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Unlike daily hassles or minor stressors, immigration is an intense life event thatmay cause excessive stress. In particular, immigrant parents find themselves in a morestressful situation in that they experience stresses caused by immigration and stressescaused by parenting at the same time. The purpose of this study is to develop andvalidate an Immigrant Parental Stress Inventory (IPSI), that objectively andcomprehensively assesses the stress experienced by immigrant parents within theKorean context. Based on the Immigrant Parental Stress Inventory developed within the Americancontext, preliminary items were refined through a literature review and the discussionsof experts and immigrant parents and were empirically validated with a sample of 203immigrant parents residing in Korea. Through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, six main factors wereidentified (Factor1 Difficulties in communication, Factor2 Financial difficulties, Factor3Difficulties in social adjustment, Factor4 Social discrimination, Factor5 Lack of socialresources, Factor6 Difficulties in parenting). The IPSI was shown to be apsychometrically sound instrument that is capable of measuring immigrant parental stress within the Korean context. Social service professionals and researchers studyingor working with immigrant families could use the IPSI to examine immigrant parentalstress.

The purpose of this study was to investigate social workers' personal experiencesproviding social support to multi-cultural family in a multi-cultural family center. Thedata were collected through in-depth interviews with 14 social workers at themulti-cultural familycenter, and were analyzed using a phenomenological researchmethod. The major findings were as follows : The social workers’ personal experiences withand understanding of social support wereclassified as 4 categories : ‘source of emotional support to the multi-cultural family’, ‘ diverse and systematic educational support’,‘excessive demands on material support’, and ‘daily life support and connection withcommunity network’. The social workersrecognized emotional and educational support as essential factors in providing social support to multi-cultural family. However, thesocial workers' perceptions of material support derived from negative personal experiences stemming from excessive demands andmisunderstanding for material support. These results showed that social workers at the multi-cultural family center providedmulti-cultural families with social support and that they interacted with community support system and multi-cultural families toincrease their satisfaction.

The purpose of this study is to make suggestions for the ongoing process of anintegration of the Healthy Families Center and the Center for Multicultural Families. Based on previous studies and interview data from nine service workers at the twoinstitutions, we make the following suggestions. First, a systematic analysis toolshould be developed in order to evaluate the effects of the integration initiative withreliability and validity. Second, empirical data should be collected from the users afterthe integration of the two institutions and be used to promote their satisfaction. Third,a specific preparation should be made to enhance the integration process of theservice workers. Fourth, the integration should be considered in the context of thecommunity and networks. Finally, further studies are needed to understand how theintegration influence family policy and social policy in larger contexts.

This study is to review the policy objective of the spread of family value in 2ndFamily Policy 2011-2015. The spread of family value is newly adapted sphere in 2ndFamily Policy. But this policy objective is not clear, diverse or comprehensive. So,this study attempts to examine two questions: what is the family value in healthyfamily policy? How this objective is reflected to policy services. Because families are shaped by changes in social norm or trend, this studyexamined the changing demographics of family affect to family value. And themeaning of family value and the viewpoints are clarified. Last, for the extend of thispolicy objective, this study suggests to reach consensus on future family in Korean society, to emphasize function of family as social safety net.

This study explores interpretations of grandmothers’ experiences rearing theirgrandchildren. For this study, 13 participants provided in-depth interview data, whichwas analyzed according to Spradely’s ethnographic method. Based on the pattern ofinterpretations, nine concepts were classified into three categories: (i) repentance(compulsive decisions, passivity of the childrearing activity, non-compensation); (ii)sorrow (restrictions on everyday life, renunciation of occupational careers, worsenedhealth); and (iii) satisfaction (decreased isolation in old age, proof of existence fortheir children, intimacy development with their grandchild). The results of this studyshow that grandmothers have a higher appreciation for the benefits of relationalcompensation than for personal cost. Some practical implications are suggested toimprove family welfare.

The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of grandmothersand family in transition. Grandmothers in transition means grandmothers who hadmarried children at least one even if there are no grandchildren yet. The data for this study came from 20 grandmothers in transition of 5 focusgroup(each 4 persons) interview. 9 of them was pre-grandmother without grandchildrenyet, 11 was grandmother who had grandchildren. The result of this study revealed that the meaning of grandmotherhood. Dynamicsof family in transition around supporting child care represent change of familyrelations. It didn't means 'empty-nest' model of foreign theory. The Absolute quantityof intergeneral exchange and conflict extended as three generational families.

The number of Healthy Family Support Centers has increased and the services forenhancement of family strength have extended during the past ten years since theFramework Act on Healthy Families was enacted. It is time to pay attention to theempowerment for Healthy Family Specialist because their capability is directly linkedto improve the quality of services, which means the satisfaction of family services andthe quality of family policy. In this context, this study investigate organizationalexperience of Healthy Family Specialists and suggest the empowerment plan toenhance their capability. We conducted in-depth interviews for 9 Healthy FamilySpecialists who is currently working at Healthy Family Support Centers as a managerstatus during June 2014. We analyzed organizational experiences through jobcommitment and job satisfaction and empowerment plans through their strength andweakness. Our findings revealed that job commitment and job satisfaction of HealthyFamily Specialist are relatively low due to a poor working condition and a low brandawareness. Also, the capability of Healthy Family Specialists is an important factor todetermine their job commitment and job satisfaction, and it can impact on the longservice. These results suggest that the payroll system, increment of salary, careerrecognition, employee benefit, systematic operation, and motivation are needed toimprove their job satisfaction. There are various ways to improve professionalcapability of Healthy Family Specialists besides education program. This studycontributes to make the plan of empowerment for Healthy Family Specialists and italso contributes to improve the service quality of family policy.

The purpose of this study was to explore a typology of time allocation, investigatedeterminants of time allocation types, and analyze differences in time use satisfactionby the types of time use of the elderly. The data source for this research was the 2009 Time Use Survey conducted by theKorea National Statistical office (KNSO). The 4,699 time diaries (3,552 for weekday,1,147 for Sunday) completed by the elderly over the age of 60 were analyzed usingmean, standard deviation, chi-square, cluster analysis, ANOVA analysis, Duncan test,and multinomial logistic regression analysis. Time allocation of the elderly was classified into four types: personal care oriented,work oriented, leisure oriented, and balanced type. Gender, age, education,employment status, income, and the presence of spouse were identified as determinants for each type. According to the types of time allocation, time use satisfaction wasdifferent on week days.