• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.399-429
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• 2009

The purpose of this research examines the factors that influence happiness among Korean adolescents by focusing on psychological resource (as measured by self-efficacy), relational resource (as measured by social support) and financial resource (as measured by family's monthly income). In addition, the influence of academic achievement on happiness is examined. To examine the influence of socio-economic status and family's monthly income, adolescents living in three different districts in Seoul (from working to middle to upper class districts) were randomly selected and interviewed in their home. A total of 190 elementary school, middle school, high school and university students (male=83, female=107) completed the resiliency of efficacy scale developed by Bandura (1995) and emotional support and happiness scale developed by the present researchers, in addition to background information. The results of the path analysis are as follows. First, the most important predictor of happiness among Korean adolescents is relational resources. In other words, emotional support received from significant others was most predictive of happiness; more than 60 times the effect of family's monthly income, three times the effect of academic achievement, and two times the effect of resiliency of efficacy. The second most important factor that predicted the happiness of Korean adolescents was psychological resource (i.e., resiliency of efficacy), which had 30 times the effect of family's monthly income. In addition resiliency of efficacy played a mediating role between emotional support on one hand and happiness on the other. Third, those respondents who had higher academic achievement reported higher levels of happiness, which had 20 times the effect of family's monthly income. Fourth, family monthly income did not predict happiness among Korean adolescents. Fifth, socio-economic status and school level did not have direct influence on happiness but had mediating influence through their influence on emotional support. In other words, those respondents with higher socio-economic status and elementary school students were more likely to receive social support from significant others, which in turn increased their happiness. These results indicate that the most important predictor of happiness among Korean adolescents is emotional support, followed by resiliency of effic acy and academic achievement, indicating that those adolescents from wealthy families are not necessarily happier.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.55-67
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• 2015

This study aimed at identifying theirs relative importance and the factors affecting self-sufficiency in rural multicultural families. The major findings that were drawn from this study were as follows : Frist, the difference in the self-sufficiency level of their family perceived between husband and married immigrant women was not significant. But, in the level of self-sufficiency will, the level perceived by the husband was higher than it of the women significantly. Second, the hierarchical regression analysis showed that the age of the women(${\ss}=.31$) affected most significantly the self-sufficiency in rural multicultural families, followed by the labour morale of the women(${\ss}=.25$), labour morale of the husband(${\ss}=.20$), academic background of the husband(${\ss}=.19$), academic background of the women(${\ss}=.12$), spouse support level of the women toward the husband(${\ss}=.12$). Third, as a result of a hierarchical regression analysis, the self-sufficiency will variables had more explanatory power on it than social-demographic and/or social support variables. In conclusion, based on results of this study, several plans improving self-sufficiency of the rural multicultural family were suggested. Findings of this study may be used as a basic material to establish the policy supporting self-sufficiency in rural multicultural families.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.77-100
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• 2010

Locals' initiating the community making projects is considered as a good approach in terms of the effectiveness, sustainability and government's budget. But there are not the local institutions' support, while local people alone may face difficulties in starting and managing the projects. This study is to explore the roles of the institutions for starting and managing the family-friendly communities. For this purpose, 18 secondary source cases from the livable community making projects were analyzed. And the major findings of this study were as follows: The (local) institutions need to gain credibility from the locals before starting the family-friendly community project. In the motivation steps, the institution performs the role of a proposer, a survey researcher, an opinion gatherer and mediator. In the systematization steps, the institution needs to perform as a mentor, a developer of human and non-human resources, a conflict mediator, an education practitioner, an instructor, a networker, and an administrative staff. In the execution steps, the institution needs to perform as a cultural program planner, a public relations personnel, and an assessor. In conclusion, the institution needs to train community coordinator and develop programs to educate local residents for the effective family-friendly community projects.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.509-519
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitude toward own aging among community-residing elderly and the predictors of the attitude focusing on personal resources, social support, and social participation. Data were collected from 198 elders aged 60+ with the cooperation of several social service center for the aged, senior centers, and senior citizen associations in Daejeon Metropolitan City. SPSS 22.0 software was used for descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. The results showed that (1) the research participant elderly's attitude toward own aging indicated fairly negative perception of their own aging; (2) self-esteem and economic status were statistically significant factors indicating the higher levels of self-esteem and economic status predicting the positive attitude of their own aging; (3) emotional support from family was statistically significant factor that predicted the positive attitude of their own aging; (4) the level of social participation was also statistically significantly associated with the positive attitude; (5) In the full model of all independent variables, the significance of emotional support from family and social participation disappeared, but self-esteem and economic status among personal resources remained statistically significant influential factors. Based on the findings, suggestions for social welfare policy and practice to improve community-residing elderly's positive attitude toward their own aging were discussed.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.103-114
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• 2012

This paper aims to investigate changes in Korean family structures by reflecting on the perception of traditional family rites and family systems. In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 married middle-aged men (9) and women (8) who had at least one child. Findings were as follows: First, both married middle aged men and women internalized Confucianism. They thought that the head of household, who was male as far as possible, was needed for the formation of a normal family. In addition, both of married middle-aged men and women recognized married women as outsiders based on Chul-ga-we-in-sa-sang. And they put parents-children relationships ahead of couple relationships and supported Jang-ja-woo-dae-sang-sok (privileging the eldest son over the other children in terms of the distribution of family resources and inheritance based on Confucianism). However, there were some differences to support the use of Hang-ryul-ja, which is based on expressing the character of generation by sharing the first name, and the importance of Jok-bo. which is based on traditional family genealogical records. Second, even though women internalized Confucianism, they did not attach traditional meanings to memorial services for ancestors to the extent that men did and defined family members as a procreation family boundaries unlike men, who defined family boundary as original family members and procreation family members. In conclusion, even though family laws and culture have evolved from the patrilineal family system to one which promotes gender equality, married men and women internalize Confucianism. Instead, some transformations are evident from the perspective of females in terms of memorial services for ancestors and family boundaries.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.79-102
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• 2020

This study aims to provide basic resources for the construction of the archives on the official family service history in Korea. The study collected records of family policies and official family service from 1948 to 2019 and thereafter attempted to classify the official family service. In addition, experts were consulted to diagnose compliance with research contents and directions, investigate priorities of the family policies, and provide opinions on the elements of each process of archiving. The results of this study were as follows. First, there were five areas of concern to be considered in the process of establishing an archive of official family services: concept, scope, collection, arrangement, preservation, and utilization. Second, the findings suggest which processes are critical to developing a sustainable and systematic archive system for the official family service history. The construction of the archives will provide a platform for understanding the contents of integrated family policies and inform the direction of future family policies in Korea. In addition, these archives will be an important factor in building a solid Korean national identity.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.186-194
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• 2013

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to identify correlation of spiritual well-being, social support, life satisfaction and depression in the community dwelling elderly, and to explore a possibility to apply the spiritual well-being, and social support as resources to promote welfare of the elderly. Methods: A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from a convenience sample of 222 senior citizens, who visited social welfare centers in Gangwon-do from September to October, 2010. Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression. Results: There were significant differences in spiritual well-being based on religion, satisfaction to religion, economic status, physical health, and life satisfaction. Social support was significantly different according to economic status, physical health, life satisfaction, and social gathering. The existential well-being, family support, and special support had a significant effect on life satisfaction, and demonstrated positive correlations with the well-being of the elderly. Conclusion: Spiritual well-being and social support have significant effects on depression and life satisfaction of senior citizens. Thus spiritual well-being and social support can be considered as important factors that improve the elderly's quality of life.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.297-308
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• 2008

Previous research on elderly care in rural areas has focused on inter-generational support, ignoring the possibility of elderly care among community members in the rural areas of Korea. This study attempts to explore the roles and potentials of community-based elderly care in rural areas where nearby family or formal services are unavailable. For this purpose, data was collected from the elderly in three Korean rural villages using qualitative case study methods. Each village was studied as a separate case study and in-depth interviews with the elderly in each village were conducted. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim for the analysis. The data was analyzed using the Reflective Qualitative Analytic Technique. Results showed that rural elderly in all three villages had lunch, talked, and played together; almost everyday in the winter. However, the nature of care among rural elderly varied depending on the characteristics of the rural community (the traditional rural, the rural mixed with the urban, and the neighboring rural with the urban). Specifically, the use of mutual aids (providing food, repairing housing, and checking personal safety by telephone or visit, etc.) was most consistent at the traditional rural village. Because both the rural village mixed with the urban and the neighboring rural village with urban have better access to many aids and programs from formal institutions, mutual aids among community members decreased compared with the traditional rural village. However, regular group activities such as sports, dancing or debate help to provide pleasure and integrate the community. These results suggest that community relationships as a substitution for social support provide by family or formal services can be utilized in rural areas.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.61-78
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to examine the resource transfer process from female baby boomers to their children who have gotten married or plan on getting married. The following research questions were explored. (1)To what extent have female baby boomers been transferring their resources to their children supporting marriage or vice versa? (2)What are the opinions of female baby boomers on future resource transfer plans to their children? (3)What are the opinions of female baby boomers on supporting themselves in their old age, and those of their children on supporting their aging parents? In-depth interviews were conducted with 11 female baby boomers who were born between 1955 to 1963. A case study research method was used to analyze the interview results. The findings were as follows. First, economic resource was the most common type of resources that the interviewees transferred to their children. Those who could not transfer their economic resources instead transferred their instrumental resources. Second, it was anticipated that the current trend of interviewees' resource transfers would be similar in the future. In other words, those who used to transfer a large amount of economic resources to their children showed their willingness to do the same in the future. Third, the interviewees did not expect support from their children, but rather were trying to prepare for their old age by themselves. Based on the overall results, the female baby boomers' transferring economic resources to their children implied that they took responsibility for their children. This appears to stem more from to altruistic motivation than reciprocal motivation. Moreover, it can be cautiously concluded that female baby boomers have different perspectives on the transfer of their resources from male's since the interviewees had different opinions on it from their husbands'.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.19-33
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to explore the family diversity-related service experiences of Family Center practitioners under the main policy goal of recognizing family diversity set out in the Fourth Master Plan for Healthy Families. To this end, a focus group interview was conducted with 12 Family Center practitioners in multiple cities and districts who had extensive family service experiences. The focus group interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The analysis found that Family Center practitioners understood the concept of family diversity according to the changes in the family policy environment and applied it in various forms to the administration of their respective centers. However, while administering the family support services considering the aspect of family diversity, they experienced a lack of resources for various family service programs, conflicts between each family service goal and the family diversity-related program goal, and difficulties in identifying the recipients. To expand family diversity-related services in the future, the interviewees emphasized the need for education programs about family diversity targeted at Family Center practitioners, and family support services that reflect regional characteristics. They also stressed the need for changes in program operation methods, such as expanding family diversity education, and developing family service programs appropriate for diverse families. Lastly, they highlighted the need for mounting a publicity campaign for Family Centers, widening the target recipients of family programs, and expanding the budget for the administration of the family diversity project. The results of this study can serve as a basis for restructuring family services for the application and expansion of family diversity practices, and as educational material that can be used to strengthen the capacity of family service practitioners to plan and execute family support programs that take family diversity into consideration.