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South Korea experienced international scrutiny over its irregular intercountry adoption practices in the 1980s. However, it eventually came to be viewed as a model of transparent and efficient adoptions. This façade disguises an orphan adoption system that has become entrenched over the decades. Today, adoptees continue to lobby for their right to origins. This paper explores South Korea’s laws and policies, which nullified the rights of adoptees, and it calls for receiving countries to assume co-responsibility to restore these rights.
This seminar was given as part of the Korean Adoptee Adoption Research Network's inaugural seminar series, The Right to Know. Each speaker of the series discussed the concept of the right to origin and examined the broader social, legal and political implications in South Korea as a sending country along with experiences from North America and Europe as receiving countries.
Introduction
The number of children in need has declined over the years. The importance of foster home has grown as the demands for child care become increasingly characterized by high levels of specialization and diversification. Also, the demand for quality in child care has led to a social tendency toward smaller facilities. Against this background, Korea’s child welfare facilities, having long served as providers of out-of-home and alternative care for children in need under 18 years of age, have since around 2000 been facing the need to change their functions and…
Abstract
Unwed single mothers in South Korea are a highly vulnerable population in terms of socioeconomic status, lack of social support, and the high level of discrimination that they have to live through due to existing stigma attached to this population. As a result, they are more likely to be living in poverty, and to be socially isolated and less likely to utilize health- and mental health care. The short essay presents the unwed single mothers’ increased vulnerabilities during COVID-19 pandemic in terms of childcare, financial crisis, and mental health.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to longitudinally examine the effects of stigma on the development of children living in out-of-home care situations, specifically with regards to self-esteem and antisocial behavior. Using a stratified sampling method, data from 341 children aged 11 or 12 living in out-of-home care (residential institutions, group homes, and foster homes) were collected five times, from 2011 to 2015. The results of latent growth modeling (LGM) analyses were as follows. First, individuals demonstrated different levels of stigma at ages 11 or 12, and the levels of…
Abstract
In order to offer client-centered services, it is important to measure children’s service satisfaction and reflect their needs to out-of-home care practices and policies. However, a reliable measure that assesses children’s satisfaction about out-of-home care is not found in Korea. This study aimed to develop a Korean out-of-home care satisfaction scale. The study sample consisted of 484 children from institutional care, group homes, and foster homes in Korea. Half of the sample was chosen randomly for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) based on 16 items from the Korean Foster Care…
Abstract
Past research indicates that parental maltreatment increases the risk of problems in adolescence; however, research is limited on how a specific form of maltreatment, supervisory neglect, is associated with the experience of peer victimization. In this study, we aim to help clarify the pathway from parental supervisory neglect to peer victimization through the mediating roles of self-esteem and internalizing problems among adolescents in South Korea. Data were derived from the Korea Welfare Panel Study of 2009 which included 605 middle school-aged adolescents (299 girls and 306…
Abstract
For adopted individuals, understanding the role of birth family is an important part of developing a coherent life narrative. However, there is limited empirical research on this aspect of the adoption experience. We introduce a new construct, birth family thoughts, that captures a sense of curiosity about birth family, and describe the development of an accompanying brief self-report measure, the Birth Family Thoughts Scale (BFTS). Across 4 studies of transnationally adopted Korean American adolescents, emerging adults, and adults who were adopted before the…
Abstract
Background
A history of childhood abuse has been found to adversely affect the transition to motherhood. Compared to other children, children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at higher risk of being maltreated at home. However, maternal parenting self-efficacy has been found to improve mothers’ positive interactions with their children.
Objective
Given that, this study examined the moderating effect of maternal parenting self-efficacy on the relationship between mothers’ childhood abuse experience and their abuse of their children with IDDs.…
Abstract
In order to offer client-centered services, it is important to measure children’s service satisfaction and reflect their needs to out-of-home care practices and policies. However, a reliable measure that assesses children’s satisfaction about out-of-home care is not found in Korea. This study aimed to develop a Korean out-of-home care satisfaction scale. The study sample consisted of 484 children from institutional care, group homes, and foster homes in Korea. Half of the sample was chosen randomly for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) based on 16 items from the Korean Foster Care…