The effects of autonomy support and psychological capital on readiness for independent living through personal growth initiative among youth in out‐of‐home care

This study explored the effects of the factors on independent living readiness among youth under out‐of‐home care. Specifically, this study focused on the effects of caregivers' autonomy support and psychological capital on independent living readiness through personal growth initiative. A total of 215 youth who were expected to be discharged from caring institution within three years were gathered for the survey, and the final sample was 194 after excluding incomplete responses. Structural equation modeling with Mplus (version 7) was used to test research model and hypotheses in the study. Results showed that the research model was appropriated with several fit indices satisfied and that all the hypotheses were supported. Also, direct and indirect effects of independent variables were fully supported. However, the indirect effect of psychological capital was marginally significant. The results implicate that both caregiver's autonomy support and psychological capital are important for increasing personal growth initiative and that personal growth initiative served as a motivation to facilitating the readiness for independent living among children under institutional care.     

How Business Interests and Government Inaction Led to the Humidifier Disinfectant Disaster in South Korea: Implications for Better Risk Governance

Humidifier sterilizers were regarded as innovative and health-promoting products; they were widespread in South Korea until 2011. However, hospitals reported mysterious deaths, and a legal investigation in April 2016 found that hundreds of people have died due to use of the sterilizing disinfectant. This article takes up that topic, discussing the government's role in dealing with the risk regarding the humidifier disinfectant. We pay particular attention to the unequal nature of the uncertainty produced by the distorted socioeconomic structure. Through in-depth interviews with key informants and an examination of relevant documents from the government, civic groups, and newspapers, we find that the government had increasingly acknowledged the risk, yet their inaction failed to stop the high number of casualties, and they have only recently responded proactively. The uncertainty of the risk was unevenly distributed between companies, the government, experts, and citizens. We argue that the proactive and transparent role of the government with the precautionary principle could fix the unequal structure of knowledge production and preserve public health.     

韩国钢铁企业应对跨国并购的国际化经营战略——以Mittal Steel公司跨国并购为例

在经济全球化浪潮下，跨国企业并购日益加剧。从韩国Mittai Steel公司的跨国并购来看，尽管韩国钢铁企业拥有跨国并购的优势，但并没有处于主动的地位。为迅速适应跨国并购的国际化趋势，韩国钢铁企业应当积极通过跨国并购，进一步加强与钢铁生产相关企业以及同已经持有股份的国外企业之间的战略联盟。韩国政府也应当把跨国并购当做企业发展的重要战略，制定相关政策，积极支持企业跨国并购。     

Same same but different? Comparing institutional performance in the long-term care systems of Japan and South Korea

Responding to a rapidly aging population, Japan and South Korea introduced social insurance-based long-term care systems (LTCSs) in 2000 and 2008, respectively. Korea studied and took up key features of Japan's system while evolving along its own trajectory in line with its healthcare system. The aim of the present study is to unpack the broad category of ‘social insurance’ to explore how distinct system inputs and designs in Korea and Japan related to outcomes in performance measured in terms of coverage, quality of care, and sustainability. In doing so, the study serves as an important starting point for advancing a new stream of social policy research on the comparative performance of LTCSs. Our findings demonstrate that despite adopting a common system type, differences in implementation of the social insurance model (particularly in terms of financing and governance) contributed to divergent performance, with Japan outperforming Korea on most indicators during the observed period. This bears contrary implications for policymaking in the two countries: Whereas Japanese policymakers are faced with the challenge of promoting quality while containing spending, in Korea greater investment is required to strengthen the workforce and build up community care.     

The effect of information system utilization and education and training on organizational innovation in public social welfare officers: Focused on the moderating effect of organizational trust

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of information system utilization and education and training on organizational innovation for public social welfare officers in Seoul and verify whether organizational trust plays a role as a moderator variable in these relationships. First, information system utilization and education and training have positive effects on organizational innovation. Second, as a result of investigating the moderating effects of organizational trust, organizational trust has a positive effect on the relationship between information system utilization and organizational innovation, as well as education and training and organizational innovation. Therefore, it is found that information system utilization and education and training are important for innovation of public welfare service. The stronger relationship we have, the higher organizational trust we acquire. Therefore, in order to innovate the organization, it is necessary to strengthen the education training that can utilize the network and the expertise to share information and communicate. It is also necessary to focus on enhancing organizational trust such as mutual consideration, information sharing, and assistance within an organization.     

Mental Health Conditions Among North Korean Female Refugee Victims of Sexual Violence

The study aims to examine the negative effects of sexual violence on North Korean (NK) female refugees in South Korea. Although the prevalence of sexual violence victimization is extremely high and mental health problems are serious among these refugees, little to no research has been done on the relationship between sexual violence and mental health among these women. The mental health conditions of two groups of women (sexual violence victims and those who have not experienced sexual violence) were compared using ANCOVA analyses. The results show that suicidal ideation and alcohol use are significantly more prevalent in the sexual violence group than in the non‐sexual violence group. The women who had experienced sexual violence in particular should be provided with more professional and sustained treatment and management services. The government must improve the effectiveness of existing policies related to suicide and the drinking culture in South Korea.     

Perceived Usefulness and Easiness of Information and Communication Technologies and Volunteering among Older Adults

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the association between older adults’ perception of usefulness and easiness (PUE) of Information Communication and Technologies (ICTs) and volunteering, and if this association differs across their income status. Data were obtained from the 2012 wave of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), and the sample was restricted to respondents aged between 60 and 84 (N = 901) and who completed the 2012 HRS technology module. Multinomial logistic regression was employed to examine the independent and joint influence of PUE of ICTs and of low-income status on volunteering. The results show that only people with high PUE engaged in more than 100 hours of volunteering among older adults after controlling for covariates. The positive effect of high PUE was found to be more significant in the low-income group. This is the first known research to investigate the PUE of ICTs and volunteering among older adults. This study expands the knowledge of volunteering among older adults by exploring ICTs which can be considered as one of the most influential macrosocial changes in the current society. Moreover, our findings provide some insights and an empirical foundation in volunteering programs for older adults of different PUE levels.     

Regularized boxplot via convex clustering

A boxplot is a simple and effective exploratory data analysis tool for graphically summarizing a distribution of data. However, in cases where the quartiles in a boxplot are inaccurately estimated, these estimates can affect subsequent analyses. In this paper, we consider the problem of constructing boxplots in a bivariate setting with a categorical covariate with multiple subgroups, and assume that some of these boxplots can be clustered. We propose to use this grouping property to improve the estimation of the quartiles. We demonstrate that the proposed method more accurately estimates the quartiles compared to the usual boxplot. It is also shown that the proposed method identifies outliers effectively as a consequence of accurate quartiles, and possesses a clustering effect due to the group property. We then apply the proposed method to annual maximum precipitation data in South Korea and present its clustering results.     

Globalization of English teaching and overseas Koreans as temporary migrant workers in rural Korea

One of the most prominent impacts of neoliberal globalization on language is the rise of the importance of English ( Heller 2003 ; Phillipson 2003 ). In today's globalized economy, struggles over the resources of English language education tie English to processes of construction and reproduction of social differences and inequality ( Heller 2002 ). Korea's newly launched Teach and Learn in Korea (TaLK) program is one such example. The TaLK program recruits native speakers of English, including overseas ethnic Koreans, as temporary immigrant workers to teach English to rural elementary students. Using the concept of ‘language management,’ this article demonstrates how the Korean government views transnational Koreans’ ethnicity as an asset, while treating their linguistic resources as manageable commodities. Analyses of policy documents, media coverage, and essays by and interviews with TaLK participants reveal how the TaLK program may contribute to sustaining social differences and inequality in multiple ways, although the program's main goal is to provide equal opportunities to rural students. ???? ??? ??? ?? ? ?? ??? ?? ? ??? ??? ???? ????. ????? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ???? ??? ?????. ??? ??? ?? ?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???? ??? (TaLK) ????? ? ? ??. ? ????? ?? ?? ??? ?? ???? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???? ????. ‘?? ??’?? ??? ??? ? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ?? TaLK ????? ???? ????? ???? ????? ????? ?? ??? ?? ??? ???? ?????? ????. ?? ??, ?? ??, ???? ??, ????? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ?? ???? ??? TaLK ????? ??? ??? ??, ?????? ???? ??? ????. [Korean]     

Automatic model identification using vector sample autocorrelation function

One of the weaknesses of the ESACF approach for model identification by Tsay and Tiao(1984) is the ambiguity which can be caused by the elements which are in triangle but marginally larger than two standard deviation values. To avoid this drawback, a vector sample autocorrelaton function (VSACF) is defined and an automatic model identification procedure using the VSACF is developed. We illustrate this approach with four examples.