Bong-Ho Mok

Personal empowerment and life satisfaction among self-help group members in Hong Kong

This study examines the relationship between personal empowerment and life satisfaction among self-help group members in Hong Kong. Personal empowerment is viewed as a form of social capital derived from engagement in the social relations within the self-help group that allows members to obtain benefits such as increasing their life satisfaction. Sense of mastery and self-esteem are introduced as intervening variables between personal empowerment and life satisfaction. A path model is constructed to compare the direct effects and indirect effects of personal empowerment, sense of mastery, and self-esteem on life satisfaction. The same model is also tested across various sociodemographic subgroups. Findings support a significant and positive relationship between personal empowerment and life satisfaction and show that there are sociodemographic differences in the effect of the former on the latter. Implications of the findings for future research and services pertaining to personal empowerment and its outcomes in Hong Kong are discussed.

How Filipina Maids Are Treated in Hong Kong—A Comparison Between Chinese and Western Employers

This study compares Chinese and Western employers in Hong Kong in terms of their treatment of Filipina domestic helpers in four major areas: atmosphere of work environment, consideration, social psychological distance, and personal space. The data were based on in-depth and structured interviews, mainly with Filipina helpers who have served both types of employers. A few Chinese and Western employers were also interviewed. The findings indicate that the Filipina maids, in general, are more satisfied with their Western employers, who tend to provide them with an easier and more comfortable work environment; are more considerate; are more likely to treat them on equal terms; and to allow them more personal space. Within group variations in the treatment of maids are greater among Chinese employers than Western employers. This means that, in terms of the treatment of Filipina maids, Western employers in Hong Kong are more homogeneous and tend to concentrate on the positive side, whereas Chinese employers are more diversified.

Empowerment Effect of Self-Help Group Participation in a Chinese Context

Abstract Although self-help group participation and its empowerment effect have been widely discussed, very few studies have been conducted in a Chinese context. This paper addresses this important issue in Hong Kong. Delineated into intrapersonal empowerment, interpersonal empowerment and extra-personal empowerment, personal empowerment is viewed as a form of social capital that can be derived from participation in the social relations within the group, and one that can facilitate the obtaining of maximum benefits from the group for the goal of effectively coping with the problems concerned. A path model is constructed to compare the direct effects and indirect effects of participation on personal empowerment, and of participation and personal empowerment on reported extent of benefits obtained. Findings support a somewhat weak relationship between participation and personal empowerment, but a strong relationship between personal empowerment and reported extent of benefits obtained. The implications of the findings for future research on self-group empowerment in Hong Kong and overseas are discussed.

Influence through political power: the emergence of social workers as politicians in the recent political reform in Hong Kong

function debate has not been resolved totally, but an emerging consensus seems to be that social work should aim at changing not only the individual but also the environment, if and when necessary (Pincus and Minahan, 1973; Goldstein, 1973; Compton and Galaway, 1975). Even social casework, which is often criticized for containing conservative tendencies (Briar, 1968), acknowledges the importance of ’indirect treatment’, or intervention in the social environment.

Integrative seminar: a cognitive approach to linking theory and practice in social work

Introduction The recognition and exploration of integration between social work theory and practice have been phenomenal in the past two decades (Lowy et al., 1971; Chamberlain, 1977; Bailey, 1982; Sheafor and Jenkins, 1982; Gordon and Gordon, 1982; George, 1982; Pilalis, 1986; Bogo and Vayda, 1987; Tolson and Kopp, 1988; Vayda and Bogo, 1991; Berger et al., 1991). In most, if not all, schools of social work, the integration of knowledge, skills and practice is one of thein the 1990s. In the latest debate on whether the continuum in social work education should be supported, it is interesting, although not surprising, to find that both the proponent (Hoffman, 1992) and the opponent (Kolevzon, 1992) argue for integration in social work education. Despite its importance students and practitioners find it difficult to integrate theory and practice. This difficulty may be related to the ’problematic’ nature of the relationship between theory and practice in social work (Pilalis, 1986). When theory is confined to what is taught in the classroom, and practice is limited to what is done in an agency or in the field, theorizing and practising are likely to be treated as separate activities. As a result, the relationship between theory and practice in social work will be that of tenion, conflict, or lack of fit (Chamberlain, 1977; Hamilton, 1981; Jordan, 1982; Glazer, 1974; Cohen, 1975; Bailey, 1982; Rothman and Jones, 1971). Difficulty may be compounded by insufficient understanding, cooperation and coordination between social work training institutions and agencies where students are placed for practice. When the agencies’ goals and concerns regarding student

PREVALENCE, ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF SELF-HELP GROUPS IN HONG KONG

Self-help is a respectable Chinese value. The rapid growth of self-help groups in the field of social welfare in Hong Kong however, is only a recent phenomenon (Chau, 1996; Chow, 1996). Self-help groups for vulnerable populations such as patients with chronic illnesses, the physically disabled, the mentally disabled, single parents, drug abusers, and other client groups mushroomed in the late 1980s. The recognition and support given to self-help groups in the 1990 Social Welfare White Paper and the 1992 Green Paper on Rehabilitation Policies and Services have in part accelerated the development of self-help groups in the last few years. In spite of the rapid growth of self-help groups in Hong Kong, the full potential of utilising self-help groups remains untapped. One of the reasons may be attributed to the lack of systematic research and solid methodological foundations. Little was known about how helpful self-help groups are to members, and what kind of social impact they have brought about. The research component of the selfhelp phenomenon has clearly been left behind by the self-help movement itself. On the other hand, research on self-help groups has been flourishing in Western countries, particularly the United States and Canada (Borkman, 1976; Gartner & Riessman, 1977; Gottlieb, 1982; Kurtz, 1988; Humphreys, 1997; Roberts et al., 1999). There is definitely a need to systematically study the self-help phenomenon in the local context. Against this background and supported by a grant from RGC, this study was carried out from 1 October 1998 to 31 August 2001 with the following objectives.

Grassroots protest and policy change in hong kong

This paper examines the public protest by grassroots organizations which, in part, led to the withdrawal of the British colonial government’s privatization plan on health care finances in its final years of rule in Hong Kong, The authors argue that grassroots protest has to direct its efforts in the articulation of an ideological climate in favor of policy change. This is because grassroots organizations are often few in number and lack formal political power; they have to rely upon external resources to mobilize for policy change. Although a direct and causal relationship between the grassroots protest and the withdrawal of the governments privatization plan could not be firmly established, it is argued that the change of the debate from one about an administrative issue of health care finances to one about moral justice set the context for the eventual policy change.