| dcterms.abstract | Despite the expansion of theoretical understanding of post-1965 Korean immigrants, less scholarly attention has focused on inter-generational socialization of Korean families in the United States. Based on interviews and online survey data, this dissertation aims at exploring the role of the family in the process of becoming American, particularly through parenting practices. What has been blocked or transmitted from one generation to the next and how? And why have second-generation Korean American parents been led to make these decisions about parenting over others? In answering these questions, the project focuses on three dimensions of parenting practices: 1) communication style, 2) gender socialization, and 3) education. Communication style is the domain in which generational changes are most evident. Korean Americans’ differing strategies are highlighted in their preference for English, emphasis on autonomy and individualism, preference for straightforwardness, increased expression of physical affection, and decreased reliance on corporal punishment. Next, gender socialization is examined through two topics: arrangement of household chores and children’s dating and marriage. Some generational shifts toward gender-egalitarianism are noticeable, but the data indicate that the overall progress in gender socialization is limited. As a result of maternal gatekeeping operated at individual and societal levels, Korean American families’ division of family work has struggled with the disparity between gender egalitarian expectations and gender-based behaviors. Regarding children’s dating and marriage, I observed that Korean American parents’ attitudes are conservative like their parents’, but that they employ more liberal strategies. Last, education broadly covers academic, ethnic, and religious education. The adult children of Korean immigrants are more likely than not to appreciate the legacy of education inherited from their parents and show a stronger tendency for continuity in their parenting practices in this realm than others, and therefore exhibit more modifications than radical transformation. | |
