ABSTRACT
Given their collectivist values, Koreans have typically been concerned with family unity, privacy, and saving face. This orientation has led to a tendency to see any behavior that is publicly embarrassing (e.g., showing disrespect of elders in front of other people) as more abusive than using physical aggression in the home. Consistent with this orientation, Koreans put considerable emphasis on emotional maltreatment, indicating that “indifference toward family members,” and not treating them respectfully as human beings are very abusive. Interestingly, because of the established tradition wherein firstborn sons take care of their parents physically and financially in later years, the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship has considerable significance. There has been a growing awareness of the possibility of maltreatment from mothers-in-law toward daughters-in-law in earlier years, and of daughters-inlaw toward mothers-in-law in later years. In addition, a tradition of childrearing that enforces parents’ values, along with a more contemporary concern about childrens academic achievement, has sometimes led to child maltreatment, a problem exacerbated in recent decades by intensive economic growth. Finally, although there was traditionally no recognition of sexual violence as a potential marital problem in Korean society, progressive scholars/experts have recently proposed the concept of “marital rape.”
