결혼이민자의 사회적 관계 증진을 위한 정책지원방안

Social Relationships of Marriage-Based Immigrants and the Policy Implications

1. 연구의 필요성 및 목적 □ 이주자들은 이주에 따라 기존에 형성, 발달시켜 왔던 사회적 관계를 전면적으로 재구성해야하는 과제에 직면하고 있음. 새로운 환경에 적절한 사회적 관계를 형성, 발전하는 것은 이주자 개인 뿐 아니라 전반적 사회통합에 있어 결정적 요인으로 작용함. 이주자 개인적 차원의 고립 및 이주자 집단의 사회적 고립은 사회통합의 결정적 도전요인 및 다문화사회의 갈등요인으로 작용할 가능성이 큼. □ 본 연구에서 사회적 관계는 사회통합 상에서 제기되는 문제 해결에 동원할 수 있는 자원으로 정의함. 연령, 성별, 교육수준 등 이주 이전에 이미 형성되어 있는 것에 비해 사회적 관계는 이주사회(목적지사회)가 상당한 영향을 미칠 수 있는 부분임. □ 한국사회 결혼이민자의 사회적 관계를 다룬 연구를 일부 찾아볼 수 있으나, 정책 지향적 관점에서 이들의 사회적 관계를 점검하고 사회통합에 있어서 사회적 관계 발전의 장애요인과 극복 가능성에 대한 정책적 함의를 찾는 연구는 찾아보기 어려움. □ 2000년대 중반 이후 본격적으로 추진된 정부의 다문화가족 지원정책 또한 결혼이민자의 개인적 적응 차원에 초점을 맞춰오면서 결혼이민자의 사회적 관계는 우선적 관심사에서 제외되어 옴. □ 본 연구에서는 결혼이민자의 사회적 관계 현황을 점검하고 결혼이민자의 사회통합에 긍정적 방향으로 작용할 수 있는 관계 발전의 방향을 모색하고자 함. 또한 결혼이민자의 개인, 가족적 특성이나 사회관계 유형별 비교를 통해 사회적 관계 차원의 정책과제를 구체화하고 집단별 특성에 맞는 맞춤형 지원 방안을 제시하고자 함.

Migrants have to reconstruct all the social relationships they have already formed and developed upon their migration. Therefore, reconstruction of social relationships suited for new environments acts as a crucial factor not just for individual migrants but for overall social integration. It is highly likely that isolation of migrants at the personal level and social isolation at the migrant group level may work as a crucial and challenging factor for social integration and as a conflict factor for a multicultural society. Since the mid-2000s, the Korean government has implemented multicultural family support policy on a large scale. While focusing on personal adaptation of marriage-based immigrants, however, the government excluded their social relationships from its high priority matters. Therefore, this study aims to examine the current conditions of the social relationships of marriage-based immigrants and seek ways for developing the relationships that may have positive impact on the social integration of the immigrants. Through comparison of personal and familial characteristics of marriage-based immigrants and types of their social relationships, this study also aims to specify policy tasks at the level of social relationships and to suggest ways for providing customized support tailored to the characteristic of each group. Based on the size of social networks of female marriage-based immigrant and its relative proportion of Koreans and ethnic people, this study divided them into isolated group , Korean-biased group, ethnic people-biased group, and balanced group. According to the results of the questionnaire survey, isolated group had a consistently low social cohesion level compared to other groups of social relationships, and ethic group-biased group was not much different from isolated group with a low social integration level. Because of the specificity of marriage-based immigrant women who come to Korea all alone unlike family-based immigrants, Korean-biased group showed a comparatively high level of satisfaction with life in Korea and competency of communication compared to other groups. Balanced group had the highest level of social participation. This suggests that this group is advantageous in holding rich social resources and information sources. It was also found that female marriage-based immigrant's Korean language skills, experience of discrimination, and family members' support for their social relationships with Koreans had important impact on their social integration. On the other hand, the frequency of their using support centers and various types of local resources had less significant impact on their social integration than expected. According to the results of the interview, most female marriage-based immigrants experienced a vacuum of social relationships at the outset of their immigration and initiate their social relationships through a formation of relationships with ethnic people. This network with ethnic people provided these women with mutual support while helping resolve their difficulties and stress which had not been solved within their family. As they finished adjusting to Korean society and their children grew, however, female marriage-based immigrants began to take more interest in relationships with Koreans. They started to form relationships with Koreans mostly through the medium of family members, including their husbands or children and it was not easy for them to form relations through their own action. It is currently required of the Korean government to have a proactive approach to social relationships of female marriage-based immigrants at the policy level. Also, the government needs to respond actively to female marriage-based immigrants who are highly likely to be socially isolated. It is also important for Korean family members to offer support for them through enhanced understanding of their social relationships. Next, the government should develop bridge pro