earticle

영어

The number of multicultural families has been on the rise as Korea shifts towards a multicultural society. Many children from multicultural families have difficulty in adapting to school and exploring their future career especially when they go to middle and high school. Therefore, there is a need to study on circumstances and phenomenon that lead to conflicts multicultural adolescents face and to come up with resolutions. This study aims to identify solutions to resolve conflicts multicultural youngsters experience through exploring conflict situations and analyzing types of conflict. In order to meet the purpose of this study, six adolescents from multicultural families, four students from middle and two from high school, were selected as case study participants. An in-depth interview was conducted to gather qualitative data, and types of conflict were examined and analyzed based on data gathered. According to this study, conflicts multicultural youngsters experience can be categorized into four types, basing on Moore’s Law. First, it is learning conflict. For most of non-multicultural teenagers, learning conflict is triggered by learning itself. In case of multicultural students, however, the main cause is interest conflicts that multicultural children face since early years due to lack of learning. Second, it is relationship conflict. It is conflict that is created in relations between friends, teachers and parents in multicultural youngster’s adolescenthood. This type is Moore’s ‘Relationship Conflicts’. Third, it is culture conflict. This conflict is similar to Moore’s ‘Value conflicts’ and includes identity conflict, a conflict collision between one’s identity and his or her immigrant mother’s different culture. Fourth, it is appearance conflict. Multicultural adolescents face this conflict because of their different appearance. Since one’s appearance cannot be changed, the young from multicultural families experience such conflicts coming from their different looks. This is Moore’s ‘Data Conflicts’. This study has served as a good opportunity to examine types of conflict multicultural adolescents have. Strong support and funds must be provided to schools and local community so as to help multicultural children facing various conflicts can find ways to resolve them. If multicultural teenagers can deal with conflicts in a positive way, this will be a driving engine for them to enjoy more stable and happier school life.