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"Western thoughts, Eastern feelings": A study of filial piety and elder mistreatment among Korean immigrants in New Zealand

Little is known about Korean older migrants and their lives in New Zealand. They are likely to be ‘invisible’ in the community and wider society. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the issue of elder mistreatment and filial piety among Korean immigrant families in New Zealand. The study was designed with a mixed methodological approach that utilised both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Data were collected from three sources: key informant interviews with 20 key informants, a structured survey with 50 older people, and in-depth interviews with 10 abused persons. Data were analysed by employing a two-fold analytical approach. In the primary analysis, concept mapping and SPSS analysis were respectively used to analyse the data collected from qualitative and quantitative studies. Major points of the findings emerged from the secondary analysis in which all data were evaluated by utilising the concept mapping method in an integrated way.

Elder mistreatment occurred among Korean older migrants who arrived in New Zealand during their old age. The findings of the study have shown how older people manage their experiences of elder abuse and neglect in the new country. Psychological and emotional effects of elder mistreatment have been highlighted in relation to ‘Hwa-byung’, a culture-bound anger syndrome among victims. The concept of ‘anomic abuse’ has been developed based on the experiences and perceptions of older people who faced difficulties with their offspring because of changes in cultural norms and regulations. The concept of ‘filiality’ is presented as an alternative term to ‘filial piety’ reflecting the emphasis on filial love and emotional closeness between generations in the care of older people. The study has provided a filial justice approach to working with older people as a framework to tackle the problem of elder mistreatment in domestic settings in order to promote the human rights, well-being and health of older people. / Thesis available in print.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:canterbury.ac.nz/oai:ir.canterbury.ac.nz:10092/5509
Date January 2011
CreatorsPark, Hong-Jae
PublisherUniversity of Canterbury. School of Social and Political Sciences
Source SetsUniversity of Canterbury
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic thesis or dissertation, Text
RightsCopyright Hong-Jae Park, http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/thesis/etheses_copyright.shtml
RelationNZCU

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