In-law Conflict and Domestic Violence: The Case of Vietnamese Wives in Korea

• In Event: Individual and Social Factors Associated with Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

This study examines in-law conflict experienced by Vietnamese wives as a risk factor of domestic violence in Korea. Based on data from in-depth interviews with 22 abused women who relocated to marry Korean men and interviews with 8 professionals, some important aspects of in-law conflict were identified, including communication problems and conflicts over women’s work outside the home, financial matters, and child rearing. The influence of culture and marital families’ expectation of patriarchal family arrangement on in-law conflicts and domestic violence will be discussed.

Author

• Suyeon Park, SUNY Plattsburgh