Acculturation among Korean Immigrants in the United States: A Study on the role of church considering ethnic community and hospitality

초록

The immigration experiences include the immediate and long-term impact of Korean Immigrants in the United States. Acculturation refers to the process by which foreign-born individuals and their families learn and adopt language, values, beliefs, and the behaviors of the new socio-cultural environment. This study introduced three models of acculturation process: unidimensional, bidimensional, and multidimensional to address the acculturation experience of Korean immigrants. This study illustrates, when Korean Immigrants faced challenges inherent in acculturation process, Korean churches have played crucial roles based on two interdisciplinary concepts, hospitality and ethnic community. First, Korean immigrant churches, based on social perspectives, have established their ethnic community where they could find their social, cultural, and material needs and affirm ethnic affiliations and identities. Second, this study showed the feature that the reciprocal hospitality opened the opportunity for korean immigrants to outreach from ethnic community to mainstream society. This study highlighted both social and ethical role of ethnic church in the acculturation process among Korean immigrants.

키워드