재미한인들의 사회자본과 한인사회: 워싱턴 DC 한인들을 중심으로

Abstract

Through 42 in-depth interviews, this exploratory study sought to understand how members of the Korean diaspora in the Washington, DC,area make meaning of their ethnic enclave and ways in which social capital influence the meaning making process and make up of their cultural identity. The findings revealed that Koreans create opportunities for social capital through church network; within the church community, their Christian faith, and small tight-knit personal networks were used to expand and extend social capital. The older generations were found to be in the center of building and using social capital; and the younger generations were found to have limited access to church capital due to their weak sense of belonging in the Korean community. Findings also suggest weak social capital at the community level as social capital in the Korean community tends to be accumulated and exhausted at church level andsmall-group level because of the ways in which Koreans network. Factorsthat contributed to weak community capital, ways in which community capital could be accumulated, and suggestions for future studies are provided.