Cross-Cultural Considerations with Korean American Clients: A Perspective on Psychological Assessment

Abstract

The Korean American population was the fastest growing of all Asian groups between 1990 and 2000, from 799,000 to 1,073,000 individuals, a 35 % increase (US Bureau of the Census, 2004). Persons of Korean descent compose over 10 % of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in the USA. Currently, Korean Americans rank among the largest AAPI subgroup in the USA (US Bureau of the Census, 2004). While other ethnic groups have been in the USA for several generations, more than two out of three Korean Americans are foreign-born, first generation immigrants. Given that Korean Americans have a relatively shorter immigration history compared to other ethnic groups, this may impact their familiarity with and assimilation into American culture. As such, greater research on immigration stress, discrimination, and psychological adjustment is needed for Korean American families. The Sino-Japanese War, which took place in Korea, initiated Korea's first wave of immigration to the USA. Between 1903 and 1905, approximately 7,000 Koreans immigrated to Hawaii for better living conditions than that existed in Korea at the time and the Japanese annexation in Korea brought Korean women as picture brides. On the islands of Hawaii, there was a need for laborers to work on the sugar plantations. However, during this time, the lower-class Korean Americans who made the initial move faced poverty and hardship in Hawaii. In the early twentieth century, Korean immigrants moved to the mainland to work on farms and railroads. The second wave of Korean immigrants arrived in the USA after the Korean War in 1953. These immigrants were predominantly the wives of servicemen, war orphans, and a number of them were students and professionals. While many immigrants at this time were professionally skilled in medicine or engineering, language barriers and racial discrimination prevented many immigrants from obtaining professional positions. In order to make a living, many Korean immigrants instead chose to open small businesses, such as groceries, dry cleaners, and restaurants. This downward shift from professionally skilled occupations to skilled labor jobs affected professional opportunities and financial livelihood, which in turn had psychological, physical, and inherently cultural effects on Koreans living in the USA. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)