The Role of Church Network Among Korean Immigrant Young Adults: Social Ties and Social Support

Background: Social support has been identified as one of the important factors affecting psychological well-being of immigrants (Finch & Vega, 2003; Jasinskaja-Lahti, Liebkind, Jaakkola & Reuter, 2006). In general, immigrants experience a lack of social support networks. Without such systems, immigrants are more likely to feel isolation and loneliness, which has the potential to cause mental problems and are more likely to have difficulty finding needed information. To date literature on social support networks of immigrants has paid little attention to exploring the role of church networks. As one of the rapidly growing segments of the total immigrants, Korean immigrants have also struggled with meeting their needs for social support (Kim & Grant, 1997; Kwon, Ebaugh & Hagan, 1997). In particular, young adults are more likely to be influenced by social networks than older adults.

Study aims: In response to these gaps, this study aims to explore the role of church networks among Korean immigrant young adults, specifically focusing on social ties and social support. Specific aims are: 1) to explore the role of religious leaders and peers in church networks, and 2) to examine the relationships among networks of social ties and social support.

Methods: Network data were gathered using self-administered questionnaires with a sample of 29 immigrant young adults and 4 religious leaders in a Korean Catholic church community. The church was selected using a snowball sampling process. The young adults were recruited to participate in the survey in person during the social meeting on Sunday. The key network variables were social ties including identification and socialization, and social support including emotional and informational supports. The network data was analyzed using UCINET. Density, centrality measures, QAP correlation and MRQAP procedures were utilized for network analyses.

Results: 60.6% of those surveyed were female, 77.8% held more than a college degree, and 75.8% were married. The average age for the sample was 28.9 years (27-37 range). The average length of association with the church was 2.8 years (sd=1.9 years). Participants were likely to gain the high level of social support from church networks. As the results of centrality analyses, the priest as a religious leader played a crucial role in providing emotional support to the young adults (Identified by the highest in degree). Peers in church networks including identifying, socializing, and informational support revealed the most substantial influences (Identified by the highest in degree). The socializing network was significantly associated with the emotional (b=.13, p<.01) and informational support networks (b=.11, p<.01). Further, the emotional support network was strongly associated with the informational support network (b=.59, p<.01).

Conclusion and Implications: The findings provide an improved understanding of the role of church networks for Korean immigrant young adults using a social-network approach. The findings highlight the important relationships between social ties and social supports. Given the dearth of research in this area and the limitations of this exploratory study, future research needs to examine the role of church network as an important social support resource using a large set of network data.