Ming-sum Tsui

From resilience to resistance: A reconstruction of the strengths perspective in social work practice

Many practice models in social work focus primarily on the concepts associated with resilience. By contrast, resistance and rebellion, important strategies of the disadvantaged, are often neglected by social workers in developed countries. The authors seek to reconstruct and revitalize the strengths perspective by constructing a framework that includes theories of reflective practice.

Social work as a moral and political practice

English In their efforts to promote the Global Standards for the Education and Training of the Social Work Profession, the authors discovered the withering of the moral and political bases of social work practice in the West. The revitalization of the roots of social work is important to the promotion of social justice. French Dans leurs efforts pour promouvoir les Standards Mondiaux pour l’Enseignement et la Formation aux Professions Sociales, les auteurs découvrent le déclin des bases morales et politiques de la pratique du travail social en occident. La revitalisation des racines du travail social est importante pour la promotion de la justice sociale. Spanish En su esfuerzo para promover los Estándares Globales para la Educación y el Entrenamiento en la Profesión del Trabajo Social, los autores descubrieron el marchitar de las bases políticas y morales de la práctica del trabajo social en occidente. La revitalización de las raíces del trabajo social es importante para la promoción de la justicia social.

Towards a professional supervision culture: The development of social work supervision in Aotearoa New Zealand

This article reviews the development of social work supervision within New Zealand (NZ) and identifies that supervision in NZ has developed a distinctive professional culture in four respects: recognition and acceptance of plurality and diversity, culturally based approaches, use of the concept of cultural supervision, and commitment to competent social work practice. From the literature reviewed it is asserted that New Zealand’s experience provides valuable insights and learning for supervision internationally.

A Participative Learning and Teaching Model: The Partnership of Students and Teachers in Practice Teaching

This paper presents a student‐centred, collaborative, and participative practice teaching model for social work. The model is a learning and teaching method undertaken ‘with’ rather than ‘for’ students, and its process and outcomes are owned by the team. The relationship between students and teachers develops during a mutual learning process and there is less power disparity between the two parties. The students are empowered to be more independent and interdependent. They take greater control of their own learning by participating in the planning and implementation of service projects, while benefiting from the modelling provided by their practice teachers. The participative learning and teaching model can be adopted at university‐based practice centres through collaboration with other academic facilities and community organizations. It provides students with an opportunity to gain professional values, knowledge, and skills. Students also gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of civic responsibility and prepare themselves for serving the community.

The quest for western social work knowledge Literature in the USA and practice in China

English Despite the fast development of social work education, scholars in China are eager to import and adapt western social work knowledge which is portrayed as a monolithic entity. Using a case study of American social work literature, we question the existence of a monolithic system of western knowledge. French En dé pit du développement rapide de la formation en travail social, les étudiants chinois sont pressé s d’importer et d’adapter le savoir occidental en matière de travail social, qui est dé crit comme une entité monolithique. Àpartir d’une é tude de cas s’appuyant sur de la documentation amé ricaine en travail social, on s’interroge sur l’existence d’un système monolithique de savoir occidental. Spanish A pesar del acelerado desarrollo de la enseñ anza del trabajo social, los estudiantes en China tienen muchas ganas de importar y adaptar el conocimiento del trabajo social occidental, el cual es descrito como una entidad monolítica. Utilizando un estudio de caso de la literatura del trabajo social americano, nosotros cuestionamos la existencia de un sistema monolótico del conocimiento occidental.

The Use of Supervisory Authority in Chinese Cultural Context

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explores supervisory authority in the relationship between social work supervisors and frontline social workers in Hong Kong. Forty in-depth interviews and seven focus groups were conducted with supervisors, supervisees, and local experts. The findings reflect that the supervisors dominate the decision-making process and that their authority is apparent in the supervisor-supervisee relationship. The results reveal that in issues related to policy or administration, or when there is an urgent need for timely decision-making, supervisors would give clear instructions and adopt a straightforward decision-making strategy. Discussion among staff is allowed and encouraged, but it focuses on issues related to professional practice or service delivery. Supervisees tend to use supervision to ensure that the supervisor is responsible for decision-making, and they often become frustrated when no clear instructions are given. The Chinese attitude towards hierarchical relationship and practice of subordination to authority are obvious in the supervisor-supervisee relationship. Most supervisors interviewed tend to adopt a “consensus by consultation and consent” approach in their supervisory practice. This approach reduces staff participation and sense of belonging. Supervisors are advised to achieve referent power and expert power by using a competence model of supervision to replace culturally ascribed authority.

Social Work Administration Revisited: A Re-examination of Concepts, Context and Content

• Summary: This article examines the nature of social work administration, including the core concepts, context and content as well as the ways it differs from business administration. • Findings: The challenges faced by not-for-profit human service organizations in the changing world also were identified. The authors advocated that commercial values and social values should not be confused. Social work is profoundly influenced by the values of our society. Social work administrators must recognize their work is motivated and shaped by social values. • Applications : Recommendations for teaching, researching, and practising social work administration are also suggested.

Examining the neoliberal discourse of accountability: The case of Hong Kong’s social service sector

Social workers always strive for an intricate balance between the competitive demands of different discourses of accountability. However, the neoliberal welfare regime, which privileges the ideologies of free market choice and managerial control, has synchronized the different discourses into a neoliberal discourse of accountability. Using Hong Kong as an example, this article examines how this discourse is put into practice and how it demoralizes the social work profession. To resist this discourse, social workers may need to work reflexively with their service users in and outside their workplace.

Notions of the welfare state in China revisited

mer, 1981). After the Second World War, the term was used as a ’convenient shorthand way of referring to the social and economic policy changes then taking place’ (Johnson, 1987: 3). Generally speaking, the discourse on the definition was gradually shifted to other forms of state intervention through various social programmes and legislation. The expansion of the definition has provided us with a broader understanding of the subject but, at the same time, obscured its boundary. One of the confusions is the difference between the welfare state and the welfare society. While ’welfare state’ refers to

The harm reduction approach revisited An international perspective

The harm reduction approach has been used in substance abuse prevention, treatment and rehabilitation for three decades. This article re-examines its underlying assumptions, redefines the major concepts and reviews the main features of existing programs in an international perspective. The author finds that harm reduction is pragmatic, incremental, comprehensive, scientific, proactive and accessible. Its effectiveness is supported by empirical studies. Although it is still an alternative approach in some parts of the world, it will soon become an internationally adopted, mainstream approach.