Charlie G. Turner

The Benefits of Meditation Practice in the Correctional Setting

This research examined the impact of a structured meditation program intervention on female detainees, comparing an experimental group and a control group for medical symptoms, emotions, and behaviors before and after the intervention. A 2 1/2-hour meditation session was held once a week for 7 weeks. Study participants completed a medical symptoms checklist before the program began and after it ended. At the posttest period, the experimental group experienced fewer sleeping difficulties, less desire to throw things or hit people, and less nail or cuticle biting; were more hopeful about their future; and felt less guilt. Meditation was beneficial for this population and may be a cost-effective tool for inmates and administrators. Meditation effects, especially among inmates, merit further research attention.

The relative pay of men and women in South Korea

Abstract In this article, we compared earnings differences between men and women in South Korea in 1988. There appears to be explicit discrimination against women in general, with stronger discrimination against married women. We examined women’s average wages relative to men’s average wages due to direct discrimination and to differences in experience, education, and other background variables. Given all of the differences analyzed, we show why women’s wages are 50.4% of men’s wages. We were able to explain 95.9% of the difference between the average wages of men and women.

Does yoga shape body, mind and spiritual health and happiness: Differences between yoga practitioners and college students

Background/Aims: To assess the body, mind and spirit differences between yoga students compared with college students. Materials and Methods: Mind, body and spirit survey instruments administered to the two groups. Results: Five indicators to measure mental wellness were significantly different between yoga practitioners and college students. On three of these five measures, college students reported more mental wellness than yoga practitioners – in other words, the relationship was the inverse of what was expected. College students reported maintaining stability in their life more often than yoga practitioners as well as more often experiencing satisfying interpersonal relationships. College students were also more likely than yoga practitioners to report being tolerant of others, whether or not they approved of their behavior or beliefs. Yoga practitioners were more likely than college students to report having strong morals and healthy values as well as the ability to express their feelings and consider the feelings of others. We found differences between yoga practitioners and college students on more than half of our spirit items (five of nine). Yoga practitioners were more likely than college students to report expressing their spirituality appropriately and in healthy ways, recognizing the positive contribution faith could make to the quality of life (significant at the 0.07 level), routinely undertaking new experiences to enhance spiritual health and having a positive outlook on life. Further, we found support for the proposition that yoga practitioners were more likely to report experiencing happiness within. Conclusions: Significant differences between yoga and college students were found on the body, mind and spirit measurement instrument. Further work needs to address the complexities of these relationships.

Gender differences in occupational status in the South Korean labor market: 1988‐1998

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine gender differences in occupational status among South Korean workers in 1988 and 1998. In 1988, the South Korean National Assembly enacted an Equal Employment Opportunity Act. The goal is to better understand how occupational status differs by gender between these time periods. Design/methodology/approach - Using the “88 and 98 Occupational Wage Bargaining Survey on the Actual Condition (OWS),” the paper examines occupational differences by gender and log wage using OLS. Findings - Occupational segregation by gender was more extreme in 1988 than 1998. In 1988, 83.3 percent of all female workers were employed in three broad occupational categories. Few women (5.4 percent) worked as professional, technical or administrative workers. By 1998, 11.5 percent of female workers were employed as professionals. The highest paid occupational categories, in South Korea, have the lowest percentage of female workers. Women benefit from additional educational experience, though less so than holds for men, and from being in a union (in 1988). Women are penalized, in terms of occupational status prestige, when working in large firms and when married. Practical implications - If South Korea aims to make full use of the human capital of all workers, measures need to address how women might enjoy returns on their educational investment that approach those realized by men. Further, efforts to integrate women into professional occupations categories might be examined. Originality/value - Little has been explored with regard to occupational gender differences in South Korea. This work provides a better understanding of occupational status differences by gender and how they vary across time.

South Korean women at work: gender wage differentials by age, 1988–1998

Earning differences between South Korean women and men were compared to better understand how gender differences in wages have changed between 1988 and 1998 for five age groups. Utilizing labor market data from Koreas Occupational Wage Survey (OWS) for the years 1988 and 1998, we found that men enjoy a wage advantage over women in all age groups in both time periods. For all but the oldest group (55 and over), such bias was less in 1998 than in 1988. As hypothesized, the wage gap was narrower among younger age groups compared with older ones.