• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.1103-1122
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• 2009

In this essay, I compare the ways in which the mid-thirteenth century English romance, Floris and Blancheflour, represents relationships of the Spanish pagan queen to her adoptive Christian daughter who becomes her daughter-in-law, with the ways in which Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale and other so-called Constance romances delineate relationships between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. What draws me into these romances is the fact that they both convey the intergenerational relationships of women. However, the texts become distinct from each other in the way in which each depicts women characters and their relationships with one another. In this paper, I argue that the level of intimacy that the mother-in-law figure has with the daughter-in-law figure plays a defining role in making the former perform her agency for or against the latter. In the Man of Law's Tale and other Constance romances, the daughter-in-law figure is in every sense an alien or 'outsider' to the mother-in-law figure. To the contrary, Blancheflour in Floris is a sort of 'insider' to the queen because they lived in the same household for fourteen years-ever since the girl's birth. The queen, therefore, should have a high degree of intimacy with Blancheflour. I argue that the pagan queen's intimacy to the daughter of a Christian-European captive has enabled the queen to protect the girl as her adoptive daughter first and as a daughter-in-law second, namely contributing to her unreserved endorsement of the inter-racial-religious-class union between her only son, Floris, and Blancheflour. This is one major factor that distinguishes the relationship of the queen and Blancheflour in Floris from the dysfunctional relationships of mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law in the late medieval Constance romances, where women of different generations are strangers to each other, and no way is imagined for women of different races and religions to get along with each other.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.55-71
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• 2008

Many studies on the relationships between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law tended to regard the relationship as a conflicting one. This study, unlike the previous ones, aimed to explore the relationship as it is and to describe the experience of the real relationship. Another aim of this study, on the basis of the results, was to provide the basic data for social services to develop and maintain the positive relationships between mothers and daughters-in-law. To achieve these aims, the central question of the study was, "What are the daughters-in-law's experiences with their mothers-in-law like?" The participants for the study consisted of 12 daughters-in-law who volunteered to be interviewed. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed according to the grounded theory presented by Strauss and Corbin. As a result, 154 concepts and 42 sub-categories were induced, and finally 18 categories were induced in the course of classifying and integrating these sub-categories. This study discovered that the relationship might be both positive and negative, and that it might even be possible to change from one to the other. The results of the study showed that many factors influenced the quality of the relationship, and that the husband's role was one of the most important factors. Using this study's results as guidance, general programs designed to cultivate more positive relationships between mothers and daughters-in-law can be created and implemented; additionally programs that help the husbands understand the complex relationship and roles can be devised.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.1233-1243
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• 1999

This study was done to investigate the lives of the daughters- in- law caring for parents with dementia and participate in their lives through having quality time with them Data were collected by depth interviews and interpreted through the hermeneutic circle as follows. These daughters-in-law have conflict between social custom and subjective self. They had ambivalence toward their demented partents-in- law and were fighting a battle between rationality and emotions in their mind. These daughters-in law and mothers-in- law did not get along and the parents' dementia aggravated the relationships. They were alienated from their family by the parents with dementia. The indifference of their family especially their husbands, made these subjects live in misery. They cared for the demented mother-in-law with hatred. Even though they had this yoke, there daughters- in-law were not able to throw off the shackles of convention.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.355-369
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• 2014

The in-law relationship traditionally plays a major role in Korean marriages and families because parents-in-law prefer to stay with their son under the same roof. The recent spike in the number of intercultural matches in South Korea may be provoking changes in the traditional family experience. The object of this qualitative study was to explore the contextual factors causing conflicts between mothers-in-law and their daughters-in-law in multicultural families. Six mother and daughter in-law dyads from rural areas of South Korea were recruited and interviewed. We found that the mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law had had different motives for the marriage at first. Five major themes emerged from the analysis of the dyadic interviews: the conflicts of the participants were embedded in the alternative family formation, in financial strains and the power structure, barriers in communication, cultural insensitivity and conflicts between value systems, as well as in role conflicts due to differing role expectations and hegemony. In conclusion, the authors of this study suggest that increasing cultural sensitivity and communication skills in immigrant daughter-in-law an Korean mother-in-law relationships will be crucial for a healthy in-law relationship. The need for the availability of Multicultural Family Centers' services in the community was highlighted. In order for mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law to form positive relationships, it is important to facilitate a variety of easily accessible educational programs in the community focusing on fostering the mother-in-law's understanding of the daughter-in-law's perspective.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.1-24
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of grandmothers who provide child care services to their grandchildren and employed mothers who utilize child care by grandmothers, with regards to their relationships while exchanging the specific type of intergenerational support. The data for this study came from 42 in-depth, individual interviews with 21 pairs of employed mothers who had at least one child younger than elementary-school age and their mothers or mothers-in-law who had provided child care on a daily basis for their grandchildren. Our phenomenological analysis revealed that the grandmothers felt uncomfortable and overwhelmed when caring for their grandchildren and that they considered this activity to be different from caring for their own children by nature. However, the grandmothers wanted to help their adult children based on their feeling of "boo-mo-ma-eum" (meaning parental heart, i.e., love or care). The employed mothers perceived that they were substantially dependent on the grandmothers by receiving help with child care and housework. Reliance on grandmothers was inevitable and beneficial to these mothers. Dynamic intergenerational living arrangements enabled the dependent relationships. The grandmothers set specific boundaries pertaining to current and future child care so that they would not take on too much responsibility for child care. The mothers used various strategies that contributed to stable child care support from the grandmothers. Providing financial remuneration was an important strategy that had symbolic relational meanings, such as expressing gratitude, rather than financial meanings.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.359-372
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• 1997

The purpose of this study was to identify the extent and the type of elder abuse and to examine the overall influence of abuse on abused. A sample of 117 mothers-in-law who lived together their daughters-in-law was used and 7 mothers-in-law among them were interviewed in depth. The major findings were as follows ; 1) the type of elder abuse between dyad which mother-in-law experienced was psychological abuse, verbal aggression and physical abuse. 2) Pychological abuse was the abuse which all elderly women experienced and verbal aggressin was the abuse which most elderly women experienced, but physical abuse was te special event which a few elderly women experienced. 3) The influence of abuse on abused and the extent of elder abuse varied with the type of their experience.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.129-160
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• 1988

The purpose of the present study is to understand the change in the relation between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law according to the social change in comparison with the survey effects in 1974 (ko Jung-Ja) and 1985 to find out the cause of conflict in both side of power structure and affection structure, indicating behavior, the influences on the relationships among family, possible meditators. this thesis was made by an experimental research. Data were collected from 146 mothers-in-law and 141 daughters-in-law in Pusan. The collected data were analysed by statistical methods such is as follows, 1. cause of conflict In power structure the cause of conflict is, in the case of mother-in-law opinion opposion and shaughty attitude by daughter in-low and, in the case of daughter-in-law, domestic dominance. It is thought that there is a difference of viw\ew between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law about the possesion of economic dominance and many conflicts rises because of economic dominance. but the study in 1985 than 1974 suggests the possibility of conflict meditator because mother-in-law and daughter-in-law do homework dependently in the practice of power. In affection structure, the chief dissatisfaction toward daughter-in-law showes the change in time. In 1974, there was no affection and respect. In 1985, the rate of doing without consultation was high. Also, the lack of communication of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is the cause of conflict. 2. Indicating behavior the rate of thinking alone if high in both sides. But in the survey of 1985, the covert verbal aggressive action with which mother-in-law appeals to her daughter and daughter-in-law to husband is rising. 3. Influence on the relationship among family by the conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. the conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law play negative effects on the intimacy and relation between husband and wife. 4. Conflict mediation behavior As compremiser, it is suggested that in the case of daughter-in-law the position and role of husband is important and, in the case of mother-in-law respects mother-in-law, daughter-in-law and gives her the role.