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Women’s Place in Relation-Cultural Context - Pastoral Counseling for Married Women (Ajumma) from a Multicultural Point of View -

  • Journal of Counseling and Gospel
  • Abbr : Jocag
  • 2005, 5(), pp.254-284
  • Publisher : Korean Evangelical Counseling Society
  • Research Area : Humanities > Christian Theology > Pastoral Counseling
  • Received : September 30, 2005
  • Accepted : November 10, 2005

Kim Mi Kyung 1

1한영신학대학교

ABSTRACT

As modern society fractionalizes, the culture too diversifies. Traditional Korean culture contained a strong community component based on farm life, but today there isn’t any single integrating culture. For many, it is a positive unfolding now that each generation, class and area have their own voice compared to the preceding culture led by the older generation, the higher classes and from the center. However, for others this diversification is considered a serious problem. With so many different cultures among each generation, class and area, there isn’t any universal culture nor any accepted communication between the different cultures. So far, America has developed and practiced most of the various counseling approaches used today. These counseling approaches represented mostly white middle class values; promoting individualism, emphasizing independent problem solving and taking responsibility for their freedom. When people began to criticize that this white class oriented counseling approach could be applied to other nationalities, cross-cultural counseling was developed. This resulted in multicultural counseling taking into consideration different cultures. Though Korea is a small land and does not consist of different races like the United States, it has a strong provincial character and each province tries hard to differentiate itself. Each province has a unique way of thinking and an individual personality. Even within Seoul, the inhabitants differentiate people who live south of the Han river from those living north of it. Since Koreans tend to differentiate themselves and because we lack any accepted communication between cultures, I believe the most victimized group is the so-called the third gender, the Ajummas (literally married women). With their marriage, these women were drowned in this collective culture. Society further denied these women’s self identity by promoting sacrifice and services. As mentioned above, the cultural tendency of a nation has a strong impact on each member of the nation. That’s because to whatever culture the individual belongs influences the diversity of his thoughts and actions. Therefore, in order to help these women, a pastoral counselor has to be aware of which value he has and which role he is playing. At the same time he should explore what kind of influence he is making on the client. Jesus is a good example of pastoral counselor. He himself was aware of the diverse culture in which he lived and he healed and counseled people regardless of their class and provincial affiliation.

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