| Author: | Au, Sin Suet Helena |
| Title: | The making of social work development in China : a life course perspective |
| Advisors: | Ku, Hok-bun Ben (APSS) |
| Degree: | DSW |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Subject: | Social work education -- China Social service -- China Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of Applied Social Sciences |
| Pages: | vii, 226 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | The social work profession originated in western countries and was restored in socialist China in the 1980s. There has been tremendous development in this profession since 1987. The special development of social work in China can be described as social work education preceding social work development. The restoration of this profession began with education; therefore, the entire development was deeply affected by social work educators rather than practitioners during the beginning stage. Research on the development of social work in China is mostly at the macro level, including historical perspectives, social work values and definition, practice, indigenization and State-making. A western discourse was formed, claiming that social work development in China is state-made. Among all this macro-level research, social work educators who are actors in this making process are absent. To understand the contribution of actors in the making process, the life course perspective is employed as the conceptual framework. This framework has four important elements: interplay of historical time, timing of lives, linked lives and human agency. This research aimed to study social work development in China from the life course perspective. The actors, who are social work educators, are brought back to the scene, and their roles in the making of the social work profession are studied. Then, this result is used as dialogue with existing western discourse. This research is biographical using the life history method. Two pioneer social work educators are selected, and their life histories investigated. Throughout the development of social work from 1987 to 2016, their actions and impact on the development are studied. Five more significant participants, who are social work educators and closely related to them, are studied. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews, data are collected and analyzed. The findings showed that historical events such as the Cultural Revolution and Open Reform affected future social work careers for social work educators. At different stages of social work development, linked lives and human agency played key parts in affecting social work development in China. Seven roles were found from these social work educators, which affected the development of social work. This life course perspective study brings back the actors into the making of social work, which demythologizes western discourse and finds different implications. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6900.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 1.36 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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