Wing-Chung Ho

'We Are Not Sad At All': Adolescents Talk About Their ‘City of Sadness’ Through Photovoice

In neighborhood-effects research, the voices of young residents are seldom heard. The present study examines how an adolescent sample living in a high-poverty area of Hong Kong is affected by its neighborhood and wider community contexts. Using the method of photovoice, the adolescents expressed their perceptions of the salient characteristics of their neighborhood/community. The geographical milieu where the respondents are situated is a remote district commonly known as the “City of Sadness.” Fifty-four adolescents (aged 12 to 17) were recruited to photograph neighborhood and community conditions and discuss their perceptions of them. Content analysis of the narratives solicited from eight photovoice sessions identified the complex feelings of satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and fear participants felt about their neighborhood. In addition, a survey of a random sample of 22 parents was also undertaken to understand the uniqueness of the adolescents’ opinions. Implications on how the neighborhood contexts impact adolescents’ perceptions and development are discussed.

Hong Kong's Elite Structure, Legislature and the Bleak Future of Democracy under Chinese Sovereignty

Abstract A decade after retrocession to China, Hong Kong still has limited democracy. Only half of the legislature is directly elected by the people, and the Chief Executive – the leader of Hong Kong government – is chosen by an election committee of 800 people, most of them loyal to Beijing. In December 2007, the Chinese Central Government announced that the direct election of the Chief Executive and the whole legislature may be implemented from 2017 and 2020, respectively. Still, in this paper it is suggested that real democracy in the foreseeable future is unlikely. This paper demonstrates the existence of a “power elite” of tightly knit business-state networks in Hong Kong society and argues that this constitutes a systemic barrier against further democratic development. Central to the discussion is an analysis of the formation and composition of the legislature and the relations to the elite-interlocks among influential organisations in society. Mainly based on 2006‐07 data, the Elite Database which is subject to network analyses is composed of 1531 individuals holding 1854 seats from 40 listed corporations, 27 government committees, 20 non-governmental organisations, and eight universities.

Public Amnesia and Multiple Modernities in Shanghai: Narrating the Postsocialist Future in a Former Socialist “Model Community”

In contemporary Shanghai, one key phenomenon that marks the disappearance of the status and benefits once promised by Maoist socialism has been the spread of consumer values among the populace. This article draws from the ethnographic observations of Cucumber Lane—an urban slum turned into a socialist “model community” in the 1960s—and the post-socialist cultural landscape of urban Shanghai to explore the different interests, agendas, and rationales of the residents in terms of multiple narrative forms that underlie the fabric of reformist China in transitioning toward a post-socialist future. The author concludes that, despite the state-led efforts to articulate a new course of transition, ostensibly by encouraging public amnesia of the socialist past, the “multiple modernities” expressed by the residents represent an “informal privatization of time” through which individuals come to lay claims on the control of their previously collectively shared future.

THE LIMIT OF THE DISCURSIVE: A Critique of the Radical Constructionist Approach to Family Experience

To date, the postmodernist approach to family experience which considers the actors use of discourse rather than external sociocultural forces as primordial in constituting domestic reality has become an intellectual stream which sociologists can hardly ignore. Using the Gubrium–Holstein model as an exemplar for a “more sophisticated” postmodernist approach to constructing family experience, this article attempts to outline a critique of radical constructionism which overemphasizes the discourse of actors as artfully producing reality as featured in the notions of “doing things with words” and “talking reality into being.” The critique is mainly based on the works of Schutz and Garfinkel, of which Gubrium and Holstein claim their own model share “abiding concern,” and is further supplemented by the work of Bourdieu. This article carries a commitment to rebuking the postmodernist emphasis on the discursive by highlighting that the prepredicative structure of the lifeworld—which is nondiscursive in nature—constitutes the primordial, albeit insufficient, basis of the nomos pertaining to experience as constituted.

Intensive Community Mentoring Scheme in Hong Kong: Nurturing Police-Youth Intergenerational Relationships

. The Intensive Community Mentoring Scheme (ICM) is a preventive, intergenerational psychological program jointly organized by the Network for Health and Welfare Studies (NHWS) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and The Hong Kong Police Force. Funded by the Quality Education Fund (a designated fund for education reform administered by the Education Manpower Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government), the program serves 124 students from three middle to low banding schools in Hong Kong. Located in low socio-economic and crime-prone neighborhoods, the schools have a substantial proportion of . students exhibiting the following characteristics: (1) low motivation in learning; (2) compulsive behavior; (3) psychological disturbances caused by family problems; and (4) lack of a positive outlook on the future. The

The (Un-)Making of the Shanghai Socialist ‘Model Community’: From the Monolithic to Heterogeneous Appropriation(s) of the Past

This article examines the historical trajectory of Cucumber Lane, which was transformed from a slum ghetto into a socialist ‘model community’ in the mid-1960s in Shanghai. The author argues that in the course of this transformation the state attempted to homogenize the past of the residents, which echoed the rise of yiku sitian, a popular thought-education strategy adopted during the Maoist period (1949-76). This article analyzes under what circumstances that yiku sitian became an effective means to promote the legitimacy of the state, and what role(s) Cucumber Lane played in being turned into a revolutionary holy land in the 1960s. The article also explores how the ‘revolutionariness’ of its residents was actively ‘created’. The author suggests that in the reform era, different and even contradictory appropriations of the past began to emerge among the residents, who were born and came of age during the Maoist period.

Negotiating Subalternity in a Former Socialist ‘Model Community’ in Shanghai: From ‘Model Proletarians’ to ‘Society People’

In the 1940s, Cucumber Lane was one of the largest shanty towns in Shanghai. After the communist takeover in 1949, its development took place in parallel with the major state-led projects that were launched in subsequent years. The community was turned from an urban slum into a socialist ‘model community’ in the 1960s, then into a ‘civilised small community’ in the 1990s. This paper aims to explore in general the process of negotiating identity on the part of the residents at these two historical junctures, and in particular the conditions under which one particular discourse of identity seemed to result in the hegemony of the residents, whereas the other invoked complicated sentiments filled with apathy and dissent, grumbles and hopes.In the 1940s, Cucumber Lane was one of the largest shanty towns in Shanghai. After the communist takeover in 1949, its development took place in parallel with the major state-led projects that were launched in subsequent years. The community was turned from an urban slum into a socialist ‘model community’ in the 1960s, then into a ‘civilised small community’ in the 1990s. This paper aims to explore in general the process of negotiating identity on the part of the residents at these two historical junctures, and in particular the conditions under which one particular discourse of identity seemed to result in the hegemony of the residents, whereas the other invoked complicated sentiments filled with apathy and dissent, grumbles and hopes.

Investing in Community Participation to Receive Social Support

ABSTRACT According to the investment theory of social capital, the investment of valuable resources in social activity leads to the reception of social support. This theory is applied in examining the contribution of community participation to expected social capital. A survey of 1,523 mothers in low-income neighborhoods of Hong Kong, China, suggests that community participation was not generally conducive to expected social support. However, community participation tended to contribute to expected social support when coupled with family resources such as the employment and income of the mother and her partner.

Developing Clinical Competence by Applying a Generic Model in Mental Health Social Work Supervision: A Case Study from Hong Kong, China

Clinical consultation is regarded as a crucial element in the professional development of human service personnel as well as ensuring the quality of service to clients. Mental health professionals who are new to the work, such as social workers, usually want more supervision which could help their work as well as provide emotional support. Using an actual case, this article delineates the idea of clinical consultation and explains a four-stage model of mental health consultation, namely entry, diagnosis, implementation and disengagement for mental health social workers. It is hoped that this model can provide a good base for consultants to integrate theory and practice in clinical consultation.

Experiencing the De-statization of the Family Ritual in Postsocialist China: Morality, Resource and State Power

Abstract This paper seeks to elucidate the moral, resource and political elements being absorbed into the subjective experience of postsocialist change in contemporary China. It is observed that under rampant state-led destatization, the resurgence of specific family rituals invokes among individuals diverse postsocialist experiences. Two population groups are compared, one urban in a Shanghai community, and one rural Miao-ethnic village in Hunan. It is argued that however diverse these experiences seem to be, they are underlain by a similar disposition to keep the state out of their family affairs.