• English & American cultural studies
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-26
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• 2014

Multicultural theories fully fledged around the 1980s and the early 1990s. Emerging in the 1960s thanks to the Civil Rights movement, multiculturalism has become the grand American national narratives, whose tenets recognize and respect people with diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. This period, however, witnessed the eruption of violent and destructive rebellions or uprisings involving racial minorities. Racial conflicts and tensions exploded at the moment when multiculturalism was widely practiced in areas including education and public policy revealing that complicated problems are embedded in the urban ghettos. American popular culture, specifically addresses antagonisms among different races or ethnicities in Bed-Stuy in New York. Although the film is mainly concerned with the collision among races, it lets ambivalent and cacophonous values and ideologies be present in the black community. On the other hand, Ice Cube's "Black Korea" empowers the black community when it deals with the turbulent relationship between black residents and Korean American merchants. Simultaneously, it denigrates Korean Americans as gasta raps often target the institution like government or police. In short, while attempts to search the ideas of coexistence and juxtaposition through polyphonic features embodied in the film "Black Korea" seems to depend on the dualistic system when it deals with the black-Korean conflicts and as a result it just reveals the chasm between two communities.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.527-539
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• 2017

This case study examines the experiences of an African American student's successful second language acquisition in Korea. There is an increasing number of multicultural families in Korea; but few research on African American students' second language learning. In the past, some American researchers have analyzed African American students as academic underachievers for learning and there is a scarcity of research on African American students' successfully acquiring a second language. With this qualitative research design, the researchers interviewed, and observed an African American girl named Mary. The researchers also interviewed Mary's mother, teacher, and peers about Mary's Korean language development. The results of this study revealed Mary's determined efforts to become a fluent Korean speaker with support from family, community and friends. Mary underwent unique social and systematic supports for her language development. This paper concludes with the educational implication for multicultural language learners in Korea and the possibility to diminish the common stereotypes of African Americans as underachievers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.1851-1856
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• 2012

Immigration to a nation with a stronger anti-smoking environment has been hypothesized to make smoking less common. However, little is known about how environments influence risk of smoking across the lifecourse. Research suggested a linear decline in smoking over the lifecourse but these associations, in fact, might not be linear. This study assessed the possible nonlinear associations between age and smoking and examined how these associations differed by environment through comparing Koreans in Seoul, South Korea and Korean Americans in California, United States. Data were drawn from population based telephone surveys of Korean adults in Seoul (N=500) and California (N=2,830) from 2001-2002. Locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (lowess) was used to approximate the association between age and smoking with multivariable spline logistic regressions, including adjustment for confounds used to draw population inferences. Smoking differed across the lifecourse between Korean and Korean American men. The association between age and smoking peaked around 35 years among Korean and Korean American men. From 18 to 35 the probability of smoking was 57% higher (95%CI, 40 to 71) among Korean men versus 8% (95%CI, 3 to 19) higher among Korean American men. A similar difference in age after 35, from 40 to 57 years of age, was associated with a 2% (95%CI, 0 to 10) and 20% (95%CI, 16 to 25) lower probability of smoking among Korean and Korean American men. A nonlinear pattern was also observed among Korean American women. Social role transitions provide plausible explanations for the decline in smoking after 35. Investigators should be mindful of nonlinearities in age when attempting to understand tobacco use.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2923-2930
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• 2012

Background: Little is known about interest in faith-based health promotion programs among Asian American populations. Among the Christian denominations, the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church is known to place a strong doctrinal emphasis on health. Objectives: To understand appropriate ways to develop and implement health promotion programs and to conduct research among Korean American SDAs. Methods: We collaborated with the North American Division of Korean SDA Churches which sponsors annual week-long religious retreats for their church members. We developed and administered a 10-page questionnaire at their 2009 retreat in order to assess socio-demographic and church characteristics, religiosity, perceived relationship between health and religion, and interest and preferences for church-based health promotion programs. Results: Overall, 223 participants completed our survey (123 in Korean and 100 in English). The sample consisted of regular churchgoers who were involved in a variety of helping activities, and many holding leadership positions in their home churches. The vast majority was interested in receiving health information at church (80%) in the form of seminars, cooking classes and workshops (50-60%). Fewer respondents were interested in support groups (27%). Some interests and preferences differed between English and Korean language groups. Conclusion: Korean American SDA church retreat participants from a large geographic area are very interested in receiving health information and promoting health at their churches and can potentially serve as "agents of influence" in their respective communities.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.1631-1643
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• 2016

Depressive symptoms are one of the biggest mental health issues among Korean American adolescents. Previous studies have found that parental warmth and intergenerational family conflict have a major impact on depressive symptoms among Korean American adolescents. This cross-sectional study examines the mediation effects of intergenerational family conflict between perceived parental warmth and depressive symptoms among 97 Korean American adolescents aged 14 to 18 years old in the Pacific Northwest region. The results revealed that 60% of participants experienced depressive symptoms. In addition, mother-adolescent conflict significantly mediated between perceived parental warmth and depressive symptoms while father-adolescent conflict did not significantly mediate. The finding suggests the need to develop intervention programs for Korean American adolescents and their parents that focus on creating an understanding of the difference between Korean culture and American culture, identifying early signs of depressive symptoms, and decreasing intergenerational family conflict by teaching parents to express parental warmth effectively.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.185-202
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to examine the possibility of application of American cohousing concepts for the development of apartment housing in Korea. The fieldwork included two American cohousing communities of 37 households, extensive interviews, questionnaire, and evaluation of site planning and development process. This paper looked at the real and potential benefits of cohousing in respect of land-use efficiency, resource usage, and the quality of social relationship within the residents. The paper suggests that the abstract notion of a sense of community and concrete issues of housing form are inseparably connected. The paper goes on to suggest that the educational program and the support from the government also are needed for the development of sustainable community.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.147-152
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• 2006

This study was conducted to define dietary patterns among 227 Korean American adults and 151 teenagers living in California using frequency of intake of major food groups and to examine associations of dietary patterns with selected demographic and acculturation variables. Three dietary patterns, 'healthful', 'Korean', and 'western', were identified using factor analysis. For both groups, 'healthful' pattern was characterized by high loading on milk/milk products, fruit, fruit juice, and bean/bean products. 'Korean' pattern had high loading on rice and kimchi. 'Western' pattern was characterized by high loading on meat/meat products, soda, and noodle/pasta. Among Korean American adults, women tended to have higher scores of 'healthful' pattern but lower scores of 'western' pattern, while there was no association of 'Korean' pattern with gender. The older adults were likely to have higher 'Korean' pattern score. Length of stay in the US and English levels were negatively associated with 'Korean' pattern. Korean American female adolescents had lower 'western' pattern scores than did male adolescents. Age was inversely associated with 'healthful' pattern in adolescents. The adolescents who had felt more proud of being a Korean descendant had higher scores on 'Korean' dietary pattern. The study findings support that dietary patterns are associated with acculturation variables such as length of residence in the US, English fluency, and particularly pride in ethnicity for adolescents. Further studies are needed to understand associations of dietary patterns and acculturation with health risk of ethnic groups.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2006

This study is to compare the prevalence of obesity between Korean-American children and Korean children, and to investigate the role of environmental factors in obesity development. Prevalence of child obesity is compared by their residence, parents' anthropometric data, education and occupation, and the length of immigration, and birth place of the children. A total of 593 children between the ages of 9 and 12 were examined. 262 Korean-American children (KcUS group) from New Jersey, USA and 331 Korean children (KcK group) from Seoul, Korea were compared. KcUS group showed a higher obesity rate (male: 12.6% and female: 8.2%), compared to KcK group (male: 8.0% and female: 5.1 %). KcK male children showed lower weight and prevalence of obesity than Korean-American male children who lived in the United States for more than three years. Korean-American female children had higher weight and obesity rate than Korean female children. Waist circumference and hip circumference were also higher in obese children in both KcK and KcUS groups. The children who live in America had an odds ratio of 1.69 to be obese compared to KcK, while those born in America and those who have lived in America for more than 3 years had odds ratios of 1.53 and 1.25 to be obese, respectively. This study found that environmental factors, immigration to America for instance, could playa bigger role in child obese development than the genetic factor.

• Proceedings of the KAN Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.35-56
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• 2004

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.161-167
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• 2002

Research on diet, acculturation, and ethnicity has suggested that immigrants dietary patterns differ from people who do not have immigration experience. The purpose of this paper is to present preliminary descriptive findings concerning consumption of foods that are common in Korean and American diets, by people of Korean descent residing in California. Adults (18 years of age or older, N=1334) of Korean descent who could be reached by listed residential telephone number in California were randomly selected and telephone-interviewed by closely supervised bilingual (Korean-English) interviewers who were specially trained for this task. This study found that dietary patterns of Koreans living in California differed according to age and gender; also, the frequency of consumption of foods differed according to number of years of residence and acculturation. Koreans who reported higher levels of acculturation to American society ate less of traditional Korean foods such as Kimchi and ate significantly more higher-fat foods common in the American diet. Increased acculturation was also related to an increased frequency of alcohol drinking. Older Koreans tended to eat slightly more of traditional foods such as rice, Kimchi, fruits, and fish, compared to younger Koreans. Women tended to eat healthier foods than men, consuming green vegetables, Kimchi, milk, cheese/yogurt, fruits, and bread more frequently. Koreans reporting longer residences in the United States reported a greater consumption of pork, bread, and soda.