ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

As the number of centers integrating Healthy Family Support Centers and Multicultural Family Support Centers increases, providing professional family services that meet the characteristics of multicultural families has increasingly been emphasized. The purpose of this research was to examine the behaviors and attitudes of Korean male spouses in multicultural families who are attempting to improve the quality of their marital relationships. It is also to provide suggestions for marital education programs for Korean male spouses. Focus group interviews were conducted with 12 Korean male spouses of multicultural families who participated in Multicultural Family Support Center programs. Themes related to the participants’ behaviors and attitudes were as follows: “responding flexibly to marital conflict;” “taking a neutral attitude toward conflicts between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law;” “supporting families’ bilingual use;” “understanding the wife’s native culture;” “building trust by giving family economic rights to the wife and preparing for economic security after retirement;” “ agreeing on support for the wife’s family of origin;” “supporting the wife’s growth;” and “taking full advantage of the Multicultral Family Support Center and self-help groups.” Based on the results, marital education programs for Korean male spouses need to include four topics: family relations, multicultural understanding, family finances, and social support.

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