The sociocultural context of Korean American men's smoking behavior

The purpose of this article is to explore the sociocultural context wherein Korean male immigrants learned and maintained smoking behavior. Participants were 11 current and 11 former cigarette smokers who resided in New York City. The participants attended one of four focus groups and talked about their experiences of smoking initiation, changes in smoking behavior over time, smoking in Korea and the United States, strategies used for smoking cessation, and suggestions for a smoking cessation program. The focus group interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Themes were identified from answers to the five topic questions and then compared across the four focus groups. Smoking is a common thread in Korean men's social world and a prime component of Korean men 's gender identity. In contrast, smoking in the United States is increasingly being stigmatized.