| Author: | Leung, Kin-ip Kenneth |
| Title: | An exploratory study of rehabilitation of correctional services in Hong Kong : the implications of social work training for frontline custodial officers |
| Advisors: | Ku, Hok-bun (APSS) Tsui, Ming-sum (APSS) |
| Degree: | DSW |
| Year: | 2020 |
| Subject: | Criminals -- Rehabilitation -- China -- Hong Kong Correctional institutions -- China -- Hong Kong Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of Applied Social Sciences |
| Pages: | x, 245 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | In the social services arena, "rehabilitation services" in general refers to services for mentally or physically disabled persons. However, the Hong Kong Correctional Services Department (CSD) also provides rehabilitation services to persons in custody as well as released offenders who are under statuary supervision. In this context, rehabilitation means reformation of offenders. Except provision of structured rehabilitation programmes, there is limited information about the professional development of social work in the CSD. Therefore, to explore the training needs of social work in the CSD, the historical development of its rehabilitation discourses becomes significant and important; especially discourse on the dual roles of correctional officers, law-enforcers and rehabilitation facilitators. This study explores the rehabilitation discourses of the CSD based on the theoretical framework of Michel Foucault's archaeological study and discourses analysis. Through understanding the development of rehabilitation discourses, the researcher examines the relationships between correctional services, social work training and correctional officers. Qualitative research, using in-depth interviews, is applied to explore the subjective experiences and views of frontline custodial officers concerning issues related to the rehabilitation discourses as advocated by the CSD. A total of 12 participants voluntary joined the interviews. Research findings revealed that most frontline custodial officers joined the CSD because they accepted the Department's discourses on rehabilitation. However, as frontline custodial staff, they are required to maintain order and discipline rather than work as rehabilitation facilitators in actual practice. Indeed, there existed theory, knowledge and practice gaps between the rehabilitation discourses and their supervision methods. The researcher found that social work training, especially starting with training on casework principles, can enable officers to bridge the aforementioned gaps. Frontline custodial officers spend most of their time with persons in custody. If they obtained adequate training and competences in social work, they could realize the rehabilitation discourses and change the organization culture through implementation of social work practice. The casework principles of social work are simple in linguistic meaning but are not easy to apply for in-depth understanding, especially when putting them into practice. To incorporate these principles into correctional knowledge, the researcher recommends adopting the experiential learning method (ELM). The ELM is an effective method for integrating correctional knowledge into social work practice. The researcher hopes that unique correctional social work practice can be localized in the future to make correctional services more human-oriented, professional and sustainable. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5575.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 3.41 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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