Behind the Myth of the Matriarch and the Flagbearer: How Korean and Chinese American Sons and Daughters Negotiate Gender,Family, and Emotions

While more studies are exploring the ways in which gender structures the family experiences of American‐born children of immigrants, there is less attention to how gender shapes later views on ethnicity and culture. Based on interviews with Korean, Chinese, and Taiwanese Americans in the New York–New Jersey metropolitan area, this article examines the different ways second‐generation children learn, interpret, and pass on the cultural values and family traditions in their adulthood. Because their family roles center on their roles as leaders and carriers of the family name through male heirs, sons—especially oldest sons—can fulfill their filial obligations through relatively orthodox and nonengaging cultural practices that although restrictive, do not threaten their personal goals and privileged status. However, daughters must negotiate more emotionally burdensome expectations and responsibilities by preserving family honor, acting as family caretakers, and juggling multiple responsibilities; thus, they tend to re‐create more subtle, self‐empowering, and emotionally engaging ways of interpreting and preserving their parents’ expectations on family culture. I argue that the gendered ways daughters and sons are taught to practice cultural values and protect family honor has significant bearing on their later views on ethnicity and culture but in complex ways that transcend the generational divide.     

Housing the Elderly:

This paper explores the intergenerational housing option as a viable and frequently necessary housing option for elderly invidividuals. The advantages and disadvantages are presented both for the elderly individual as well as the affected family members; along with cultural and religious affiliations that influence filial intergenerational housing responsibilities. The following topics are also discussed: federal and local support systems, housing style options and future research recommendations for intergenerational housing.     

Family support for the elderly in Korea: continuity, change, future directions, and cross-cultural concerns.

This article discusses major issues and concerns regarding family support for parents and elderly people in industrialized and urbanized Korea. It summarizes new trends in family support for elderly members, continuing influences of the traditional value of family support (filial piety), growing needs for public services for elderly people and their families, urgent calls for the state to assume greater responsibilities for providing social security and services for the elderly, needs for cross-cultural studies of family support, and certain cultural similarities and differences to be considered. The article concludes with some suggestions for future research.     

Family Support for the Elderly in Korea

Abstract

This article discusses major issues and concerns regarding family support for parents and elderly people in industrialized and urbanized Korea. It summarizes new trends in family support for elderly members, continuing influences of the traditional value of family support (filial piety), growing needs for public services for elderly people and their families, urgent calls for the state to assume greater responsibilities for providing social security and services for the elderly, needs for cross-cultural studies of family support, and certain cultural similarities and differences to be considered. The article concludes with some suggestions for future research.     

More than ‘information provider’ and ‘counselor’: Constructing and negotiating roles and identities of nurses in genetic counseling sessions

This paper contributes to research on genetic counseling by exploring the complexity of this activity from the angle of identity construction. We argue that an analysis of the processes through which healthcare providers construct and negotiate their roles and identities in these encounters may contribute to a better understanding of the complexities of genetic counseling. Drawing on more than 150 video‐recorded genetic counseling encounters between nurses and clients in Hong Kong, we illustrate that the discursive processes involved in the construction of the nurses' identities are complex, overlapping and at times contradictory as the nurses respond to the (sometimes) competing norms and expectations of their institution, their clients and their own. They manage to solve these tensions by drawing on the roles traditionally assigned to nurses in these encounters such as information provider and counselor, as well as creating the new roles of co‐decision maker and cultural broker/mediator.     

Generational Differences in Orientations to Coresidence in Chongju,South Korea

This study examines generational differences by assessing the advantages and disadvantages of intergenerational coresidence in Chongju, South Korea. In the past, it was traditional for the elderly to live with the eldest son. Rapid industrialization and urbanization have contributed to changing gender roles and living arrangements, and new values promote daughters sharing filial responsibilities with their brothers. To explore the perceived benefits and costs of coresidence, 50 intergenerational households were studied. Interviews about attitudes toward living in an extended family arrangement were conducted among the mothers and daughters-in-law in the 50 intergenerational households. Two separate regressions, one analyzing mothers and one analyzing daughters-in-law, were performed. The older generation reported more benefits and fewer costs than the younger generation, although the regression analyses for mothers' satisfaction was not statistically significant. The results are interested in the context of exchange theory. The results have implication for social welfare and housing policy in South Korea.     

Students’ views on thesis supervision in international master’s degree programmes in Finnish universities

This paper employs an intercultural perspective to examine students’ views on master’s thesis supervision and the roles and responsibilities of supervisors and students. The 302 respondents who answered the online questionnaire were enrolled in international master’s degree programmes in four Finnish universities. The study revealed asymmetric views by students regarding the division of responsibilities between themselves and their supervisors. It was found that very few students and supervisors discuss the differences in study cultures between Finland and students’ countries of origin, their cultural backgrounds or the aspects of Finnish society that students do not understand. The research suggests that supervisors and students need to conduct early discussions on supervision and culture.     

Race differences in the effects of multiple roles on health: longitudinal evidence from a national sample of older men.

This paper examines race differences in the effects of social roles on physical health. Using data from the older men cohort of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience, we examine the impact of employment, marriage, and being a supporter on health limitations and mortality. Employment has the most consistent health-protective effect, and the benefits of employment are more pronounced for Blacks than for Whites. Marriage affects health in conjunction with employment. These findings lend further support to the growing literature on the effects of roles on health. The results further illustrate the importance of ascribed statuses as structural determinants of the relationship between roles and health, highlighting the very real differences in the meanings and expectations of social roles for Blacks and Whites.     

Intergenerational Relations: The Views of Older Jews and Arabs

The aim of the current qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of older Jews and Arabs on intergenerational family relations. Interviews were conducted with 20 men and women, 10 in each group, ages 65 and older. Five themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews: family is the major component of meaning of life; two dimensions of intergenerational relations: solidarity and ambivalence; intergenerational communication; filial expectations; and home and family as sources of honor and respect. Similarities and differences between the two groups were identified and explained, using modernization theory and cultural context.     

Demands and Devotion: Cultural Meanings of Work and Overload Among Women Researchers and Professionals in Science and Technology Industries

How do cultural meanings influence how people experience work‐life demands? Much research, especially quantitative research, on the effects of structural work and family conditions does not account for employees’ cultural beliefs about the meaning of work in their lives. This article uses unique survey data to investigate the effects of employee embrace of elements of the “work devotion schema”—a cultural model that valorizes intense career commitment and organizational dedication—on their sense of “overload,” an experience that includes feeling exhausted and overloaded by all one's roles, net of actual hours on the paid job and family responsibilities. We argue that by cognitively, morally, and emotionally framing work as a valued end, the work devotion schema reduces feelings of overload. Using a case of senior women researchers and professional service providers in science and technology industries, we find that those who embrace work devotion feel less overloaded than those who reject it, net of work and family conditions. However, this effect is curtailed for mothers of young and school‐aged children. We end by discussing implications for flexibility stigma and gender inequality.     

Parental financial support and filial responsibility in emerging adulthood: a comparative study between the United States and South Korea

Why do parents provide considerable financial support to their children in college? How do college students feel about their parental financial support and how does it differ between American and Korean cultural contexts? Based on multiple group analysis, we tested the impact of family income and parents’ education on parental tuition and living expenses supports, which in turn affects college students’ perception of filial responsibility across the United States and South Korea. Participants included 179 American college (AC) students from Syracuse University and 268 Korean college (KC) students from Yonsei University Wonju. We found that family income was significantly related to an increase in parental tuition and living expenses supports for both AC and KC students. However, parents’ education was significantly related to an increase in parental tuition and living expenses supports for AC students, but not for KC students. In addition, parental tuition support was related to an increase for filial responsibility, and parental living expenses were related to a decrease in filial responsibility in KC students, but not for AC students. These results indicate that the association between parental financial support and college students’ perception of filial responsibility differs across American and Korean cultural contexts.     

Recommendations for Improving Cultural Competency When Working with Ethnic Minority Families in Child Protection Systems in Australia

Australia’s research and knowledge base on cultural competency has been slow to develop. To help address this gap, the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) funded a large scale study in this area, which included a detailed literature review. The paper reports on key findings from that review including that collectivist values are at odds with ‘child-centred’ philosophies of child protection; there is an inherent tension between the right to equal protection from harm and the right for respect in cultural differences in parenting and family functioning (‘cultural absolutism’ versus ‘cultural relativism’); there are factors that uniquely characterise ‘the migrant context’ (especially lack of awareness of child protection laws and systems, economic disadvantage, and fear of authority); and that cultural competency is separable from cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity, and also different from addressing language barriers. However, in reviewing the literature it became apparent that the specific roles and responsibilities of workers, agencies, and systems were not clearly delineated. Thus this paper also aimed to address this unmet need. Identifying their unique roles and responsibilities can help ensure that the delivery of child protection services are efficiently and effectively mobilised from both the ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ to benefit all ethnic minority families. Moreover, any implementation of cultural competency needs to move beyond the emphasis on culture and acknowledge the dimensions of inferiority and oppression to truly promote value for diversity and protect ethnic minority children from the dangers of systematic disadvantage that institutional racism represents.     

Intergenerational Support and the Emotional Well‐being of Older Jews and Arabs in Israel

This investigation examined the cultural context of intergenerational support among older Jewish and Arab parents living in Israel. The authors hypothesized that support from adult children would be more positively consequential for the psychological well‐being of Arab parents than of Jewish parents. The data derived from 375 adults age 65 and older living in Israel. Psychological well‐being was measured with positive and negative affect subscales of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Overall, positive affect was highest when filial expectations for support were congruent with whether or not instrumental support was received. Findings by cultural background revealed that, among older Jews, receiving instrumental support raised positive affect and stronger filial expectations lowered it. Among older Arabs, receiving financial support raised positive affect and receiving instrumental support lowered it. Culture appears to serve as a potent force in determining which types of intergenerational support functions are expected and accepted means of serving the everyday needs of older parents.     

Responsibilities and roles of boards in nonprofit organizations: The Israeli case

In this study, nine roles and responsibilities of boards of directors in nonprofit organizations in Israel are examined and perceptions of these roles and responsibilities by chairpersons of the boards and the executive directors are compared. Four groupings of board roles were found: senior human resource management, maintenance of relationships with the task environment, policymaking, and fiscal management and fundraising. The findings show that in most organizations boards fulfill all these roles and play a significant role in decision making. A significant consensus exists between chairpersons and executive directors in respect to most of the boards' roles, whereas significant differences in perceptions were found in respect to financial matters and maintenance of relationships with the task environment.     

Correlated factors with filial piety expectations of older Koreans and Korean-Americans

ABSTRACT

Changing filial piety expectations have been examined from the viewpoint of younger generations. However, research on older adults’ perspective of this cultural phenomenon is virtually absent from the empirical literature. In an effort to address the changing family life circumstances of Korean and Korean-American families, this study explores older adults’ filial expectations from their own children and correlated factors associated with the expectation. The cross-sectional survey study with 449 older adults found that the majority of respondents still believe that adult children should assume responsibility for the care of their parents. Several factors such as age, education, income, living arrangements, self-rated health, year of immigration, and social support were significantly correlated with filial expectations among older Korean-Americans. Only satisfaction with social support received from family and friends was significantly related to older Koreans’ expectations. Implications for social work practice are discussed and further research directions are suggested.     

The Delay of Grandparenthood: A Cohort Comparison in East and West Germany

This research explored the delay of grandparenthood in East and West Germany, investigating how the timing and life‐course context of this transition have changed across cohorts. The authors estimated the timing of passages into the grandparent role as well as demographic overlap with worker, parent, and filial roles. Data from the German Aging Survey (N = 3,628) revealed a rise of 3 months per birth cohort (1929–1958) in the median age at grandparenthood. As a result, the grandparent role decoupled almost entirely from active parenthood. Overlap with worker and filial roles was frequent and remained stable across cohorts. The findings direct attention to a neglected demographic trend that is striking in scope and precipitates change not only in the grandparent role but also in kinship structure.     

Gendered Self-Improvement: Autonomous Personhood and the Marriage Predicament of Young Women in Urban China

How does gender shape the experience and imaginaries of self-realisation? This article explores practices of self-improvement among young women in China, namely workshops for interpersonal skills. These practices direct participants to express themselves as autonomous persons, disembedded from social hierarchies and familial responsibilities. Unmarried women who attend workshops conceive of marriage as an unavoidable impediment to their self-realisation. This is due to a prevailing gender inequality in marriage, as well as the ongoing expansion of an ideal of individual autonomy in China through economic reforms. In this article, I do not centre my analysis on a cultural clash between this ideal and local cultural practices. Instead, it is the possibility of this ideal, which is always shaped and restricted by socio-economic imperatives, that induces women’s frustration with their local culture. The fact that this ideal promises universal attainment highlights for women the gender roles that limit their autonomy.     

Called to order: A board president in trouble

This is a fictionalized case based on real events. It is intended as a teaching tool to stimulate discussion about procedural issues in nonprofit governance; board roles and responsibilities; communications; and relationships between boards, chairs, and executives, particularly in the context of smaller organizations. It is meant to support sessions on nonprofit boards and governance in introductory courses on nonprofit management or for use in workshops with new or less experienced executives and board members. Set in an organization engaged in cultural exchange, the case can be used in introductions to nonprofit management, arts administration, or international nongovernmental management.     

Assessment of issues facing immigrant and refugee families

This article identifies the different problems immigrants and refugees face in the United States, especially socioeconomic and psychosocial concerns that often relate to the experience of migration. Traditional familial roles and responsibilities are frequently challenged, exacerbated by sociocultural differences and inadequate understandings between the new arrivals and the host country. Essential in assessments of immigrant and refugee families is evaluating resources for social, economic, and cultural integration; discriminating between realistic and unrealistic expectations; evaluating families' problem-solving abilities; exploring family functioning within the context of heritage; identifying the transferability of work skills; and gauging families' learning capabilities and motivation for adaptation.     

Ethno-cultural diversity in the experience of widowhood in later life: Chinese widows in Canada

This paper utilizes Helena Znaniecka Lopata's concept of life frameworks as a lens through which to understand the experience of widowhood amongst elderly Chinese immigrant women living in Toronto, Canada. While Lopata defined life frameworks as including social supports, social relations and social roles, for these widows, personal resources (framed in Chinese cultural context) were also important aspects of life frameworks. In-depth interviews with 20 widows contacted through a Chinese community center were conducted in Mandarin and Cantonese and then transcribed and interpreted through team-based qualitative analyses. These women ranged in age from 69 to 93 years and had been in Canada an average of 17 years, with over half of them widowed following immigration. Our analysis framed the widows' narratives in terms of four types of supports defined by Lopata: social, service, financial and emotional supports. They had fairly extensive social and service supports focused primarily around family and the Chinese community. Although norms of filial piety traditionally dictate sons as primary supports, daughters predominated as providers of supports to these widows. Interpreted from a life course perspective, financial supports were deemed sufficient, despite overall limited financial means. Emotional support was more nuanced and complex for these widows. Loneliness and feelings of social isolation were prevalent. Nevertheless, themes of acceptance and satisfaction dominated our findings, as did reciprocity and exchange. The narrative accounts of these widows depict a complexity of experience rooted in their biographies as Chinese women and as immigrants, rather than primarily in widowhood itself.