Earticle

The purpose of this study is to offer basic data on family rite education, as well as to suggest future directions for family rites by surveying differences in the understanding and the practice of family rites among female undergraduates, who will be the future leaders of our society. General proclivity toward, and differences between understanding and practice of family rites, as well as the effect of sociodemographic variables on these differences, were further verified with a one-way ANOVA, a t-test, and a Duncan's Multiple Range Test. This study had two main findings. First, the gap between understanding and practice in family rites, ordered from largest to smallest by sub-sphere, was found to be: coming-of-age ceremonies, birthday rituals, ancestral rituals, funeral rites, and wedding ceremonies. Second, as for the results of the analysis of the difference between understanding and practice of family rites in female undergraduates according to socio-demographic variables, among a total of 18 variables, significant differences were found in: own religion, brother's rank, mother's religion, father's religion, mother's job, place where the individual grew up, having experienced family rites, education, place of residence, and monthly income. In the face of a changing era and environment, the basic spirit of family rites has not changed. However, a new harmony between tradition and modern times is needed. This can be achieved through the establishment of a suitable form of rites for the present age, while taking on a modern acceptance of the significance traditionally associated with these rites.

This study proposes a plan for the residents to have a capacity to build a family-friendly community on their own. As there is not a family-friendly community related program developed for “Resident’s Capacity Reinforcement”, three programs closely related with family-friendly community program were analyzed instead. Analysis showed that first, the community spirit must be emphasized to maintain the characteristics of family care with social support. Second, educational contents must reflect resident’s capacity elements that are necessary for participating in the family friendly community building stages. Third, there is a necessity for systematization of education courses into beginner, intermediate, and specialty course given education is continued. Fourth, there is a necessity for the curriculum that may be used for the family friendly community building to foster human and material resource management ability. Therefore, framework for the educational contents suggests X-axis and Y-axis presented by person-business and morphogenic-morphostatic as referred to Ulrich(1997)'s human resource model. However, this study has limitations because educational program of 'livable community building' are analyzed for the plan to reinforce capacity to build family-friendly community. There is a necessity for continuing to improve the program by in depth interview or social survey with residents and leader in community.

The purpose of this study was to propose a framework and system for an advanced evaluation scale for the Multicultural Family Support Center and its services. For this study, we used the Meta-Evaluation method, which is also known as an 'evaluation of the evaluation.' The data were collected from 134 surveys of individuals working in the Multicultural Family Support Center. The questionnaire consisted of two parts: a) general opinions regarding the present evaluation scale; and b) concrete opinions about the details of the scale. The results indicated several problems and issues for improvement. In light of these results, we suggest that not only do the detailed scales have to be modified to incorporate workers' opinions, but also that the management of the evaluation system itself has to be improved in order to achieve more effective evaluation procedures.

This study examined social integration policies for multi-cultural families in Korea and the United States through a literature review and internet research. Because the United States has developed and maintained its own culture, this was an appropriate country to compare to Korea in terms of social integration policy. There were four main results. First, both countries enforce assimilation policies for multi-cultural families. Second, most social integration programs and services for multi-cultural families in Korea are carried out by the Multi-cultural Family Support Centers, which are supported by the national and local governments in Korea. However, because the U.S. government has preserved a laissez-faire approach to policies for immigrant families, there are no government-based support centers for multi-cultural families in the United States. Third, both countries focus on the assimilation of multi-cultural families. Nevertheless, the U.S. government promotes a balance between ethnic identity and U.S. citizenship. Fourth, the U.S. government strongly supports second-generation education and development programs that recognize the second generation as a human resource for the future of society. In summary, even though there were some cultural differences between the two countries, the United States’ assimilation policies based on ethnic identity would be useful for Korean integration policies. In addition, it is very important to offer opportunities for mutual integration in everyday life between Korean families and multi-cultural families.

The purpose of this study was to investigate stereotypes, affect and social distance toward people from Southeast Asia among visiting supervisors for multicultural families and to explore the factors that influence social distance. The subjects were 243 visiting supervisors for multicultural families. The data were analyzed with SPSS for Windows 15.0 through means, standard deviations, Cronbach’s α, Scheffé tests, Pearson’s correlation, and stepwise regression. It was found that stereotypes and affect among visiting supervisors toward people from Southeast Asia were somewhat positive, at a little higher than midpoint. Social distance, on the other hand, was found to be a little lower than midpoint. To discover the factors that influenced social distance, a stepwise regression was executed. Stereotype was the factor with the highest magnitude of effect and affect was the second- strongest factor in explaining the social distance found among visiting supervisors. Age was the third significant factor in explaining social distance. These variables accounted for 35.7% of variance in the social distance data.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of the frequencies of family leisure activities and family meals and family closeness on the sociality of elementary school children. From October 1 to November 30, 2010, data were collected from 290 elementary school children and their parents residing in Seoul and Incheon. The major findings of this study were as follows. First, there was a significant difference between double-income and single-income families in the frequency of family meals; single-income families enjoyed fewer family leisure activities and more family meals than double-income families did. Second, the levels of family closeness were significantly predicted by the frequencies of family leisure activities and family meals, and family meals more significantly predicted the levels of family closeness than did family leisure activities. Finally, the frequencies of family leisure activities and family meals significantly predicted the levels of children’s sociality, as did the levels of family closeness. In conclusion, family leisure and family meals are important activities that enhance family closeness and children’s sociality.

This study investigated the job stress and job satisfaction of caregivers who work to substitute the care of family. The purpose was to improve the quality of elderly welfare services and maintain a healthy family. Data were collected from 239 caregivers working in long-term care facilities in Gwangyang in Jeonnam in October 2010. They were analyzed using the SPSS 18.0 program. The statistics used for analysis were correlation and regression. The results of this study are as follows. First, most of the subjects were women in their forties or fifties. Most of them worked to support their families and, on average, earned less than 1.5 million won. The relation of job stress and job satisfaction appeared negative. The stress of relationships, income, and the number of clients had significant effects on job satisfaction. First and foremost, these results mean that a reduction in the job stress of caregivers is essential to provide them. So it is suggested that wage increases and more professional education or interpersonal skills training should be provided and a standardized test to assess job stress and job satisfaction should be prepared to improve the quality of caregivers.

This study attempted to estimate the level of perceived lack of time in Korean society, to link it to time management and to identify the possible association that accounts for time shortage. I employed the gender perspective in order to reveal the dynamics and complexity of the perception of a lack of time in the population. The sample for the study was drawn from the 1999 and 2009 Korean time diary data collected by the Korean National Statistical Office. From the original data, I selected a sample of second shift families(men and women who are presently working and raising children) living in metropolitan areas(including Seoul and six major urban areas in Korea). The dependent variable was time pressure measured by a single-item question on a four-point likert scale. The results of the study showed that working mothers perceived a greater time shortage as compared to working fathers. The time use pattern showed change during the periods, indicating that people worked fewer hours in paid labor and enjoyed more leisure hours and personal care hours. However, on average, people seemed to have experienced a greater time lack in 2009 as compared to 1999. The results from the ordered logistic regression model revealed that even though there were similarities in the impact of relevant factors, men’s perception of a lack of time was more closely linked with their work role and social status, while for women, this perception was influenced by work and family duties. This indicates that Korean working mothers and fathers are facing a double jeopardy of time shortage in terms of combining their work and family roles. As a result, the level of time pressure by gender is converging toward a “never enough” phase. These findings generated policy implications and detailed suggestions.