Ping Kwong Kam

Back to the ‘social’ of social work: Reviving the social work profession’s contribution to the promotion of social justice

Social changes and professionalization have moved social work away from advancing social justice and into the domination of individual therapies. This article redirects social workers’ attention to the importance of the ‘social’ in social work by presenting a six-social dimensions framework, and suggests that this refocusing helps to revive the profession’s contribution to promoting social justice.

Age discrimination in the labour market from the perspectives of employers and older workers

This article presents the findings of a study on age discrimination against older workers in Hong Kong. The study collected survey data from 787 older workers aged 45 or above and 283 employers who were managers responsible for personnel or human resources management, or for hiring people for organizations. The focus is on revealing the influences of the organizational goals of profit-making and social responsibility on age discrimination, along with influences from negative stereotyping and other factors. Results indicate that the social responsibility goal tends to be more influential than negative stereotyping on age discrimination. In contrast, the profit-making goal did not display a significant effect on age discrimination. They offer implications for policies and practices for managing the ageing workforce in the labour market.

Mobilized or Civic Minded Factors Affecting the Political Participation of Senior Citizens

Using Hong Kong as a case study, this article addresses whether senior citizens are rational in their voting behavior, whether they are mobilized by political parties to participate in elections, and whether they are enabled or constrained in fulfilling their political responsibilities and asserting their political rights. The findings of a recent study were presented to examine the extent to which senior citizens’political participation is determined by rationality, political knowledge, political mobilization, and constraint and enabling factors. Seven composite scales measuring senior citizens’ political participation, sense of civic-mindedness, self-interest orientation, political knowledge, political mobilization, and constraining and enabling factors were constructed and validated in the study. Statistical analyses show that political knowledge, political mobilization, and enabling factors were most influential in affecting senior citizens’level of political participation. The article also compares the responses of elderly persons who are members of senior centers with those of ordinary senior citizens.

Bonding and Bridging Social Capital Development by Social Workers

ABSTRACT Developing service users’ bonding and bridging social capital is an increasingly recognized role of social workers. A survey of 570 Chinese service users, sampled from 41 social service units in Hong Kong, provided data for the study. Results demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity in a confirmatory factor model about the measurement of bonding and bridging social capital development, mutuality, and assistance to the community. This evidence for the validity and usefulness of social capital development endorses social workers’ role in developing service users’ social capital. Further research needs to assess the generalizability of the present findings in other sociocultural settings.

Powerlessness of older people in Hong Kong: a political economy analysis.

Abstract Gerontologists agree that old age can be associated with an increase in powerlessness both in the personal domain and in the social and political fields. This paper is an attempt to understand the concept of powerlessness in old age within a political economy theoretical framework. The paper argues that the powerlessness of older people is not biologically determined. Rather, it is socially constructed. It has its roots in the social, economic, and political structure of society. For this reason, the paper argues that (a) the capitalist economic system discriminates against and marginalizes older people in the labor market. The current unfavorable economic climate will make the economic situation of older people worse. (b) The residual welfare system does not counteract the unfavorable impact of the economic system. Rather, it deprives older people of the necessary financial resources and social service supports that would enable them to lead independent and dignified lives. (c) The authoritarian political system creates adverse conditions that make it very difficult for older people to participate in the decision-making process on issues that affect their lives, as well as on broader political issues that affect the whole of society. It is the interplay among these economic, social, and political forces in Hong Kong that creates the political economy of powerlessness in old age and prevents older people from using their powers to master and control their lives.

Senior Volunteerism and Empowerment

This paper has both a theoretical and a policy orientation. On the theoretical level, the paper argues that senior volunteerism—the use of older people as volunteers—can be best promoted with the help of the Empowerment Theory. At present, both policy and practice in senior volunteerism focuses too much on its social effects and not enough on the effects it has on the individual older person who acts as a volunteer. Using the Empowerment Theory as the action framework for volunteering can help to rectify this. Volunteering can be regarded as an empowerment process in which older people are enabled to counteract their powerlessness and to enhance their feelings of worth and self-efficacy. The paper suggests effective ways of changing senior volunteerism to become a form of empowerment.

Informal social work education: a complementary training method to develop competent social workers:

The demographic, political and socio-economic changes in the 1990s have brought numerous challenges to which the social work profession has to respond. The popular concern is about how to develop a more responsive social welfare policy as well as how to acquire more resources to strengthen the provision of welfare services. Although the policy issue and resource acquisition problem should be addressed, the concerns about the ’competence and efficacy’ of social workers also deserve equal attention. Merely strengthening the provision of social welfare services without assuring and enhancing the quality of social work practice cannot successfully deal with the increasingly complicated challenge of social problems. How to equip social work students with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes should be an important challenge for social work educators. In response to this concern, the usual reaction of training institutions has been to assess and review formal curriculum design, such

Relationships among the civic awareness, mobilization, and electoral participation of elderly people in Hong Kong

Abstract Given the significance of the elderly population in the burgeoning democratic politics of Hong Kong, research is necessary to elucidate the basis for elderly people’s electoral participation. Furthermore, questions regarding impacts of mobilization, and civic awareness on the participation are of important concern. In response to the questions, the present study is the first one surveying a representative sample of 831 Chinese elderly people (aged > 60) in Hong Kong. Using causal modeling techniques, it identified latent variables of civic awareness (including exposure to media on public affairs and political knowledge), electoral participation, and mobilization by politicians and estimated their relationships. Results showed that civic awareness had a strong effect on electoral participation and mobilization also had some significant effect. Electoral participation also appeared to be a function of the elderly person’s education, age, sex, community attachment, and membership in an elderly center. These findings suggest that Hong Kong elderly people’s electoral participation is subject to influence of power, both internally through civic awareness and education and externally through mobilization.

Preparation for marriage in a Chinese community Implications for premarital counselling services

This article presents the findings of a study on Chinese people’s preparation for marriage. Chinese people in Hong Kong hold positive attitudes towards preparation for marriage, but their scope of concern in preparation is narrow. Their awareness of the problems after marriage is limited. The source of help in preparation issues is confined to informal networks. They also have limited knowledge about premarital counselling services and their participation in these programmes is rather low.

Conditions for pets to prevent depression in older adults

ABSTRACT Objective: The study aims to determine if and how pet availability and engagement predicted depression in older adults. The prediction can be unconditional or independent of the sociodemographic characteristics of the older adult and/or conditional or dependent on the characteristics. These predictions rest on the contribution of resources pooled from older adults, their spouses, and pets, according to ecological theory. Method: The present study analyzed the effects of pet availability and engagement based on a survey of 340 older adults in Hong Kong, China. Results: Pet engagement but not pet availability manifested a significant negative effect on depression unconditionally. In addition, pet availability and engagement indicated some significant negative effects conditionally, including living with the spouse as a condition. Conclusion: For preventing depression in older adults, promoting their pet availability and engagement is promising. Particularly, the promotion would be more effective for older adults living with their spouses and being more resourceful than for others.