• Journal of the Korean Society of Child Welfare
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• no.54
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• pp.45-77
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• 2016

This study is a policy research conducted for the purpose of finding new roles for adoption agencies and suggesting future tasks for effective adoption practice in Korea. To achieve this goal, this study analyzed the characteristics of adoption practices and the roles of adoption agencies in four countries (U.K., Sweden, U.S.A. and Hong Kong) and conducted a survey of the staff members of adoption agencies in Korea. The survey questions included: (1) the real changes and problems they feel in the adoption field after the amendment to the 'Act on special cases concerning adoption' in 2012; (2) the prospects for change in the future; and (3) the new roles they expect in the changing context. Based on the review of foreign cases and the results of the survey, the future direction of adoption practice in Korea and the new roles and tasks of adoption agencies were suggested.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.411-428
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• 1995

Intercountry adoption, one type of forced migration, has increased significantly in recent decades. The adoption of Korea-born children by Americans has been the strongest intercountry adoption linkage in the world. The intercountry adoption stream was strongly influenced by intercountry adoption policies, and socio-cultural settings in both South Korea and the United States. Socio-cultural factors in South Korea made local adoption undesirable and helped for abandoned children to be adopted by Americans, while socio-cultural factors in the United States had reduced the number of locally available infants for adoption, and increased the demand for infants from abroad. Distribution of Korea-born adoptees shows concentration in the Pacific Northwest, Upper Midwest and Northeast areas which have not attracted Korean immigrants so generally. The trend of concentration shows some increased importances in the outlying states in the northern United States. The location and activity of agencies shaped the spatial distribution of Korea-born adoptees in the United States.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.1-17
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• 2022

This study provides a critical analysis of the Family Center's programs for adoptive families by interviewing employees at these centers and at Adoption Agencies who have experiences with adoption programs. For this study, nine such workers from three separate Family Centers and three such workers from two separate Adoption Agencies have (voluntarily) engaged in in-depth interviews. Major findings from the interviews are that the Family Centers were initially motivated to carry out adoption family programs for three principal reasons: they located many families (in need of adoption family program); potential adoptees were interested in the program; adoption families participated in the pre-existing programs such as Self-help Group and Co-parenting Space. Workers in the study also reported that they approach to an adoption family and their contemplation on ways to provide better services to the adoption families. They don't have any official and formal manual or guidelines from the Government Ministries and offices such as Korean Institute for Healthy Family; as a result, the workers at Family Centers have endeavored to gain connection with Adoption Agencies in hopes of cooperation with them and to improve the services at Family Centers. For benefits of Family Centers as a delivery system, they mentioned nationwide infrastructure, family professional, and arrangement of integrated program for family. For improvements, they listed awareness education based on a thorough consideration of adoptee's varied characteristics, close cooperation with adoption institutions, provision of basic operational manual from Korean Institute for Healthy Family, and governmental efforts to enlarge the consideration pool for families.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.47-68
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to provide information on adoptive families and obtain the basis data for adoption-related programs that are useful to adoptive families by examining their experiences in the adoption process, post-adoption adaptation, and adoption programs. For the study, in-depth interviews were conducted on six mothers who publicly adopted elementary school children and had expressed high satisfaction with adopted families and their willingness to participate in this research voluntarily. The main results exhibited parents' happiness post-adoption along with positive changes, such as internal growth, marital love growth, favorable response from others, and child's unexpected responses to adoption. However, open adoption mothers have coped with efforts to sympathize with and accept their children's feelings as they suffer from adoption, and with active support from their spouses, parents, and their own children. Open adoption mothers participated in various adoption-related programs, support, and voluntary self-help groups provided by adoption agencies or public organizations, and above all, their experience in self-help groups and peer groups of adopted children was found to be very useful. Based on these main results, we suggested strengthening welfare services for open adoption families, implementing education to better understand adoption, education for school teachers, students, and welfare staff, providing practical programs for adoptive families, and promoting self-help groups.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.185-186
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• 2013

2012년 8월 입양아의 인권을 보호하자는 취지에서 "입양특례법"이 개정돼 시행되고 있다. 개정된 "입양특례법"의 주된 핵심은 입양 아동의 인권 보호를 강화하기 위해 아동의 입양 여부를 가정법원이 최종 허가하도록 했다. 또 입양을 원하는 생모에게 숙려 기간을 7일간 갖도록 하고, 입양 기관은 양부모에게 아동 양육 교육을 하고, 아동 학대나 성폭력 등 범죄 경력도 조회하도록 규정하고 있다. 개정된 내용은 출산 전부터 생모의 입양 동의서와 친권포기 각서를 받아 입양을 진행시키는 과거신고제 입양의 단점을 보완하고 입양아의 출생에 관한 알 권리를 보장한다는 측면에서 의의가 크다 할 것이다. 그러나 개정 입양특례법 시행 후 우리 사회에서는 입양아의 권리 보호와 무질서한 해외입양 등을 예방하고자 하는 본래 취지와 다르게 영아 유기를 증가시키고 있고, 입양을 간절히 원하는 양부모들에게도 문제를 초래하고 있다는 문제점이 제기되고 있다. 본고에서는 개정 "입양특례법"의 내용과 문제점을 검토하여, 그 개선방안을 모색해보고자 한다.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.35-48
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• 2022

This study aims to investigate prejudiced descriptions of adoption and adoptive families in the major textbooks in the field of child and family welfare studies. To this end, we analyzed the compositions and contents of eleven different textbooks and found four necessary changes to recommend: first, we found it essential for authors to have a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of the open adoption culture and adoptive families. Second, we observed the need for the revision of prejudiced terminology found in textbooks' descriptions of adoptive families - about adopters, adoptees, and adoption institutions. Third, we advise an enhancement in the understanding of adoptive families reflecting both qualitative and quantitative understandings of the open adoption culture and perspective about social prejudice against adoptive families. Finally, we advocate for the inclusion adoptive families as one of the diverse forms a family can take, not only in the curriculum of child (children's rights) studies but also in the curricula of other family-related disciplines such as family welfare and healthy family theory. Based on these four changes, we propose a new approach to authoring including a multifaceted review of the subject composition and the content of the major textbooks and revision of the overall contents of the textbooks.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.201-207
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• 2002

Purpose : We analyzed clinical features and causal viruses of acute lower respiratory tract infections(LRTIs) in order to improve the management of these infections. Methods : From end of April to early May 2001, amongst 30 children at a local institute for children's adoption and welfare, 13 were admitted to the hospital with the diagnostic impression of acute LRTIs. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were sent in Seoul National University Hospital for viral culture of respiratory syncytial virus(RSV), adenovirus, parainfluenza virus. Results : One or more viral agents were identified in 4 cases(30.7%) : were RSV(15.4%), adenovirus(7.7%), and a mix of these two viruses(7.7%). Initial symptoms were fever(69%), cough(100%), tachypnea(54%), chest retraction(69%), rale(85%) and wheezing(15%). Leukocytosis was noted in 23%, CRP increased more than 10 mg/L in 46%. Chest X-ray abnormalities were 69%. Conclusion : Although viruses were identified in 30.7%, further studies should be made for prevention and treatment of acute viral LRTIs.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.51-76
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• 2010

This study discussed the trends and characteristics of mental health services in the public libraries of North America. To accomplish this, this study collected its data through literature surveys, observations and interviews with librarians within the Vancouver public library system. The results show that there were many cases in which patrons asked public libraries for information on their mental health problems and the public libraries helped the patrons cope with their problems. The public libraries' assistance programs for national tragedies and natural disasters were temporary services. On the other hand, public libraries were continuously advising and guiding patrons dealing with emotional and psychological problems through the readers' advisory and information services. Specifically, public libraries were actively assisting various sensitive issues that are generated in the development of children and youths(for example, adoption, divorce and separation, remarriage, family, friendship, disabilities, death, self-esteem, emotions, bulling, violence, abuse, suicide, illness, addiction, sexual health, youth pregnancy and so on). The key role of librarians under these circumstances was to guide and recommend appropriate books and professional institutions that help solve the problems.