Changes and continuities in second -generation Korean American families.
Item
-
Title
-
Changes and continuities in second -generation Korean American families.
-
Identifier
-
AAI3286470
-
identifier
-
3286470
-
Creator
-
Kim, Susan I.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: William Kornblum
-
Date
-
2007
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Sociology, Individual and Family Studies | Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies | Women's Studies
-
Abstract
-
This dissertation explores the impact of immigration, acculturation, assimilation, Confucianism, Westernization, and feminism on second-generation Korean American families. The respondents are drawn by the snowball sampling method in the New York City area.;The main finding is that in comparison with first-generation Korean American families second-generation Korean American familial behaviors reflect the values of equity and mutual help comparable to the standard achieved by average Americans. However, certain traditional Korean family traits such as filial piety, family solidarity, and emphasis on education are retained and reasserted by a substantial number of young Korean Americans. The extent of practice of filial piety varies by class background. There is a trend toward developing a bilateral conjugal family system. Filial obligations of married children are extended to the care of parents of both husband and wife.;While second-generation Korean American families are subject to the modernizing and liberal tendencies shown by average American families, they have the burden of harmonizing traditional Korean and modern American values and practices even as they try to surmount economic, social, and cultural problems as the members of a racial minority and as women.;This dissertation examines familial behaviors such as division of labor in performing household tasks and decision-making patterns. The majority of second-generation Korean American families practice egalitarian conjugal role relationships in division of labor and decision-making. It is found that a wife's employment status is the most important factor influencing couple's egalitarian conjugal role relationships. There is amazingly little male dominance observed among our respondents. If one can describe Korean families in South Korea and first-generation Korean American families as "a system of patriarchy," one may characterize second-generation Korean American families as "a system of cooperation and equality.";Second-generation Korean American married women combine their professional life and family life by relying on the family and community supports, and by judiciously using their time to their benefit in their unique life circumstances.;This study will serve as a bridge for research on future generations of Korean Americans and other ethnic groups.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
