The aim of this article is to shed light on Korean mothers' roles in the socialization of their adolescent children. The issue is analyzed from two perspectives: (1) through a historical approach that takes into acco unt the Confucian background of Korean family life; and (2) by conside ration of concepts and results from the field of adolescent development. The authors point out that the Confucian influence remains strongly in modern Korea while at the same time mothers' responsibilities in paren ting and socialization have increased. As a consequence, the relationship between mothers and their adolescent children has become more com plex, intense, and unstable. The authors come to a conclusion that ba lancing of autonomy and dependence will be the most important develop mental task for both mothers and their children.
It has been proposed that the central developmental task to be solved during adolescence is the balancing of autonomy and dependence. Although this proposition is held by Western psychologists, the authors suggest that it may be an adequate goal for the socialization of Korean youngsters as well. They are of the opinion that balancing of autonomy and relatedness results in an adequate understanding of one's own rights and responsibilities. In this article, the findings of a survey with 12., 14 and 16-year-old Koreans are presented. The youth were asked to explain the concepts of right and responsibility, to specify their most important rights and responsibilities, to judge differences between adolescents' and adults', to figure out who decides about rights and responsibilities, and so on. To demonstrate the particulars of the Korean understanding, the authors compare the data with those obtained from German adolescents. We conclude that for young Koreans (but not for Germans), the personal and social relation consequences of possessing a right are at the center of the concept. When thinking about responsibilities, again they concentrate on aspects that are interwoven with self-evaluation and the „moral self".
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