Virtuous transcendence : holistic self-cultivation and self-healing in elderly Korean immigrants / Keum Young Chung Pang.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pang, Keum Young Chung.

Series:

Haworth aging, psychology, and mental health

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Korean Americans--Health and hygiene--United States.

Korean Americans.

Immigrants--Health and hygiene--United States.

Immigrants.

Older people--Care--United States.

Older people.

Older people--Care.

Health attitudes.

Immigrants--Health and hygiene.

United States.

Health attitudes--United States.

Older people--Cross-cultural studies.

Genre:

Cross-cultural studies.

Physical Description:

xviii, 229 pages ; 229.

Place of Publication:

New York : Haworth Press, [2000]

Summary:

Koreans seem to appreciate the melancholy of a sentimental nature. In the last century they faced tragedies like human cruelty, hunger from poverty, lack of educational opportunity, separation from loved ones by wars, rejection, betrayal, mistrust and even death. Virtuous Transcendence illuminates the concept that Koreans have developed ways of turning depression into "sweet sorrow" to be able to live with it as a transcending experience instead of abhorring it.

Virtuous Transcendence relates elderly Korean immigrants' personal stones of everyday life, illness, and self-care in American and Korean context. The author's in-depth research broadly and deeply discusses the origins and physical/psychological aspects of illness in elderly Korean immigrants.

Contents:

Theoretical Foundation 3

Trying to Live As Americans Do 6

Still Living by Korean Customs 7

Parents Can Take Care of Ten Children, but Ten Children Cannot Support Their Parents 7

Family Life 8

Women's Lives 8

Men's Lives 9

Health, Illness, and Self-Care 10

At Last, Death 10

Theoretical Background in Somatization and Self-Care 11

Part I Ethos, Health, and Illness

Chapter 1. Theoretical Foundation 23

The Urge to Tell Stories 23

Depression 23

Korean Ethos 28

Mind-Body-Nature Cultivation in Korea 29

Ancestors, Family, and Filial Piety in Korea 30

Proverbs Reflecting Korean Values 32

Self-Care 34

Other Remedies 37

Korean Immigrants and Depression 40

Chapter 2. Method 41

Meaning and Interpretation of "Stories About Everyday Life" 43

Part II Korean-American Stories

Chapter 3. Trying to Live As Americans Do 49

Optimistic Start: "I Don't See People, Only Cars on the Street" 49

Sad But Not Depressed: "Are We Beggars or Houseguests in America?" 51

Accepting Children's Adaptation to American Ways 53

The Transformation of Despair into Hope 54

Stress Caused by Discrimination 55

Helping Children and Preparing for the Citizenship Test at the Same Time 56

An Elderly Immigrant Woman's Life 58

Chapter 4. Still Living by Korean Customs 61

Ancestor Veneration and Hwabyung: Psychosocial, Cosmological, and Supernatural Causes 61

A Virtuous Woman Leading a Contented Life 63

A Cultivated Person Will Not Be Depressed 67

A Wise Mother and a Good Wife (Hyun Mo Yang Chuh) 68

Living in a Four-Generation Extended Family Household 71

Dealing with Age Discrimination 74

Chapter 5. Parents Can Take Care of Ten Children, but Ten Children Cannot Support Their Parents 77

Living Independently and Transcending Grief 77

Happiness and Gratitude 79

Hwabyung and Intergenerational Conflicts 81

Demystifying Family Solidarity: "I Fought with My Only Child Every Day" 84

Inability to Forgive a Grandchild 88

Chapter 6. Family Life 93

A Couple Living Separately for the Children's Sake 93

A Son Who Obeys His Wife's Command 97

Shame and Guilt Experiences Because of Deaths in the Family 99

Chapter 7. Women's Lives: Has Marriage Been Bitter, Salty, or Hot? 103

Enjoying Peace: Forgiving the Unforgivable Through God's Grace 103

Continued Suffering After Many Losses 108

Achieving Healing After Injury to the Mind, Emotions, and Soul 113

Materially Poor, but Free of Hwabyung and Living by Faith 118

Depression: A Personal Experience 120

Regret and Anxiety in Anticipation of Death 123

"I Laugh When People Say They Have Hwabyung" 125

Chapter 8. Men's Lives: "I Have to Cook and Do the Wash Although I Am a Man" 129

A Lonely Korean Gentleman 129

Depression Caused by Health Problems 139

Pluralistic Care for Holistic Health 141

Chapter 9. Health, Illness, and Self-Care: "There Is No Caring Son for a Long Illness" 145

A Natural Progression of Later Life 145

Physical Illness Caused by Depression 149

Health Through Independence 154

Living Courageously and Patiently 158

The Tasks of Old Age 160

Emotions Expressed As Physical Illness 162

Recovery from Abuse Through Self-Cultivation 167

Keeping Faith and High Moral Standards of Conduct to Defeat Depression 172

Chapter 10. At Last, Death: Can a Person Really Want to Die? 175

Disengagement of Korean Elders 175

Waiting to Die Naturally 177

Sociodemographic Observations 181

Reciprocal Relations with Children 182

Filial Piety 183

Changes in Gender Roles 185

Creating Harmony with Children 185

Past Traumas 185

The Need to Reciprocate 186

The Struggle for Harmony Through Independence 187

Does Fatalism Stop People from Helping Themselves? 189

Koreans and Chong 190

Korean Popular Illnesses 193

Holism: Expressions of Emotional Distress in Physical Terms 194

The Blessings of Korean Popular Illnesses 198

Self-Care 198

Resolving Depression 199

Spiritual Awareness 200.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-219) and index.

ISBN:

0789009285

0789009293

OCLC:

42888017