Displaying 1 - 10 of 11
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.
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
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
Previous research has suggested that children and adolescents in residential care are at high risk of suicide. Empirical studies on this topic in South Korea, however, are scarce. Our objectives were to 1) examine the relative risk of suicide among children in residential care compared with those not in residential care, 2) evaluate how the relative risk of suicide is associated with age, and 3) explore the trend in relative risk of suicide over time. We used repeated cross-sectional survey data from nationally representative samples of 848,451 children aged 12 to 18 in South…
Abstract
International adoptees are highly heterogeneous in terms of their pre-adoption adversities and their post-adoption experiences, needs, and problems. The diversity among international adoptees poses a challenge related to adequately addressing their needs. The first aim of this study was to find subgroups of adult international adoptees based on common risk and protective factors using a latent class analysis. The second aim was to examine whether the identified subgroups differed in outcome variables such as life satisfaction …
Abstract
The child protection service workforce has been constantly challenged by high turnover due to the stressful nature of the job. To address high turnover, prior research has examined a wide range of predictors of child protection workers' intent to leave. This study aimed to identify the interrelationships of risk and protective factors, job satisfaction and burnout to child protection workers' intent to leave, the relative impact between job satisfaction and burnout on intent to leave, and their mediating roles for the risk and protective factors. Analyzing survey data from 93.9%…
Abstract
Using unique 5-year longitudinal data on Korean children in group homes and those under institutional care, this paper compared the medium-term cost-effectiveness of group homes and that of institutional care facilities in terms of developmental outcomes. Results from propensity score matching estimation show that children in group homes tend to have more desirable positive outcomes and fewer behavioral problems in the medium term to a statistically significant margin. The cost-effectiveness ratio of being placed in a group home is consistently higher than placement in an…