| Abstract: | There are about half million new immigrant women married to patriarchal society in Taiwan. The academic community have explored a lot, why foreign women came to Taiwan, what about their earlier life, and things about their acculturation in culture, language and “mixed” marriage and so on. On the contrary, it was rarely described about the divorced or widowed new immigrant women, such as things, how they chose their own life after divorce or after death of their husbands, how they build up new ways of life after this time, or how they respond to the impact of life and challenges in Taiwan, if the marriage nor more exist.
This study aims to explore the problems of new immigrant women, to analyze the reasons for their marriage, and to study how divorced or widowed new immigrant women deal with all the difficulties, how they begin with a independent new life. Therefore, the purpose of this study includes four points:
First, to understand the reasons for the new immigrant women married to Taiwan, as well as the impacts of earlier family life on the marriage in Taiwan
Second, to understand the impact of earlier life and challenges for the new immigrant women in marriage, and the efforts to overcome the plight of “mixed” marriage.
Third, to understand the main reasons to lose their marriage, and how the new immigrant women get out of the dilemma of divorce and widowhood, and how they stand up with self-reliance.
Fourth, to understand the future expectations of the new immigrant women after begin of new life, and to clarify how we develop new immigrant policy to help all the immigrant women married to Taiwan.
Through the qualitative study of the depth-interview we have visited three new immigrant women, the study found that:
(1) After the marriage with Taiwanese the new immigrant women have to face a series of acculturations. They include: culture, climate, lifestyle, eating habits, children's education, economic pressure and other difficulties. These dilemmas bring a lot of shocks. (2) From marriage to divorced or widowed condition, new immigrant women have to face self-reliance and challenges. They need social support, peer support and also a good interpersonal support system; (3) new immigrant women after divorce or in widowhood usually take one to two years to overcome all kinds of difficulties; (4) New immigrant women do not understand the government's policy, Immigration policy could not really help new immigrant women after divorce or in widowhood. They exacerbate the plight of their situations and frustrate their self-reliance and will to defeating challenges. |
