9%, ‘home visiting care’ 3.7%, ‘occupational therapy’ 3.7%, and ‘speech therapy’ 2.5%. Conclusion: The results suggest that using the MDS-HC 2.0 is applicable to help decide criteria for both health and welfare service supplied to the elderly.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.568-582
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• 2011

This study aims to discover the characteristics of Sino-South Korean cross-border small-scale trade, which involves various players. Through this characteristics, this study ultimately intends to identify an operational mechanism of Sino-South Korean cross-border small-scale trade by investigating social capital as mobilized by small-scale traders. The results of this study can be expected to help understand how small-scale merchants address the uncertainty or risks surrounding their trade. Although it is an informal economic activity, the cross-border small-scale trade between South Korea and China is related to issues of the formal economy, such as job creation, benefits for local economies, and profit-seeking. Owing to this characteristics, small-scale trade is being conducted with the connivance of, or even with the tacit support from formal organizations, including municipal governments, customs, corporations, and shipping companies. Like trade in other countries, Sino-South Korean cross-border small-scale trade also requires different types of social capital, such as family networks, ethnic networks, social networks, and trust.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.35-59
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• 2009

This paper presents a formal model of social policy development. The model shows that the development of social policy depends both on the social policy preferences of voters and on the political institution which mediates the preferences of voters. In the direct democracy, median voter's social policy preference is critical because he is Condorcet winner in a pairwise vote. But in the representative democracy, political parties design social policy to win the support of a majority of voters. Hence, the political institution like electoral rule may affect social policy outcome. The model presented in this paper contrasts 3 alternative constitutional features and investigates how they affect social policy outcome. In result, this papers emphasizes that policy preferences of voters and political institution may be key variables to explain social policy development and divergence among welfare regimes.