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KMID : 0614420150430040031
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Mental Health & Social Work
2015 Volume.43 No. 4 p.31 ~ p.62
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The Lived Experiences of Immigrant Women Married to Men with Schizophrenia in Korea
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Chae Wan-Soon
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Abstract
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Immigrant women married to men with schizophrenia in Korea are experiencing difficulties in adjusting to the unexpected marital life. This paper aims to analyze the process and patterns of these women’s marital life and provide implications for interventions to help them.
This paper is based on the grounded theory methodology. Twelve women, all mothers, were selected as research participants by aid of mental health centers, halfway houses, and multicultural family centers nationwide. The personal stories were collected by in-depth interviews. The data analysis resulted in 190 concepts, 25 subcategories, and 15 superordinate categories. These women’s adjustment process to marital life showed 4 stages from “Disappointment” to “Survival.” The core category was “Enduring and Taking Root in the Infertile Soil.” Their marital life had 3 patterns, and the most common pattern was “Reality-escaping.”
This paper initially reveals what the immigrant women married to men with schizophrenia in Korea suffer, and how they handle the unexpected marital life. To help these women to establish sound relationships with their families and to sustainably take root in Korean society, the local communities and the government should provide them with customized services to fit each stage and pattern.
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KEYWORD
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immigrant women, marital life, schizophrenia, grounded theory
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