| Author: | Yam, Kong |
| Title: | An exploratory study on the alternative post-disaster intervention in response to the voices of the survivors in a post-disaster rural community in Sichuan, China |
| Advisors: | Ting, Wai-fong (APSS) Ku, Ben (APSS) |
| Degree: | DSW |
| Year: | 2019 |
| Subject: | Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations Wenchuan Earthquake, China, 2008 Earthquake relief -- China -- Sichuan Sheng Disaster victims -- China, Northwest |
| Department: | Department of Applied Social Sciences |
| Pages: | 339 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | The devastating Wenchuan earthquake occurred in the mountainous central region of Sichuan province in southwestern China on May 12, 2008. As a result, many rural villages and towns in the mountains were destroyed. Following the 2008 earthquake, endless secondary disasters were induced and came as a particularly devastating blow to these remote villages. This study explores the bottom-up voices in a post-disaster rural community - Yinxing village, Sichuan, China, which is based on the first-hand experience of the researcher. Data were collected through ethnographic observations of participants' daily activities and events during post-disaster reconstruction. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with 17 villagers, 6 social work professionals and 5 local cadres. Primarily, this study aims to delve into the insiders' voices when facing disaster(s) in a post-disaster community (Yinxing). As such, this research uncovered the concerns and needs of the disaster-affected survivors and it became clear that their utmost concerns were safety issues in the post-disaster community. When the survivors' lives were no longer in danger, it was pragmatic that housing and livelihood reconstruction became the fundamental concerns and needs of the survivors. More specifically, this study critically discusses the dominant perspectives (i.e., government-led, expert and neo-liberal economic development) and alternative perspectives (i.e., civil society participation, capacity building, vulnerability and social development) for intervention in the Yinxing community during post-disaster reconstruction. With the support of the research findings and discussions, a new model titled a "tripartite intervention model" (cooperation among the Government, market and the civil society) has been established for better responses and interventions in the reconstruction process. Finally, this study sought to discover the implications of the research, theory building and practice (particularly the social work profession) when working with disaster-affected survivors and communities. The researcher adopted a framework with the acronym "D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R-S" to summarize some insight and reminders to keep in mind when social workers and helping professionals work with disaster-affected people and communities. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 991022346055803411.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 3.62 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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