Newsletter No. 155

CUHK Newsletter No. 155 4th December 1999 3 New Department Heads Series New Chair of Social Work Calls for More Contact with Service Targets in the Profession Newchair of the D e p a r t me nt of Social Wo r k, Prof. Joyce M a believes that social w o r k students n o w need to be better e q u i p p ed t h an ever before because the d ema n ds o n t h em are far greater t h an those o n their predecessors w h o entered society d u r i n g mo re affluent times. Social w o r k researchers also need to ' p r o ve their w o r t h ' b y w o r k that bears mo re direct relevance to society a n d the needy. Teaching Re d u c t i on i n the g o v e r nme n t 's resource allocation for welfare services after the A s i an financial crisis means that mo re a n d mo re social wo r k e rs are b e i ng h i r ed o n contract terms. Contract r e n ewal a nd career a d v a n c eme nt become increasingly tied to job performance. Social w o r k departments, therefore, n e ed to step u p their teaching i n order to p r o d u ce graduates w h o are capable of h a n d l i ng the challenge s that awa it t h em outside the u n i v e r s i ty gates. The quality of teaching i n the University's Department of Social Wo rk is reflected i n the emp l o yme nt rate of its graduates, w h i c h stood at approximately 90 per cent i n 1998, the highest amo ng social w o r k departments i n local tertiary institutions. Prof. M a pointed out, however, that there is always a need to regularly review their c u r r i c u l um a nd teaching to see whether they are indeed i n tune w i t h the current socio-economic climate, a nd whether they practise as m u c h as they preach. I n terms of u n d e r g r a d u a te teaching, she is of the v i e w that the students' perspectives need to be b r o a d e n ed a n d their critical faculty sharpened. Especially i mp o r t a nt is their ability to r e s p o nd to crisis: h o w to deal w i t h uncertainty, w i t h s u d d en changes, w i t h the u n f am i l i a r. 'Social w o r k students are w e l l t r a i n ed in, for example, listening critically a n d analytically, a nd g i v i n g constructive feedback. These ma ke t h em c omp e t i t i ve as candidates for other jobs as we l l. H o w e v er I still h o pe that the best of o ur students w i l l r ema in i n the social w o r k field,' Prof. M a remarked. For postgraduate training, m a n y of the department's doctoral students are teachers of social w o r k o n the ma i n l a n d, wh e re social w o r k is still a f l e d g l i ng f i e ld b u t wh e re social w o r k skills a n d k n o w l e d ge are i n h i g h d ema n d. These teachers f r om China's t op academic institutions such as F u d an Un i v e r s i ty a nd Pe k i ng Un i v e r s i ty we re mo re often t h a n n ot t r a i n ed i n fields other t h an social w o r k w h e n they we re u n d e r g r a d u a t e s. The C U H K d e p a r t me n t, w i t h its s o u nd r e p u t a t i on a nd a p o l i cy to a l l ow students to w r i te their theses i n Chinese, is a t op choice for these ma i n l a nd teachers. T h o u gh Prof. M a w o u l d like to see mo re of t h em c om i ng for their education, she said the d e p a r t me n t 's h a n ds are tied because of the quota o n 'overseas' student e n r o l me nt i mp o s ed b y the University. The d e p a r t me nt is p l a n n i ng a one-year self- financed postgraduate d i p l oma p r o g r amme w h i c h w i l l have three specializations: a d v a n c ed clinical practice, h u m a n service ma n a g eme n t, a nd research a n d p r o g r amme evaluation. It is also r e v i e w i ng its master's p r o g r amme to see if it serves its p u r p o se w e l l i n the current social a nd economic context. Research Prof. M a w o u l d like to see staff of the d e p a r t me nt b e c om i ng leaders i n the social welfare field, i n serving the needy a nd u n d e r - p r i v i l e g e d, such as i n i m p r o v i ng the q u a l i ty of life of n e w i mm i g r a n t s. 'We d o n 't h i de i n an i v o r y t owe r; w e reach o ut to i n d i v i d u a ls a n d families, u n d e r s t a nd their hardships, a n d t h en come u p w i t h research that is of use to them. The fruits of o ur labour m a y n ot h o w e v er p r o d u ce o b v i o us results i n the short term. Social w o r k is about "seed s o w i n g " ,' she explained. Go i ng b e y o nd H o n g K o n g is a r e s o u n d i ng theme i n the department's research activities. Cu r r e n t ly it is engaged i n comparative studies b e t we en H o n g K o n g a nd ma i n l a nd cities like Shanghai, c omp a r i ng for example, the me n t al health between y o u t h of the t w o cities as w e l l as self-help groups. The department w i l l continue to t r a in social w o r k teachers f r om the ma i n l a n d. Prof. M a hopes that such interaction w i l l act as stimulus i n h e l p i ng teaching staff reflect o n h o w their k n ow l e d ge can be applied to ma i n l a nd China. Research topics concerned w i t h H o n g K o n g fall ma i n ly i n to f o ur groups. Th e first is o n service needs a n d we l f a re choices of people i n different Chinese societies — H o n g Ko n g, Taiwan, a n d m a i n l a nd China. The second is practice research such as the a p p l i c a t i on of f am i ly t h e r a py to patients s u f f e r i ng f r om anorexia nervosa, a n d that u s i ng a cognitive- b e h a v i o u r al a p p r o a ch to s t u dy j u v e n i le delinquency. Such research is t i me - c o n s um i ng a nd requires the researchers to reach o ut to families. The t h i r d t y pe of research i n v o l v es the analysis o f social p h e n ome na t h r o u gh the collection of n ume r i c al data. Topics i n c l u de m i d l i fe crisis, the me n t al health of y o u t h w h o g r ew u p i n poverty, as w e l l as the assessment of h u m a n needs f r om a social service perspective. The f o u r t h k i n d of research is p o l i cy analysis, such as assessing h o w the current me d i c al a nd health policies i n H o n g K o n g have been affecting those for w h o m they we re made. The b r o ad direction i n research is mo re emphasis o n a nd contact w i t h th e grass roots. The department w i l l also encourage greater collaboration w i t h local social welfare agencies i n the evaluation of their services a nd the identification of n ew directions of development, h o p i ng that i n the process, useful contacts a nd valuable data for research can be obtained. Being a believer i n the strength of the f am i ly a nd an experienced f am i ly therapist, Prof. M a also hopes the collaboration w i l l result i n mo re services b e i ng offered that have the f am i ly as the basic unit. F o o d f o r T h o u g h t To keep creative juices f l o w i n g, the d e p a r t me nt w i l l continue to i n v i te w o r l d r e n o w n ed scholars i n the social w o r k f i e ld to give seminars a nd wo r k s h o p s, h o l d b r a i n s t o r m i ng sessions for research ideas, a nd capitalize o n the expertise of v i s i t i ng professors. Faculty memb e rs w i l l also h e lp organize staff d e v e l o pme nt p r o g r ammes for social we l f a re agencies. I n d o i ng so, they h o pe to g a in a better u n d e r s t a n d i ng of the concerns of the profession. Mo s t i mp o r t a n t ly Prof. M a hopes b o th the staff a n d the students of the d e p a r t me nt w i l l a l wa ys possess a curiosity a n d emp a t hy t owa r ds people a nd society, the basic qualities r e q u i r ed of a profession that she describes as ' p a rt feeling' a nd ' p a rt objectivity'. Piera Ch n 中大通訊 CUHK NEWSLETTER 網址 website http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/puo / 1 .本刊逢四日及十九日出版。 2 . 來函或投稿請寄沙田香港中文大學秘書處出版事務處《中大通訊》 編輯部（電話 2609 8584 ，傳真 2603 6864， 電郵 pub2@uab.msmail. cuhk.edu.hk )。 3. 投稿者須附真實姓名、地址及聯絡電話，文章則可用筆名發表。 4. 編輯有權刪改及決定是否刊登來稿，不欲稿件被刪者請預先聲明。 5 . 本刊所載文章只反映作者之觀點和意見，並不代表校方或本刊立 場。 6 . 所有內容未經編者書面准許，不得轉載。 7 . 本刊每期發行三千八百份，免費供校內教職員索閱，部分郵寄本地 教育機構及與大學有關人士。私人索閱，請致函本刊查詢。 1. The Newsletter is published on the 4th and 19th of each month. 2. All contributions and suggestions should be sent to the Editor, CUHK Newsletter, Publication Office, University Secretariat, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (tel. 2609 8584; fax. 2603 6864; e-mail pub2@uab.msmail.cuhk.edu.hk ). 3. Contributions should bear the writer's name and contact telephone number, and may be published under pseudonyms. No anonymous letters will be published. 4. The Editor reserves the right to reject contributions and to edit all articles without notice for reasons of clarity, length or grammar. Those who do not want to have their articles amended should indicate clearly in writing. 5. The views expressed in the CUHK Newsletter are those of the authors, and are not necessarily those of the University or the Editor. 6. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced without the written consent of the Editor. 7. This publication has a circulation of 3,800 and is primarily intended for staff members of CUHK. Copies are also sent to local educational institutions and individuals associated with the University. Those who wish to be included on the mailing list please contact the Newsletter direct. 截 稿 日期 Deadlines for Contributions 期數 Issue no. 出 版 日 期 Issue date 截 稿 日 期 Deadline for contributions 156 19.12.1999 3.12.1999 157 4.1.2000 15.12.1999 158 19.1.2000 4.1.2000 159 19.2.2000 26.1.2000 160 4.3.2000 17.2.2000 161 19.3.2000 2.3.2000 162 4.4.2000 20.3.2000 163 19.4.2000 30.3.2000 164 4.5.2000 13.4.2000 165 19.5.2000 3.5.2000 166 4.6.2000 18.5.2000 167 19.6.2000 2.6.2000 香港中文大學出版事務處出版 編輯：梁其汝 助理編輯：蔡世彬 李琪 陳偉珠 製作：林綺媚 Published by the Publication Office, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Editor: Amy K.Y. Leung Assistant Editors: Piera Chen, Lawrence Choi Graphic Designer: Ada Lam 印刷：鮑思高印刷有限公司 Printing: Don Bosco Printing Co. Ltd.