Experience of Korean Sisters-in-law Who Have Immigrant women as Family Members by International Marriage

Abstract

This was a qualitative study designed to explore the daily lives of Korean women who took in an immigrant through their husbands brothers international marriage, as their sisters-in-law. Subjects were six Korean women, selected by snowball sampling. Data was collected from May 1 through August 31, 2013, using the phenomenological research method. A 1-to 2-hour session of in-depth, face-to-face interviews and informatory observation was conducted for each subject. The data was analyzed by a phenomenological study through an ongoing process. As a result, the data was organized into 6 categories, 14 main thematic domains and 31 properties. The categories included: Blaming the who is different from what was expected, Afraid of suffering damage because of her, Acknowledging the way of life of her own, Understanding her as another woman, Accepting her as my sister-in-law and Being in harmony with her through trust and love. Korean women come to empathize with their foreign sisters-in-law because, as women, they are in the same circumstances. Love for the foreign sisters-in-law begins to germinate in the sisters-in-law as supporters through a stage of accepting them as their new family members. It is noted that this experience leads the families to healthy and stable harmony. Keyword: Immigrant, Women, Sister-in-law, life experience, phenomenological research method