• Child Studies in Asia-Pacific Contexts
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.61-75
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• 2012

Indisputably school is the main institution that socialises migrant children into the culture of their new country. Through school they learn the new language and customs, which will enable them to become cultural brokers between the new cultural world and their families. During this process migrant children often transit a liminal terrain where their roles and identity become at the same time diverse and ambivalent. Despite the challenges involved these children often become experts in juggling different cultures, environments and expectations. This study explores the experiences of Latin American children and their families as they start primary school in Australia.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2017

This study examined the predictors of life satisfaction of marriage migrant wives with school-aged children in South Korea. For this purpose, we draw data from the 2015 National Survey on Multi-cultural Families (NSMF). The target group was marriage migrant wives who were in a first marriage and had school-aged children (N=3,004). We used OLS regression to examine the predictors of the target group's life satisfaction with the SPSS 18.0 program. The results are as follows. First, marriage migrant wives with school-aged children had maintained their marriage for at least 14 years. They were satisfied with their relationships with both their spouses and their children. Also, they were satisfied with their spouse's child care roles. They did not support the multi-cultural policy of assimilation. Their Korean proficiency was slightly higher than the middle level. More than half had jobs and had not attended a parent meeting. Second, although they were satisfied with their everyday lives, their levels of life satisfaction were less than that of migrant wives with children below 5 years of age. Third, all variables explained 38.8% of the life satisfaction experienced by marriage migrant wives with school-aged children. Satisfaction with their spouses, subjective health, satisfaction of spouse's child care role, monthly family income, satisfaction with their children, experience attending a parents meeting, and Korean proficiency were positively associated with the life satisfaction of this target group. The findings of this study are significant because they can provide certain implications for family life education and policy within a multi-cultural society.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.15-29
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to explore ethnic socialization enacted by Japanese marriage migrant women currently raising 7- to 18-year-old children in Korea. To accomplish this goal, we examined the following research questions: (1) What is the level of ethnic socialization enacted by Japanese marriage migrant mothers? (2) Does the level of ethnic socialization vary by demographic and ethnocultural factors? (3) To what extent do demographic and ethnocultural factors influence the enactment of ethnic socialization by Japanese marriage migrant mothers? The sample consisted of 243 Japanese marriage migrant women currently raising 7- to 18-year-old children in Korea. For data analysis, T-test, correlation, ANOVA, and hierarchical regression analyses were used. Also, we performed separate analyses for two subtypes of ethnic socialization in particular, namely cultural socialization and preparation for bias. Ethnocultural factors examined in this study were the level of discrimination experience, Japanese ethnic identity, and husbands' ethnic orientation in childrearing. The main results of this study were as follows. First, results showed that Japanese marriage migrant women enacted moderate levels of cultural socialization and preparation for bias. Second, Japanese marriage migrant women's cultural socialization and preparation for bias were both positively related to the levels of women's discrimination experience and Japanese ethnic identity. Also, the younger the age of the firstborn child, the more preparation for bias these women performed. In addition, women whose Korean husbands wanted to raise their children more biculturally performed more cultural socialization compared to those with Korean husbands who wanted to raise their children as Korean. Third, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that women's discrimination experience and ethnic identity positively predicted both types of ethnic socialization. Also, Korean husband's bicultural orientation towards childrearing predicted a higher level of cultural socialization by Japanese marriage migrant women. Results of this study provide basic information about ethnic socialization among multicultural families in Korea, which can be useful for promoting positive self-identity among multicultural children. Furthermore, the results suggest that husbands' support and cooperation in ethnic socialization can be crucial for marriage migrant women to socialize their children utilizing their cultural and experiential resources.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.375-390
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• 2020

This paper explored the marriage migrant mothers' experiences of parenting bi-ethnic children in South Korea based on the concepts of ethnic socialization and intersectionality. We analyzed in-depth interviews of 22 marriage migrant women from Vietnam residing in the capital region of South Korea. They had at least one child whose biological father is Korean. Children were 5 years old or older, attending preschool or elementary school. Five types of bi-ethnic socialization strategies were identified, which provide portraits of different situations in which marriage migrant women were placed. The five strategies that emerged from the data were 1) "Natural practice of bi-ethnic socialization" including two heterogeneous groups, "Coexistence of two cultures" and "Mixture of two cultures", 2) "Active practice of bi-ethnic socialization", 3) "Struggling practice of bi-ethnic socialization", 4) "Silence on bi-ethnic socialization", and 5) "Suppressed bi-ethnic socialization". The strategies of bi-ethnic socialization that marriage migrant women chose to raise their children reflected personal perceptions of Korean society and individual ethnic identity formed within Korean society. This study complements existing research on ethnic socialization by examining how ethnic socialization practices are shaped by multiple contexts marriage migrant women embedded in Korean society.

• (The)Korea Educational Review
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.157-182
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• 2012

As more migrants stay for a longer term or settle in Korea through marriage, labor contract, defeat of North Korea, etc, the discourse on the migration policies gets more complicated and expands further beyond the issue of their adaptation to the Korean culture and their rights to encompass their families and children. The social integration policies for children of migrant families in Korea have been mainly led by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. This paper will look at the challenges that children with migrant background face and their problems while reviewing the policies on children with migrant background in a critical perspective. In conclusion, it gives some suggestions to help establish more open society with multi-cultural values espoused.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.359-370
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of marital conflict, parenting stress on married migrant women's parenting attitudes. Participants in this study were 109 married migrant moms of young children. The major results of this study were as follows: First, married migrant women's parenting stress and marital conflicts negatively related to warmth-encouragement, limit setting, but were positively related to rejection-noninteraction in parenting behavior. Second, married migrant women's warmth-encouragement in parenting behavior was affected by personal conflicts and couple relationship conflicts. Third, competence stress, attachment stress, spouse stress, isolation stress, and health stress also affected warmth-encourage parenting behavior. On the other hand, attachment stress, spouse stress and isolation stress had significant effects on limit setting in parenting behaviors. For rejection-noninteraction in parenting behaviors, depression and spouse stress affected significantly.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.406-416
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• 2019

Purpose: Children in migrant villages in Kyrgyzstan have a high incidence of anemia and need effective health promotion programs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a pilot study of a health promotion project for infants and toddlers based on community participation. Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the project. The project was carried out by nurses at a public health center, community health workers, and local residents in a migrant village. After the operational system of the project was established, health assessments, child-care education, provision of vouchers for iron supplements, and activities to improve residents' awareness were conducted during 6 months among 100 children, of whom 85 were finally analyzed. Results: In international health projects, close cooperation of the project team with community residents and health workers is important. Access to the community-based program was feasible in the socially and economically poor migrant village, and improvements were shown in children's anemia and awareness of health care. Conclusion: By focusing on the effective aspects of this preliminary project, plans to utilize community health workers and promotion strategies can be added to the main project to improve health promotion among children in this area.

• Journal of Family Relations
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.157-177
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• 2018

Objectives: The study aims to develop an understanding of the experience of migrant husbands with their South Korean in-laws, specifically from the perspective of migrant husbands from developing countries who reside in South Korea. Method: In total, 13 semi-structured interviews were carried out. Results: The themes drawn from the interview data were "attempting to be accepted as sons-in-law by the in-laws," "interacting closely with in-laws," and "building a nest of their own." When it comes to "struggling to be recognized as sons-in-law" by their Korean families, the migrant husbands in this study met with a high level of opposition from in-laws and sometimes their own family members, made considerable efforts to be accepted as sons-in-law, and then were finally accepted as sons-in-law (although not every migrant husband achieved this). Regarding "interacting closely with in-laws," migrant husbands tried to be recognized as real family members, became hyoja (filial sons) for the sake of their wives and children, and felt a burden about mismatched expectations regarding family roles and obligations. Regarding the final theme, "building a nest of their own," the men tried to be themselves, to attain an equal position to their in-laws, and to maintain a moderate distance between themselves and their in-laws. Conclusions: The study has significant implications for existing government programs designed for multicultural families and how they can be made more inclusive, as well as how new programs can help to improve the relationships between Korean in-laws and migrant husbands.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.195-208
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• 2015

This study explored general marriage migration for 180 unmarried Vietnamese immigrant women and identified differences in recognition after the choice of marriage. The methods used were frequency analysis, kai verification, and independent t verification were conducted. The findings were as follows. First, unmarried Vietnamese women showed a receptive attitude towards marriage migration with the less-educated group more likely to opt for marriage migration. Economic benefit expectations topped other factors in regards to the image of marriage migrant women and motivation. Dual national identity benefits were also indicated. Second, the perception of external and illusionary images of the spouses of marriage migrant women was low; however, the perception of good occupations and gender equality was high. A vague expectancy of marriage was also found. The perception was high that children from multi-cultural families would be global bilingual talents and adjust to school; however, the perception of social discrimination or prejudice was low. The perception of social discrimination was low concerning the perception of social integration towards marriage migrant women; however, the perception of identities, cultural differences and employment was present. By contrast, the group opting for marriage migration showed a significantly low perception of social discrimination and difficulty in employment. The suggested measures are to regulate and maintain forms of marriage type, reinforce prior training systems for Vietnamese immigrant women (and spouses), enhance multicultural recognition, and supplement multicultural policies.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.519-535
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to understand a migrant women's married life. The study examined migrant Filipino women's married lives, motives for marriage and migration to Korea, and their married life experiences. The results showed that these women get married to Korean men in pursuit of an economically better life to support their family in the Philippines through marriage migration. As for Filipino women's perceived difficulties in married life, they indicated hardships with redrawing the boundaries of nationality, as well as their husbands' faults or bad habits which are different from what they expected before marriage. Other difficulties mentioned were the peculiar culture of living with parents-in-law, and general difficulties in married life. This study showed that marriage migration results not from external pressure or motives but ultimately from their own decision in a social and cultural context. It was also implicated that Korea's superior position to the Philippines in international economic power has an effect on family relations. The boundaries of nationality are redrawn according to their married life. In addition, it was revealed that the Korean born children of migrant mothers who divorce because of difficulties in married life are in a very poor situation as their national identity depends on their mother's future marriage relations.