Understanding Korean Women's Divorce through Relational-Cultural Theory

Abstract

The focus of this study is on enhanced understanding of Korean divorced women, examining their post-divorce experience through relational-cultural theory(RCT). While the rate of divorce has increased within the last two decades, there has been a significant lack of understanding in regards to Korean women's divorce. Korean society is still in the process of adjusting to, and accepting, this phenomenon of divorce. Therefore, divorced women in Korea not only encounter rejection and stereotyping from the church and the culture, but also are perceived by the society as being responsible for breaking the family and disrupting the social order. Thus, as this study examines Korean women's divorce through the psychological method of RCT, it will equip pastoral theologians and counselors to adequately understand Korean divorced women from a broader perspective. RCT is a feminist psychological theory and a therapeutic model that is geared towards understanding women’s development from women’s psychological and cultural perspectives. RCT is concerned with how culture influences relationship in general. Korean divorced women’s experience need to be understood as the individual and communal experience, from the perspective of a patriarchal system that dominates these women. This study also emphasizes the need for Korean divorced women to keep balance between the personal need for individual and communal aspects.