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This study identified the acculturation trajectories of multicultural adolescents in South Korea along with those of their migrant mothers using a latent class growth analysis and examined the relationship between latent trajectories of adolescents and their mothers and the adjustment of adolescents. Data from a nationally representative sample of Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study (N = 1458, Girls = 50.62%, age range = 9.97–14.96) were used. Three latent acculturation trajectories of multicultural adolescents were identified, including integration, modest assimilation, and high assimilation, and four latent acculturation trajectories of migrant mothers were distinguished, including high assimilation, high separation, modest assimilation, and modest separation. The most favorable profiles were those of the integration of adolescents and high assimilation of migrant mothers. These findings suggested the importance of providing family‐based prevention and intervention programs against the maladjustment of South Korean multicultural adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, we have witnessed a dramatic shift in the role of North Korean women, from traditional mother to breadwinner. Economic collapse, famine, and the so-called Arduous March have had unintended consequences for North Koreans, forcing them to become more active economic agents. Many North Korean women started working in the black market (jangmadang), and became extremely mobile, seeking economic opportunities in new cities, new regions, and even across national borders. As a result, the mobility of North Korean women and their economic activities in the market have had a significant influence in contemporary North Korean families. It can be argued that the traditional woman, or typical mother under patriarchy, is now considered to be less ideal, giving way to a new, economically dynamic model for women in North Korean society. North Korean women retain a strong commitment to motherhood when they cross into the Sino-North Korean borderland, and actively engage with the children they have left behind through remittances and regular phone calls. Geographical distance and their illegal status do hamper their mothering practices to an extent, causing intimacy and motherhood to undergo substantial changes in North Korean families. Nevertheless, North Korean migrant mothers still prioritize long-distance motherhood over their own personal well-being as well as that of any new families they make or join in the course of their migration trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-oppressive social work, promotion of equality and combating the structural causes of hardship are often conceived as matters to be pursued at the meso and macro levels, while little anti-oppressive social work is considered practicable at the individual case level. In order to counteract this dangerous idea, this article presents a case study of a Nigerian mother immigrated to Italy, and is based on the five social work strategies against the social and economic crisis that were proposed for the 2014 World Social Work Day: promoting equality and equity, enabling people to live sustainably, building participation, facilitating caring communities, and respecting diversity and connecting people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Past social work studies on discrimination perceived by immigrants mainly concerned the negative impacts of social dislocation on the immigrants, such as their loss of social support, devaluation of education and work skills, and acculturative stress. Important features of family efficacy, notably the immigrant’s perceived control over the work–care management and household conditions are yet to be considered in any conceptual model of perceived discrimination. Findings The present study tested both the social dislocation and family efficacy models for 372 Chinese migrant mothers living in low-income communities of Hong Kong. While path analyses supported both models, the family efficacy model had substantially higher power in explaining perceived discrimination. Application Implications for social service practitioners and policy advocates to promote the life chances of poor migrant mothers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1930s, the American photography has been enriched by the works of the group of documentary photographers in which Dorothea Lange seemed to play the most significant role. Lange’s portrait of a woman holding a baby and being surrounded by two of her other children, called the Migrant Mother, immediately exceeded boundaries of common picture and became more than an icon of one unhappy decade. The photograph’s unusual composition and Lange’s ability to catch inconveniences such as sorrow, destitution, or starvation on the one side, together with hope, confidence, and solidarity on the other side, forced many art critics to analyze the photograph and discuss its hidden meanings. One of such image’s explanations compares it to the portrayal of Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. The article tries to explain this biblical interpretation, as well as to introduce into the story of a creation of one of the best known photograph of the twentieth century.

This paper examined the health of children born to foreign-born and native-born mothers. Using a logistic methodology to analyze data from the 2008 Survey of Foreign and Mainland Chinese Spouses' Living Demand and the 2005 National Health Survey of Children 12 Years old and under in Taiwan, the results showed girls were more likely to have better health than boys regardless of whether they were born to migrant or native-born mothers. In addition, a more significant effect was found for native-born fathers than foreign-born mothers on children's health among transnational marriage families. Finally, household income might have a more significant impact on children's health in native-born mothers' families than those of foreign-born mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As residents in the low-income community, migrant mothers are a target group for the redesign of the sustainable community. Essential to the redesign is the identification of ways to improve the social sustainability, which means social support, social cohesion, and community participation among community residents. One of the ways identified for the present study is neighborhood walkability, which means that the workplace, daycare center, and community organization are within the resident’s walking distance. Based on a survey of 1076 Chinese migrant and native mothers living in three low-income communities in Hong Kong, China, the study examines linkages between neighborhood walkability and social sustainability. Results primarily indicate the contribution of neighborhood walkability to social sustainability. Importantly, neighborhood walkability mitigated some of the migrant mother’s disadvantage in social sustainability. These results consolidate principles for redesigning the low-income community to improve its socioeconomic sustainability. Accordingly, access to socioeconomic facilities is integral to the sustainability of the low-income community. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Sweden is rapidly becoming an increasingly multicultural and digitalized society. Encounters between pediatric nurses and migrant mothers, who are often primary caregivers, are impeded by language problems and cultural differences. To support mothers, doulas, who are women having the same linguistic and cultural backgrounds, serve as cultural bridges in interactions with health care professionals. In addition, information and communication technology (ICT) can potentially be used to manage interactions owing to its accessibility., Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the role of ICT in managing communicative challenges related to language problems and cultural differences in encounters with migrant mothers from the perspectives of Swedish pediatric nurses and doulas., Methods: Deep semistructured interviews with five pediatric nurses and four doulas from a migrant-dense urban area in western Sweden were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic content analysis., Results: The results showed that ICT contributes to mitigating communicative challenges in interactions by providing opportunities for nurses and migrant mothers to receive distance interpreting via telephones and to themselves interpret using language translation apps. Using images and films from the internet is especially beneficial while discussing complex and culturally sensitive issues to complement or substitute verbal messages. These findings suggest that ICT helps enable migrant mothers to play a more active role in interactions with health care professionals. This has important implications for their involvement in other areas, such as child care, language learning, and integration in Sweden., Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that ICT can be a bridging tool between health care professionals and migrants. The advantages and disadvantages of translation tools should be discussed to ensure that quality communication occurs in health care interactions and that health information is accessible. This study also suggests the development of targeted multimodal digital support, including pictorial and video resources, for pediatric care services., (©Nataliya Berbyuk Lindström, Rocío Rodríguez Pozo. Originally published in JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting (http://pediatrics.jmir.org), 17.03.2020.)