Marriage Migrants In Korea Research Articles

Integration of Marriage Migrants in Korea and Japan: A Comparative Analysis of Ethnic Nationalism and Citizenship

Multiculturalism has been a relatively recent trend in Korea and Japan. Since the 1990s, both countries have been witnessing a rising influx of immigrants, the majority of whom were labor migrants and marriage migrants. Labor migrants have been accepted only as temporary residents. Contrary to this, marriage migrants have been seen as permanent residents, who need to integrate into the family and society. Both the Korean and Japanese governments have been providing them with relatively easy access to permanent residency and naturalization. Despite this effort, marriage migrants experience legal vulnerability, and they experience prejudice and discrimination with their families and society. This problem, even though highlighted by politicians and academics, has been persisting in society, and it has usually been researched as a policy problem or phenomenon that happens independently of its societal surroundings. However, because unequal treatment of migrants is related to social conditions as well as legal and policy issues, this study approaches the problem by examining marriage migrants' citizenship on three levels: legal, social, and identity. The study elaborates the causes behind their mistreatment through national identity and related nationalism. Both Korea and Japan possess an ethnic sense of belonging; they are perceived as ethnically homogeneous, monocultural nations. Therefore, the integration of ethnically different migrants presents a significant challenge. Ethnic nationalism in both countries manifests also in its subform, nouveau‐riche nationalism. It is responsible for deep‐seated beliefs in cultural superiority and evaluating people based on their country of origin and skin color. The study demonstrates the impact of ethnic nationalism on the legal level of citizenship in both countries and elaborates that this impact has been more restrictive in Japan than in Korea. Furthermore, nouveau‐riche nationalism is shown to have a negative impact on the social and identity levels of citizenship in both counties, whereas in Japan social stigma and prejudices are shown to be more serious than in Korea.

결혼이주여성의 초국가적 가족연계: 결혼이주여성 본국 가족과의 동거 현황과 결정요인에 대한 탐색적 연구

이 연구는 한국사회에서 다문화가족의 초국가적 가족연계에 대한 관심이 부족하다는 점에서 출발하였다. 우리나라는 원칙적으로 가족 단위의 이민을 허락하지 않지만 2012년 결혼이주여성들의 초기 정착 및 출산과 양육지원을 위하여 가족초청제도가 도입되었다. 따라서 결혼이주여성들의 본국 가족들이 합법적으로 한국에서 일정기간 함께 살면서 여러 가지 지원 제공을 할 수 있다. 그러나 결혼이주여성들의 본국 가족 동거 현상 및 차별적 결정요인에 대해서는 잘 알려진 바 없다. 2018년 전국다문화가족실태 조사자료를 분석한 결과, 결혼이주여성 중 5% 정도만 현재 본국 가족과 함께 살고 있으며 어머니와 함께 사는 비율이 압도적으로 높다. 베트남과 중국(조선족과 한족) 출신이 본국 가족과 동거하는 비율이 높으며, 여성의 경제활동, 미취학 자녀 수, 본국 가족을 한국에 초청한 경험, 가구소득이 본국 가족과의 동거 확률에 정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 반면 결혼이주여성의 연령, 결혼기간, 한국인 배우자의 부모님과 동거는 본국 가족과의 동거 확률을 낮추었다. 즉 동일한 제도적 여건하에서도 가족에 대한 문화적 가치관, 현실적인 경제적 조건, 여성의 경제활동, 과거 교류 경험이 동거의 차이를 나타냄을 알 수 있다. 본국 가족 중 어머니, 부모님 모두, 여자형제와 사는 경우로 구분하여 살펴보면, 미취학 아동수와 과거 결혼이주여성의 본국 가족을 한국으로 초청했던 경험만 일관적으로 동거확률을 높이는 것으로 나타났다. 즉 과거 교류 경험이 중요하며 결혼이주여성의 자녀양육 및 돌봄에 대한 책임을 덜어주기 위해 본국 가족과의 동거가 일어나는 것으로 이해할 수 있다. 결혼이주여성의 초국가적 가족연계를 보다 면밀히 살펴보기 위하여 관련 자료 수집 및 사회적, 학문적 관심이 요구된다.

A Study on the Current Status of Korean Culture Education and Intercultural Sensitivity of Marriage Migrants in Korea

본 연구는 한국에 거주하는 결혼이민자의 문화간 감수성의 정도를 측정하고, 한국어문화교육의 정도와 문화간 감수성의 관계를 알아보는 것을 그 목적으로 한다. 연구를 위한 조사는 2018년 5월 14일부터 5월 28일까지 온라인 설문 양식을 통해 진행되었으며, 총 53명의 결혼이민자의 문화간 감수성 연구 자료를 수집하였다. 연구에 사용된 설문 문항은 Chen & Starosta(2000)에 의해 개발된 문화간 감수성 척도를 사용하여, 이를 SPSSWIN 24 통계 프로그램으로 분석하였다. 그 결과 한국에 거주하는 결혼이민자의 문화간 감수성은 5.0점 만점에서 평균 3.61로 높은 문화간 감수성을 가지고 있다는 것을 밝힐 수 있었다. 또한 외국어와 타문화의 학습 기간이 늘어남에 따라 문화간 감수성이 향상된다는 기존의 연구 결과와 달리 본 연구에서는 한국어문화교육 정도에 따른 문화간 감수성과의 정적인 상관관계는 찾아볼 수 없었다. 그러나 연구 결과 분석을 통해 한국으로의 이주 후 한국어문화교육을 받은 기간 2년 기점으로 오히려 문화간 감수성의 정도가 낮아지며, 타문화에 대한 폐쇄적인 경향이 나타난다는 사실을 찾아낼 수 있었다. 따라서 본 연구는 이와 같은 결과를 바탕으로 이후 결혼이민자들의 문화간 감수성과 문화적응 주기를 고려한 다양한 교육 방안 설계가 이루어져야 할 필요성이 요구됨을 제안한다.

Community-based social service utilization of marriage migrants in Korea: Focusing on differences by women’s country of origin

While social services for marriage migrant women have proliferated in the past few years, research on the use of those services remains limited. This study examines factors associated with women’s use of multiple types of services, focusing on the effects of women’s country of origin. We use Gelberg–Andersen’s behavioral model for the theoretical framework and exploit the 2015 National Survey on Multicultural Families for analyses. The results from multi-group analyses reveal that Korean-Chinese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Filipina women all used services in systematically different patterns, and that different factors were associated with service use depending on women’s country of origin. Implications for practice and policies are provided based on the findings.

Investigating the Associations between Ethnic Networks, Community Social Capital, and Physical Health among Marriage Migrants in Korea.

This study examines factors associated with the physical health of Korea’s growing immigrant population. Specifically, it focuses on the associations between ethnic networks, community social capital, and self-rated health (SRH) among female marriage migrants. For empirical testing, secondary analysis of a large nationally representative sample (NSMF 2009) is conducted. Given the clustered data structure (individuals nested in communities), a series of two-level random intercepts and slopes models are fitted to probe the relationships between SRH and interpersonal (bonding and bridging) networks among foreign-born wives in Korea. In addition to direct effects, cross-level interaction effects are investigated using hierarchical linear modeling. While adjusting for confounders, bridging (inter-ethnic) networks are significantly linked with better health. Bonding (co-ethnic) networks, to the contrary, are negatively associated with immigrant health. Net of individual-level covariates, living in a commuijnity with more aggregate bridging social capital is positively linked with health. Community-level bonding social capital, however, is not a significant predictor. Lastly, two cross-level interaction terms are found. First, the positive relationship between bridging network and health is stronger in residential contexts with more aggregate bridging social capital. Second, it is weaker in communities with more aggregate bonding social capital.

Don't ask for fair treatment? A gender analysis of ethnic discrimination, response to discrimination, and self-rated health among marriage migrants in South Korea.

BackgroundEthnic discrimination is increasingly common nowadays in South Korea with the influx of migrants. Despite the growing body of evidences suggests that ethnic discrimination negatively impacts health, only few researches have been conducted on the association between ethnic discrimination and health outcomes among marriage migrants in Korea. This study sought to examine how ethnic discrimination and response to the discrimination are related to self-rated health and whether the association differs by victim’s gender.MethodsWe conducted two-step analysis using cross-sectional dataset from the ‘National Survey of Multicultural Families 2012’. First, we examined the association between perceived ethnic discrimination and self-rated health among 14,406 marriage migrants in Korea. Second, among the marriage migrants who experienced ethnic discrimination (n=5,880), we examined how response to discrimination (i.e., whether or not asking for fair treatment) is related to poor self-rated health. All analyses were conducted after being stratified by the migrant’s gender.ResultsThis research found the significant association between ethnic discrimination and poor self-rated health among female marriage migrants (OR: 1.53, 95 % CI: 1.32, 1.76), but not among male marriage migrants (OR: 1.16, 95 % CI: 0.81, 1.66). In the restricted analysis with marriage migrants who experienced ethnic discrimination, compared to the group who did not ask for fair treatment, female marriage migrants who asked for fair treatment were more likely to report poor self-rated health (OR: 1.21, 95 % CI: 0.98, 1.50); however, male marriage migrants who asked for fair treatment were less likely to report poor self-rated health (OR: 0.65, 95 % CI: 0.36, 1.04) although both were not statistically significant.ConclusionsThis is the first study to investigate gender difference in the association between response to ethnic discrimination and self-rated health in South Korea. We discussed that gender may play an important role in the association between response to discrimination and self-rated health among marriage migrants in Korea. In order to prevent discrimination which could endanger the health of ethnic minorities including marriage migrants, relevant policies are needed.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12939-016-0396-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A Paradox of Marriage Migration as a Strategy against Poverty - Cases of Filipino Marriage Migrants in Korea

A Paradox of Marriage Migration as a Strategy against Poverty - Cases of Filipino Marriage Migrants in Korea