Comparative and Individual Perspectives on Mother–Infant Interactions with People and Objects among South Koreans,Korean Americans,and European Americans

Comparative and individual acculturation of mother and infant person‐directed and object‐directed behaviors and interactions were investigated among 183 South Korean, Korean American, and European American mothers and their 5½‐month‐old infants. We analyzed and compared mean levels in mothers’ and infants’ person‐ and object‐directed behaviors and partner responsiveness and initiation of these behaviors in dyads in the three cultural groups. Among Korean American dyads, we also analyzed individual‐level variation in the acculturation of these behaviors and interactions. This study reveals how contrasting South Korean and European American cultural values are embedded and manifested in early mother–infant interactions and how cultural values from South Korean origin and European American destination cultures are interwoven in Korean American mother–infant interactions.     

The Resilience of Transracial Korean American Adoptees: Cultural Identity Crisis within the Family and the Mediating Effects of Family Conflict and Cohesiveness during Adversity

This study used a mixed-methods approach to examine the family practices that are fundamental for fostering resilience among 34 transracially adopted Korean American youths living with White American parents in the United States. The results demonstrate that in addition to experiencing stress related to their education and occupation, Korean American adoptees may encounter cultural identity crises. The negative effects of life stress on adoptees' mental health, however, were diminished once family cohesiveness and conflict were taken into account. Study findings have important implications for various stakeholders who seek to cultivate a healthy living environment for society's children (i.e., orphans).     

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.     

Social and Didactic Parenting Behaviors and Beliefs Among Japanese American and South American Mothers of Infants

Mothers of Japanese or South American ancestry living in the United States participated. Similarities and differences in mothers' social and didactic parenting behaviors and beliefs, and direct relations between behaviors and beliefs in these 2 domains of interaction, are reported. In accordance with a common collectivist orientation, Japanese American and South American mothers reported that they engaged in more social than didactic interactions with their infants, and South American mothers more than Japanese American mothers. However, in actuality, both of these acculturating groups engaged in more didactic than social behaviors with their infants and did so for longer periods of time. Not surprisingly, no belief‐behavior relations emerged in either group.     

A relational study of the Black middle classes and globalised White hegemony: Identities,interactions, and ideologies in the United States,United Kingdom,and South Africa

In this paper, I explore the experiences of the Black middle classes across the United States, United Kingdom (UK), and South Africa. I argue that the similar experiences the Black middle classes face across these nations are not coincidental but represent the process of globalised White hegemony. Globalised White hegemony refers to how the middle class, transnationally, is often understood as a symbolic category informed by specific White norms, identifications, and practices. I explore globalised White hegemony through three areas of Black middle‐class experience: identity, interactions, and ideologies. Thus, I examine how across the UK, United States, and South Africa, the Black middle classes construct public identities according to White norms, encounter interactions through which their blackness negatively trumps their middle‐class status, and confront classed‐racialised ideologies, which construe the Black middle class as inauthentic. I argue in this paper that central to fleshing out the similarities in Black middle‐class experiences across the globe is engaging in relational sociology, which stresses the globalised nature of contemporary raciality.     

The Homeownership Hierarchies of Canada and the United States: The Housing Patterns of White and Non‐White Immigrants of the Past Thirty Years1

In this paper two gaps in North American immigrant homeownership research are addressed. The first concerns the lack of studies (especially in Canada) that identify changes in homeownership rates by skin color over time, and the second relates to the shortage of comparative research between Canada and the United States on this topic. In this paper the homeownership levels and attainment rates of Black, Chinese, Filipino, White, and South Asian immigrants are compared in Canada and the United States for 1970/1971–2000/2001. For the most part, greater similarities than differences are found between the two countries. Both Canadian and U.S. Chinese and White immigrants have the highest adjusted homeownership rates of all groups, at times even exceeding comparably positioned native‐born households. Black immigrants, on the other hand, tend to have the lowest ownership rates of all groups, particularly in the United States, with Filipinos and South Asians situated between these extremes. Most of these differences stem from disparities that exist at arrival, however, and not from differential advancement into homeownership.     

Global fatigue: Transnational markets,linguistic capital,and Korean‐American male English teachers in South Korea1

Mass migration characterizes the current moment of globalization. Constituting a particular subset of this global migration are Korean‐American male English teachers who use the linguistic capital of English, commodified as the language of international communication, to exit from the United States and to return to South Korea as linguistic migrants, where they reassert their patriarchal privilege as Korean men. In the highly gendered and racialized Korean English language market, however, they must prove their ‘native English speaker’ status. Remaining oriented towards the U.S. as their proper home, they also continually defer leaving South Korea as it means giving up the privileges of being a male English speaker and become stuck in a life of leisure and aimlessness. As the shadow of neoliberal globalization deepens and their linguistic capital becomes devalued with the return of more Koreans from abroad, their feelings of being stuck turn into global fatigue. ?? ???? ??? ??? ??? ???/???? ??? ????. ??? ???? ??? ? ??? ???? ???? ? ??? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ????. ??? ??? ?? ??? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ???? ??? ?? ? ?? ????? ???? ???? ??? ? ? ?? ??? ?????. ??? ??, ?? ?? ??? ????? ???? ????? ????? ??? ???? ?? ??? ??? ‘?? ??? ???’??? ??? ??? ????? ??. ??? ?? ??? ?? ? ???? ??? ??? ????? ??????, ???? ????? ??? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ??? ??? ???? ?? ?, ??? ?? ?? ????? ?? ?? ??? ??. ??? ?????? ???? ??? ?? ????, ???? ???? ???? ????? ??? ??? ????? ????? ???? ????? ??? ?? ???? ?? ????, ??? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?? ??? ????? ??? ??. [Korean]     

Nativity,Duration of Residence,and the Health of Hispanic Adults in the United States1

This article examines subgroup differences in the health status of Hispanic adults in comparison to non‐Hispanic whites and non‐Hispanic blacks. We pay particular attention to the influences of nativity and duration of residence in the United States. Data are pooled from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for 1989–94. Puerto Ricans exhibited the worst health outcomes of any group (including whites and blacks) for each of the three health measures. Persons of Central/South American origin exhibited the most favorable outcomes for activity limitations and bed sick days, advantages that were eliminated when controlled for nativity/duration. For two of the three health status variables, Mexican Americans were very similar to non‐Hispanic whites in baseline models and were more favorable than non‐Hispanic whites once socio‐economic factors were controlled; this was not the case, however, for self‐reported overall health. Immigration also helped to explain the relatively positive outcomes among Central/South American origin individuals, Cubans, and Mexican Americans. For most Hispanic groups (as well as non‐Hispanic whites and non‐Hispanic blacks), immigrants reported better health than the U.S. born, which is consistent with a selectivity hypothesis of immigrant health. In addition, this advantage tended to be significantly smaller among immigrants with ten or more years' duration in the United States. Although the latter finding is consistent with the negative acculturation hypothesis, alternative interpretations, including the generally more limited access of immigrants to the formal health care system, are suggested.     

Segmented pathways of educational mobility: English language schools,working holidays,and divergent prospects among South Korea's global youth

Using participant‐observation and 58 in‐depth participant interviews, this study examines South Korean youth who undertake overseas English language acquisition across the Philippines, United States, New Zealand, and Australia. This research introduces a concept I call ‘segmented pathways of educational mobility’, which describes the multi‐dimensional and complex levels of stratification within regional educational mobility flows that reinforce existing class inequalities for many migrants. However, segmented pathways also reveal that while resource‐constrained youth understand that their migration choices are more limited, they seek to accrue alternative cultural resources across varied destinations to gain the experiences and credentials necessary to advance in the South Korean labour market. Despite increased opportunities for English study abroad via market liberalization, this research contends that it also produces more levels of stratification within and among youth migrants.     

Differences in Life Satisfaction and School Satisfaction Among Adolescents From Three Nations: The Role of Perceived Autonomy Support

Past research shows that higher well‐being is reported by adolescents who live in individualistic rather than collectivistic nations. Such cross‐national differences may be due to the amount of autonomy support adolescents receive from authority figures. To examine this hypothesis, in the current study, 322 adolescents from Denmark, South Korea, and the United States completed self‐report surveys that assessed adolescents' school and life satisfaction and their experience of autonomy support from parents and teachers. Results showed that Danish adolescents reported highest school satisfaction, life satisfaction, and perceived autonomy support, followed by American and Korean adolescents, respectively. Furthermore, cross‐national differences in school and life satisfaction were partially mediated by adolescents' perceptions of autonomy support from authority figures. These findings support self‐determination theory ( Deci & Ryan, 1985 ) and the ecological model of child development ( Bronfenbrenner, 1986 ).     

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.     

What it means to be a ‘model minority’: voices of ethnic Koreans in Northeast China

Ethnic Koreans in China have been widely recognized as a ‘model minority’ primarily for academic success. Using the data collected as part of a larger ethnographic research on Korean elementary school students, this paper examines how 27 Korean families construct meaning out of the model minority stereotype in the context of their lived experience in Northeast China. Research results indicate that Koreans constructed the multi-faceted nature of ‘model minority’ as a matter of cultural superiority and dual economic marginalization in the Chinese and South Korean mainstream societies, and valued education as a practical means to achieve economic upward mobility into the Chinese mainstream. This paper argues that the model minority stereotype with the cultural explanations for Korean success may reinforce the cultural deficiency argument about the academic failure of ‘backward’ minorities, silence the disadvantages suffered by Koreans in China's reform period and lead to no active intervention to remedy them.     

The Generational Effects on Collective Memories in the Context of International Migration: The Collective Memories of Koreans in South Korea and the U.S.

This article examines generational effects on collective memories of Korean history, while taking into account international migration. We asked 216 subjects in South Korea and the United States to name three important events in Korean history and to provide reasons for their selections. We found generational effects in both countries in a similar pattern. This is a remarkable social achievement of the U.S. emigrant subjects. The current study adds a cross-cultural perspective to the literature on collective memories, which has focused predominantly on U.S. and Western case studies. By comparing memories of people who share a national origin but live in different cultural contexts, the current study also intersects collective memories studies in other fields such as transnationalism and diaspora. Our findings suggest that future studies can benefit from a transnational approach to collective memories, which may or may not circulate across borders.     

The gendered contours of North Korean Migration: sexualized bodies and the violence of phenotypical normalization in South Korea

This article examines the gendered and sexualized contours of North Korean experiences in South Korea at a time when nearly 70% of the North Korean emigrants are women. South Korean television shows – e.g. reality programs – and marriage matchmaking organizations seek to portray North Korean women in a ‘positive’ way to the South Korean public, although, as this article will illustrate, these representations are of a very particular, sexualized kind. These representations are sometimes negative, and there is stigma attached to North Korean women, in which South Koreans assume, for example, that they are victims of human trafficking or that they have had relations with Chinese men during their migration. Furthermore, poor nutrition and other forms of structural violence in North Korea have molded North Korean bodies; there are often physical disparities between North and South Koreans. In South Korean society where short height is viewed as undesirable and where idealized, surgical notions of beauty dominate, the violence of gendered phenotypical normalization mark North Korean bodies as smaller, foreign, and strange. Based on ethnographic research in South Korea, this article argues that these gendered contours of North Korean migration amount to a different sort of structural violence in South Korea.     

Social Construction of Cultural Identity: An Ethnographic Study of Korean American Students

Identity is regarded as a cultural and historical product of constant negotiation processes influenced by specific social and cultural contexts. This study examines Korean American students' ethnic identities in terms of peer group, family, and media influences. A "thick analysis" based on 6-month participant observations and interviews in two Korean American communities was undertaken. Although they were born and grew up in the United States, most of the interviewees at both universities expressed that they were Korean (or Korean American) rather than American. Specifically, it was found that their family played an important role in teaching them the Korean language and customs in the early period of identity construction. Following, Korean videos, mobile phones, and the Internet were the main media through which these Korean Americans learned about Korean culture and society, and increased intra-ethnic communication within the diasporic Korean American community context.     

The Educational Expectations of South African Youth

Abstract

Educational expectations, in particular the relationship between race/ethnicity and educational expectations, have been understudied in less developed countries. We use data from the Cape Area Panel Study (CAPS) to examine the educational expectations of black (African), coloured (mixed race), and white (European ancestry) youth in Cape Town, South Africa. The educational expectations of all three racial groups are high, although coloured youth are less likely than black and white youth to expect to complete postsecondary or postgraduate schooling. Supporting research on educational expectations in the United States and other more developed countries, our findings indicate that socioeconomic status and academic performance matter for educational expectations in South Africa, although their importance varies by racial group. In contrast to U.S. studies that have found effects of family composition for whites only, we found virtually no effects of family composition on the educational expectations of whites or nonwhites. Our findings suggest possible similarities and differences across social contexts in the processes shaping the educational expectations of youth from disadvantaged groups.     

Rural-Urban Differences and Their Amelioration

South Korean society is in transition toward a multicultural society. Integrating multicultural education into current citizenship education is challenging for the society. Historically, many national tragedies have created the unique characteristics of what being Korean means. South Korean social studies curriculum emphasized that Korea is a monolithic society with one language, one history, and one ethnicity. In recent years, however, the number of foreigners living in South Korea dramatically increases because of work, study, and marriage. As they become be members of Korean society, it is necessary that South Koreans acknowledge diverse groups in the society and revise a long-held belief about who we, as Koreans, are. To this end, the Korean social studies curriculum should include more information about as well as respect and promote ethnic, cultural, and social diversity. Social studies teachers should attempt various activities to promote students’ understanding of current social changes in South Korea.     

Living Arrangements of Single Parents and Their Children in South Korea

As the divorce rate in South Korea increases, an increasing proportion of children are growing up in single-parent families. Given the limited public support and disadvantages for women in the labor market, it is expected that single parents in Korea, single mothers in particular, are more likely to use family ties to mitigate economic and social difficulties, including the option to live with their parents. We assessed the living arrangements of single parents and their children with respect to co-residence with the grandparents of the children using samples from the 2010 Korean Census and the Program for International Student Assessment conducted in 2009. We found that a fairly small proportion of single mothers live with their parents and that the prevalence of co-residence with parents among both single mothers and single fathers was relatively low in Korea compared with Japan and Taiwan. We also found that single parents with a higher level of education are more likely to live with their parents than those with less education, which contrasts with the pattern found in the United States. We discuss the implications of our findings in contemporary Korea, which has traditionally been regarded as a country with strong family ties.     

A Multi-National Study of Interparental Conflict,Parenting, and Adolescent Functioning

Abstract

This study assessed the associations between interparental conflict (IPC), parenting, and individual functioning among data gathered from school-going adolescents in Bangladesh, China, India, Bosnia, Germany, Palestine, Colombia, United States and three ethnic groups within South Africa. Specifically, we tested the validity of the spillover dynamic found in much research in the U.S., whereby marital conflict spills over into parenting and into the psychological and social functioning of children and adolescents. Previous analyses of these same data showed complete invariance in the linkages between parenting and adolescent functioning. This study thus provided a meaningful extension to the substantive literature on family processes. We followed recommendations within cross-cultural psychology to “transport and test” models validated in one culture to other cultures as an initial step in systematic comparative research. The findings revealed substantial invariance across the samples in documenting significant direct and indirect associations. Similar to prior research in the U.S., IPC was associated with youth outcomes directly, and more often indirectly, via parenting.