Experience of Child-Rearing of Filipino Married Immigrant Women

Abstract

Purpose:The purpose of this study was to identify experiences of immigrant women from Philippines in childrearing. Methods: The study design was a qualitative research. Participants were 15 Filipino immigrant women living in rural Korea. Average age was 37 and average duration of marriage was 11 years. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and participants were interviewed once or twice between December 2009 and February 2010. Data were analyzed with Colaizzi's (1978) phenomenological methodology. Results: The Four themes-clusters were identified from fourteen themes. The theme-clusters (themes) were 1) Responsibility of a mother as a foreigner (being a role-model, patience, strict upbringing); 2) Practical problems of child-rearing (parenting alone, language difficulties, financial difficulties, lack of husbands' support, cultural obstacles; 3) Worries about their children (children's emotional problems, speech disorders, maladjustment at school); 4) Hopes for the future (self-satisfaction, expectations for their children, social support). Conclusion: The results help in understanding the situation of immigrant women from the Philippines when they nurture their children and suggest the necessity of programs focusing on improving mother-child relationships, especially as related to mothers' limited language skills. Further comprehensive education programs to improve better father-child relationships in relating to each other should be developed.

Factors Affecting Health Behaviors in Late School-aged Children from Multicultural Families

“…Multicultural children presented significantly lower scores for the mother-child relationship and school adjustment than non-multicultural students, in addition to their poorer scores for health behaviors, suggesting that multicultural children's environmental support system may also be vulnerable. This study supports the results of previous studies [15,25] that reported poor-quality mother-child relationships in multicultural families, due to the fact that mothers of multicultural families immigrate at the time of marriage and, in a short time frame, experience the drastic change of childbirth in addition to facing the burden of child-rearing, a combination that contributes to high parenting stress and low maternal identity, placing them at a greater risk of difficulties in mother-child bonding from the early stages of their children's lives [25]. Subsequently, it becomes easier to use physical instead of verbal punishment as the child grows and the mother's Koreanlanguage proficiency falls short compared to that of her child, and school enrollment may cause mother-child conflicts due to the child's disrespect toward the mother, who is unfamiliar with educational programs and culture in Korea [15].…”

“…Especially when their children become elementary school students and begin to follow the regular school curriculum, foreign mothers face difficulties in guiding their children to learn due to their different sociocultural background, the unfamiliarity of the curriculum, and their poor Korean proficiency. The low parenting efficacy that stems from mothers' poor ability to guide their children's learning further disturbs their relationship with their children, and it therefore may be easier for children to disregard their mothers or demonstrate negative attitudes toward them [15]. This interrupts the formation of the mother-child relationship and interfere with mothers' roles as the health behavior educators and facilitators for their children.…”

“…Considering the magnitude of school's influence on school-aged children [4], school adjustment can be a significant factor affecting children's quality of life and even lifestyle factors, such as health behaviors. However, multicultural children may have difficulties making friends of their own age due to their exotic appearance, language problems, or underachievement in school, and they are therefore susceptible to difficulties in school adjustment, including experiences of psychological problems, refusal to attend school due to bullying [15], and timidity stemming from a sense of repulsion, humiliation, and isolation due to their unusual family environment, which is different from that of their peers [17]. In a large-scale longitudinal study of 3,808 first-grade elementary students in Korea [18], peer relationships showed significant correlations with scores on the Child Behavior Checklist, which is used to evaluate children's social adjustment, emotion, and behavioral problems, as well as with emotional and behavioral problems measured using the Youth Self Report in early adolescence (13~15 years of age).…”

Depressive stress related symptoms and associated factors among marriage immigrant women: Focused on risk factors and protective factors

“…선행연구에서 자녀가 결혼이주여성의 정신건강에 보호효과가 있는 것으로 보고되었으며 (Song & An, 2011), 가족 구성원 간의 애착 관계, 지지여부의 보호효 과 (Masten, 2007;Park & Yoo, 1999)도 확인되었다.…”

The Effect of Children’s Behavior on Foreign Immigrant Wives’ Quality of Life in Korea

“…Different cultural backgrounds and differences in consciousness have caused conflicts and difficulties among multicultural family members. In particular, immigrant women may have difficulties with communication due to poor language competence, which can lead to difficulties with childcare [3]. The foreign immigrant wives in Korea do not want their children to experience the same discrimination and prejudice that they experience.…”