Article Critique
Imagining Social Work: A Qualitative Study of Students’ Perspectives on Social Work in China Miu Chung Yan, Zhong-Ming Ge, Sheng-Li Cheng & A. Ka Tat Tsang
Social work education in China has expanded rapidly since it was reintroduced in 1988.
This has led to a growing body of English language literature on the development of social
work education in China. However, thus far, this literature lacks an empirical
foundation and little research on students’ perspectives has been done. To fill this gap,
this paper reports on a qualitative study of a group of graduating social work students
(n532) from four social work programmes in Jinan, the provincial capital of the
Shandong Province. Three major findings are reported. Firstly, the students liken their
social work learning experience to a roller coaster ride with many ups and downs.
Secondly, the cultural compatibility of western social work in China has not yet been
conclusively established, while an ‘indigenized’ social work needs to be compatible with
Chinese family values, referred to as ‘familism’ in direct Chinese to English translation,
and with the dominant socialist political ideology. Thirdly, the future of social work is
bright given increasing government support for its development.
Keywords: China; Social Work Education; Indigenization; Cultural Compatibility;
Social Work Students
Introduction
Since its reintroduction in 1988, social work education in China has evolved from
four to 200 programmes in 2007. This significant increase has gradually drawn
attention from the international social work community as reflected in the literature
Miu Chung Yan, University of British Columbia, Canada, Zhong-Ming Ge & Sheng-Li Cheng, Shangdong University,
China & A. Ka Tat Tsang, University of Toronto, Canada.
Correspondence to: Dr Miu Chung Yan, University of British Columbia, School of Social Work, 2080 West Mall,
Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z2, Canada. Email: miu.yan@ubc.ca
Social Work Education Vol. 28, No. 5, August 2009, pp. 528–543
ISSN 0261-5479 print/1470-1227 online # 2009 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/02615470802368959
published in Anglo–American academic journals (e.g. Leung, 1994; Yao, 1995; Ngai,
1996; Tsang and Yan, 2001; Xia and Guo, 2002; Yuen-Tsang, 2002; Chi, 2005; Ku
et al., 2005; Yan and Tsang, 2005; Yan and Cheung, 2006; Wong and Pearson, 2007;
Yip, 2007). Meanwhile, another publication of an edited volume of 46 papers, of
which 24 were written by scholars from Mainland China, presented at an
international symposium (Tsang et al., 2004) has also raised awareness among the
international community wanting a ‘snapshot’ of the development of social work
education in China. In brief, it is not uncommon to find explanations in this evolving
literature as to why social work as a social mechanism of helping has resurfaced in
China in the last two decades since economic reform was introduced. In this
literature, three mutually informing sets of issues have drawn a great deal of attention
from authors. The first set of issues relates to the cultural and political compatibility
of western social work—its individualistic values and central concern with human
rights and social justice—to China. These authors question whether, as a western
social construct, the Judeo–Christian based social work values and principles are
compatible with traditional Chinese culture. Secondly, questions are raised as to the
way in which the democratic and social justice principles of western social work
might be understood in the Chinese political reality. Thirdly, questions are raised as
to the role that social work could or should play in China given that the political
agenda is overwhelmingly focused on social stability and economic prosperity. The
second set of issues largely reflects the existing limitations of social work education in
China, such as lack of qualified social work educators, teaching materials, and field
practice opportunities, and the third, the future of social work in China. This
discussion centres on the creation of professional job opportunities for social work
graduates, the definition of fields of social work practice, the identity formation of
professional social work, and the ‘indigenization process’.
There are at least two limitations in this set of English-language literature which
are worth noting. First, except for a handful of papers, almost all the authors are
social work scholars outside Mainland China. In other words, most information
reported is observational rather than experiential. Secondly, very few of the papers are
empirically based. Yan and Tsang (2005) report the results of a Delphi study of 47
social work experts in China. However, the study was done in 2000 and 2001 and
much has changed since then, not least the massive expansion in social work
education in the last six years where it is estimated that it has tripled in size from 70
to 200 social work education programmes. More recently, Wong and Pearson (2007)
reported on the way in which a group of nine MSW social work students perceived
their professional identity formation through their field practice. The study is unique
in that it examines the students’ perspective but it is limited due to the small sample
size and a methodology based on a 500-word short essay in Chinese from each of the
nine students who participated. As the authors suggest, their study is only a ‘first step’
in understanding how social work students’ professional identity is being shaped in
China.
A myriad of literature on social work’s development has been published within
China in Chinese. Most papers are written by Chinese social work educators and, by
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and large, reflect their perspectives and interests. Most of the authors of the English-
language literature have extensively referenced the Chinese literature published in
China in their writing and, to some extent, have reflected the major issues as
constructed by Chinese social work educators. However, there is a growing body of
neglected literature in China—and many neglected perspectives, such as that of
students (Wong and Pearson, 2007) and clients—which tends to be ignored by
writers both in- and outside China. Like Wong and Pearson (2007), we believe that
social work students—graduates—will be a major force shaping the future of social
work in China. Therefore, a qualitative study was conducted to investigate how social
work students perceived the nature and future of social work in China.
Methodology
The idea for and design of this study was the outcome of an international
collaboration between a group of social work educators from Canada and China. The
aim of the study was to examine the recent development of social work education in
China and to explore social work students’ perspectives on these developments. The
study was conducted in mid-2005 in Jinan, the provincial capital of Shandong
Province where the partner university in China was located. The paper reports on the
findings of this study to provide concrete empirical data on the development of social
work in China and, more importantly, to provide another perspective from which to
understand the development of social work education in China.
Recruitment of the Sample
The study sample was drawn from each of the four undergraduate and diploma level
social work programmes in Jinan. Table 1 provides a brief profile of the programmes
provided by the four social work training institutes: the diploma programme was
introduced in 1996 and the undergraduate programmes were established either in or
after 2000. As shown in Table 1, all of these programmes had faced similar challenges
to those described in the literature, such as lack of qualified teachers and insufficient
field practice. Their numbers of students and graduates also substantiated the
concern about the uncontrolled expansion of social work education. Only final year
or graduating—undergraduate—students were invited to participate in the study
since it was assumed that they would have a more comprehensive understanding of
the issues being investigated and a more realistic idea of the future of social work and
their personal career choices. In other words, the researchers were not only interested
in how social work educators were shaping their professional identity but also the job
opportunities that were available to them since, while there are more than 200 social
work education programmes in China, there are very few formal jobs for social work
graduates (Yan and Tsang, 2008). Eight BSW graduating students were recruited
from each of the four programmes through referrals from social work educators and
students in the schools under study. In all, 32 graduating students, 13 male and 19
female, were recruited for participation in the study.
530 M. Chung Yan et al.
Data Collection
Data collection was via a semi-structured interview—an interview guide was used
(see Appendix for the translated version since the interviews were conducted in
Mandarin)—conducted by four master students at the partner university in China
who had been trained by the principal investigator. The average time of the interview
varied but, on average, each took approximately 45 minutes. The interview questions
were designed to collect information from students on three major areas: (i) their
experience of studying social work; (ii) their perceptions of the function and purpose
of social work in China, the cultural compatibility of social work with Chinese
culture, prevailing political ideology, the commonsense of everyday people, and their
personal beliefs in helping; and (iii) their vision of the future of social work in China.
The curriculum taught across the four institutions from which the study sample was
drawn varied a great deal. As a result, responses regarding the nature and purpose of
social work varied. Nevertheless, the students’ perspectives on the issues raised were
quite similar. Each interview was audio-taped and the tapes were transcribed by the
respective interviewers.
Data Analysis
The principal investigator in Canada conducted the data analysis—in consultation
with the research partners via email—using NVivo, a computer assisted qualitative
data analysis software package. Following a content analysis of the transcripts, codes
and themes were generated from the raw data—in Chinese. Only the quotations
selected from the transcripts presented in this paper were translated into English. The
accuracy of the translation, which was initially done by the principal investigator, was
checked by the co-investigators of the study who are also the co-authors of this paper.
Table 1 Brief Profile of Social Work Institutes Studied
Social work training institutes
A* B C D
Year and nature of social work pro- gramme started
2000 2000 2000 (Diploma) 1996 Degree Degree 2001 (Degree) Diploma
Total no. of social work students in 2005
238 494 500 219
Total no. of social work graduates in 2005
44 230 201 62
Total no. of teachers for the social work programme in 2007
10 14 9 6
Total no. of teachers with MSW (including those in progress) in 2007
1 2 1 1
Total hours of field work 240 480 360 480 No. and gender of students inter- viewed
3M 4M 4M 2M 5F 4F 4F 6F
Note: * In order not to identify the students, we decided to use another set of synonyms to signify the institutes.
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Ethical Issues and Limitations of the Study
The ethics protocol of the study was approved by the ethics committee of the
university with which the principal investigator is affiliated. Written consent of each
participant was sought prior to the interview. To ensure anonymity, each participant
was given a coded identity assigned by the principal investigator. As an exploratory
qualitative study with a conveniently selected sample group, the findings of this study
cannot be generalized to all social work students or programmes in China. However,
they might shed some light on the current development of social work education in
China.
Findings
The main themes which emerged from the findings are discussed below. They were as
follows.
1. Studying social work was experienced as a roller coaster ride.
2. Social work must be culturally compatible with Chinese traditional culture and the
prevailing political ideology, and it must incorporate unique Chinese characteristics,
such as family values.
3. There was optimism about the future of social work in China.
1. Studying Social Work was Experienced as a Roller Coaster Ride
To most of the students interviewed, their emotional journey of social work
education was like a roller coaster ride and ranged from complete ignorance about
social work, to feeling passionate about the noble nature of this helping profession,
and then to feeling disenchanted with the current development of the profession in
China, and their own future upon graduation. It is important to note that many of
the respondents did not start their social work training on favourable terms. Only 12
students had chosen social work as their major subject when they applied to their
school. Instead, like many of their classmates, they were tiaoji 1
(literally means
switched) to the social work programme without their consent.
Most students who were tiaoji to the social work programme did not have a high
score in the public examination which determines whether or not they are admitted
to their chosen programme. This, in turn, reflected the status of social work in the
school. It can thus be imagined that many of them felt frustrated when they were
informed that they had been switched to the social work programme. This frustration
came from disappointment and, more often, from not knowing what social work was
about:
We were all taioji to this programme. At first, our scores of the advanced education examination were not too high. Some applied to law, English and Chinese. In the end, we were all taioji to here. … So, it can be said that most of us were disappointed when being taioji to here because we didn’t know anything about this
532 M. Chung Yan et al.
discipline. At the beginning, our motivation to class was not high, coupled with pessimistic emotion. (Z6)
However, for many interviewees, their frustration and ignorance did not last long.
The helping nature of the social work profession, the enthusiasm of their social work
teachers, their field experience through agency visits and field work quickly changed
their perceptions, particularly the preconceptions of those who were interested in
helping others:
Social worker is really very noble. Let me give you an example close to me. Like, I was emotionally touched by the teacher who taught me social group work. Needless to say, in class he always respected his job. (L6)
Many of them felt that their social work training had transformed them. It had
changed the way in which they communicated and interacted with people. They had
become more open to and supportive of others:
Although it is like that, I feel that I have learned something important in these four years which will bring some major impacts to my future work and life. For instance, the way I make friends with others, how I communicate with others. It will have impacts and I feel that these impacts are useful. (X3)
Many also felt that through the social work programme they had internalized the
values and principles of social work which would guide their way through different
passages in life:
Yet, the principles, values and perspectives that we learn from social work have influenced us; not only our work, our learning, our everyday life and our vision of life. Having learned social work, these are all connected. (Z3)
As graduating students, many of them expressed their gratitude for what they had
learned in the social work programme. To them, social work was a very meaningful
profession. However, the jobless reality had left many students feeling let down with
dashed hopes for a bright future:
Let’s talk about myself. I really hope to do this kind of work. However, now my hope is basically gone. My self-confidence has been hurt. You want to do it but you can’t. There is not even a chance for you to do it. (Z4)
It was difficult for many of the respondents to predict their personal future in view
of the present development of social work in China. Among all the interviewees, only
a small number (n55) reported that they would try to look for social work related
jobs. Many intended to pursue postgraduate—higher—education hoping that this
would make them more competitive and some said they would just find a job which
probably would not require social work training. Despite this gloomy future, many
still believed that what they had learnt in the social work programme would be useful
to them:
In terms of work, I probably will not practise this kind of work because my job has almost been fixed and it has nothing to do with social work. Even so, I feel that what I learned in these four years will have a very great impact on my work and my life. For instance it has certain impacts on my attitude when I interact with others
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and on my behaviour when I communicate with others. And, I feel that these influences are useful. (Z3)
Reflecting upon their experience, some said that they did not regret taking the
social work programme:
I have studied social work for four years. My feeling towards social work has gone through a process from feeling fresh to disappointed, and then at the end I feel I have established a confidence of its future. I think probably many social work students may have a similar process like me. I think at the end, I am still relatively optimistic about it. (L1)
In sum, to many of these interviewees, their experience of social work education
was not a smooth one. From being ignorant of social work to being passionate
about the profession and back to feeling disenchantment, their up and down roller
coaster emotions perhaps reflected the challenges of social work’s development in
China.
2. Cultural Compatibility between Western Social Work and Chinese Culture
In the literature, one of the major debates is about the cultural compatibility of
western 2
social work. The term ‘culture’ in this study was understood not only as (i)
traditional Chinese culture, but also as inclusive of (ii) the prevailing political
ideology, (iii) the commonsensical beliefs of the laobaixing (which roughly means the
everyday people), and (iv) the students’ personal beliefs of helping—which were
shaped by the values of the wider society (i–iii above). If traditional Chinese culture
were based on Confucius’s teachings—and other schools of thoughts which could be
classified as ‘high culture’—then we might refer to commonsensical beliefs among
laobaixing or everyday people as ‘low culture’. Although the former may have a
certain influence on the latter, the low culture is more about folklore and practice
wisdom accumulated in the everyday lived experience of the laobaixing. These four
different manifestations of culture mutually informed one another but each could
also lead to very different understanding of the cultural meaning of ‘imported social
work’.
(i) Compatibility with Chinese traditional culture
When asked whether Chinese traditional culture were compatible with the values of
social work, we received definitive responses: those who said ‘yes’ tended to think
that Confucian teachings had always emphasized mutual help and harmonious
relations. These, to them, were also basic to social work practice. Many of them
understood helping others as always being a part of traditional Chinese culture
which, from a Confucian perspective, means being born with a compassionate
disposition which leads to sacrifice of oneself and love for others. For instance, in
traditional Chinese culture, taking care of the ruoshi qunti (which roughly means the
disadvantaged and marginalized groups), particularly seniors and children, is always
regarded as a virtue:
534 M. Chung Yan et al.
I think this can be compatible. First and foremost, Chinese traditional culture advocates filial duties, which should be compatible. Social work offers help to elderly people as well as the marginal group, the idea of which connects social work with traditional Chinese culture. This is also something which the younger generation should do; social workers should also look after this group as well. (Z7)
According to their understanding, these traditional virtues were very close to
the social work values that they had learnt in their training. In contrast,
interviewees who argued that the traditional Chinese culture was not compatible
with western social work had a very different interpretation of the traditional
Chinese culture. First, they believed that the emphasis on individuality in western
social work might clash with the collective tendency embraced by traditional
Chinese culture. Secondly, to some students, because of this fundamental
difference, some basic social work principles, such as self-determination, were
problematic when examined from a traditional Chinese cultural perspective.
Thirdly, despite the prevalence of collectivistic understanding of Chinese
traditional culture, some students also intriguingly observed that there was a
great deal of emphasis on self-reliance which tended to discourage people from
seeking help from other people:
The overall trend [of Chinese culture] is to depend on one’s hard work—in other words, to realize one’s goals and one’s growth by virtue of one’s hard work and skills and not by means of external effort. Meanwhile, social work is mainly to help people, perhaps most Chinese people would not prefer to accept such help, let alone seeking help from social workers. The emphasis of self-effort is in the Chinese culture; it is also where the contradiction is. (L2)
However, the collectivistic perspective is not necessarily at odds with the notion of
self-reliance in Chinese culture. As one student pointed out, ‘many people in China
still believe in this principle, that is, to cultivate one’s person and rectify one’s mind,
regulate one’s family, govern well one’s state and rule well the world’. According to
this principle, the notion of self-reliance is supposedly to encourage people to seek
self-actualization from the personal domain, such as family first before contributing
to the public domain. However, as these students perceived, to a larger extent, this
might discourage people from seeking help.
(ii) Compatibility with the commonsensical beliefs of laobaixing (everyday people)
In terms of helping, is social work and Chinese culture, like the teachings of
Confucius, always compassionate? One student (L5) made a shrewd observation as to
the lack of consistency between traditional and commonsensical Chinese cultural
beliefs:
Although China has some traditional notions of helping people, like extending the idea of helping your elders to others’ elders and your youngsters to others’ youngsters. But it is only just a few notions, and they spring from some of the ideas that are related to tracing the root and origin. But deep down, it is still about ‘‘clean up one’s own snow at the front door and bother not with others’ snowflakes on their roof’’. (L5)
Social Work Education 535
In addition, high cultural values were also subject to reinterpretation and, as we found
in this study, tended to be seen as incompatible with western social work. For instance,
the Confucian idea of self-reliance implies a self-actualization process but when it is
reinterpreted in people’s everyday lives, it becomes a folklore which promotes the idea
that people should help themselves. As L1 mentioned, there is an old Chinese saying, it is
better to ‘beg for help ourselves than to ask for it from others’. Following this
interpretation, many students also believed that the virtue of self-reliance had led to a
popular commonsensical belief that people should not wash their dirty linen in public.
Z2 provided a popular example which was shared by most respondents who pointed out
the incompatibility of commonsensical everyday Chinese and social work beliefs:
As a traditional Chinese laobaixing’s belief, family should take care of their elderly. If a child sends their elders to institutions, the elders will have no face and feel this child has no filial piety. To the child, other people will also point their fingers at him/her and say he/she has no filial piety because he/she sends their elders to institutions. Let’s think about it, this may not be compatible. (Z2)
To a large extent, the respondents who saw western social work as incompatible with
Chinese cultural beliefs noted the embedded nature of Confucian ‘familism’—or the
priority of family—in the commonsensical or everyday beliefs of Chinese people.
Family values run so deep that they have created a kind of cultural practice that strongly
discourages people from seeking help from outside their family. If they really need to
ask for help, as many respondents understood it, Chinese people tended to follow a
‘differentiation mode of association’, a conceptual framework of familial relationship
constructed by the late sociologist, Fei Xiaotung (1983). According to this framework,
Chinese culture has a quasi-kinship system which extends from the immediate family
flexibly outward to people who are seen by the family as part of them (Yan, 1998). To
some respondents, this mode of association was very different from the Judeo–
Christian beliefs of western social work which stress fraternity, a love that is owed
equally to everyone. To these respondents, this hierarchical help seeking practice was
incompatible with western social work, which is a form of public service. In the
commonsensical world of China, public servants, even social workers, are generally
perceived as guan (government officials). As some of them mentioned, there is an old
Chinese maxim: even the best guan cannot judge the affairs within one’s family.
In short, judging from the findings, the cultural compatibility issue is inconclusive.
Partly, this is due to the internal inconsistent interpretation of cultural beliefs by
different people, and partly, due to the nature of culture as a constantly changing
phenomenon which is responsive to context. This is particularly true of China which,
in the last three decades, has been undergoing rapid transformation. Some students
are optimistic that the many incompatibilities between Chinese high and low cultural
practices and western social work will soon disappear, particularly in the urban areas.
(iii) Compatibility with dominant political ideology
So far, the communist government of China still insists that socialism is its guiding
ideology although a market economy has become firmly established in China. The
536 M. Chung Yan et al.
most recent policy goal is to establish a harmonious society in China despite the fact
that its ultimate purpose is to ensure stability of society for its economic boom. Many
respondents saw policy goals and purposes as having an emphasis on human value
which was compatible with the humanistic nature of western social work:
I feel that in the planned economy era, there may be some conflicts. However, the present market economic conditions, under the background of global economy, are compatible because our government is gradually changing itself, gradually moving towards humanization, human centred. It has gradually borrowed the western experiences in resolving social conflicts to handle China’s social problems. (L4)
Nevertheless, respondents had numerous concerns about the way in which the
liberal and humanistic nature of social work could work harmoniously with existing
political ideology and practice. Intertwined with traditional Chinese culture, the
dominant political ideology has a strong tendency towards centralized control. The
government officials tend to have an omnipresent power in determining people’s
lives. Many wonder, under the tight control of government, how much freedom they
will have to help people:
China does not yet have a free political environment, which is a crucial factor. … Without a general sense of social mass participation and of the need to fight for one’s right, the development of social work is quite difficult. For social work is to encourage people to actively participate in their community, and through their own effort and the fight for social resources, they can change their existing conditions. (X3)
Respondents believed that social work as a form of helping that requires a certain
level of autonomy was not compatible with centralized political control in China. As
Z4 noted: ‘To me, social work is grounded in the society. … We have to obey
government law and regulations too, but if we rely too much on government, our
hands are tied in many aspects’. In brief, the respondents had an optimistic view of
the recent policy changes which tended to put more emphasis on human value but
were pessimistic about the tight political control of the regime which had historically
cautioned against people’s freedom, a central principle and value of western social
work.
(iv) Incorporation of unique aspects of Chinese culture
When asked how cultural incompatibility issues might be resolved, the respondents
agreed that indigenization was needed:
[Social work] has to correspond to the mainstream Chinese cultural tradition. I think any new discipline to be adopted in China has to go through a bentuhuade (literally means indigenization) process because our traditional Chinese culture is, in fact, far too persistent. It’s been five, six thousand years. It’s impossible for us to just let go of so many thousand years of our traditional culture so easily because of the arrival of a foreign discipline. (L3)
One of the most commonly agreed cultural transformations of this imported social
work—a Judeo–Christian based liberal humanistic helping profession—was its
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incorporation of ‘familism’, a fundamental component of both high and low Chinese
cultural practices. Unlike western social work, almost all of the respondents, in one
way or another, expressed the view that social work in China must be grounded in
the familial nature of Chinese culture:
Because of the strong emphasis on family in Chinese culture, particularly in this aspect, particularly the significant role of family in some fundamental contra- dictions, the role of family will certainly become a characteristic feature and be reflected in the development of Chinese social work. In other words, it is possible that social work in China is not based on individual as a unit but rather on the family. I feel that in terms of management, it … in the actual implementation process, it will have a much better effect. Practising social work from the point of view of the individual as a unit may not be as effective as using family as a unit. (L8)
In addition, all agreed that cultural transformation has to fit the dominant
ideology in China. Politically, given the existing political and economic conditions,
social work in China must rely on the government. Most respondents were quite
realistic. They agreed that instead of competing with these existing indigenous
organizations, at least for the time being, social work in China must yitu (rely on)
these organizations and the government:
… but now there’s no way, so many responsibilities are undertaken by the government. That’s why you need to have the support of the government and then integrate slowly. Take, for example, women’s work is supposed to be carried out by social workers, but now government has set up Women’s Federation [a government operated non-governmental organization (GONGO)] to do social work. But if Women’s Federation is to be cancelled, it is not possible. This is why you have to rely on Women’s Federation to solve problems which are encountered by women such as family violence, inequity of property distribution due to divorce. (Z2)
However, many saw the cultural transformation as a two-way process. They hoped
that this newly imported social work would gradually transform the bentude (literally
means indigenous) practices of these existing organizations:
To them [government officials], the influx of western culture is a challenge and a test, but changes need to be carried out step by step, that is, to make this system [existing government departments and GONGOs] an embracing one in order to enable the western stuff to be incorporated into these systems. (X6)
3. Future Social Work in China
Many of these graduating student respondents found the future of social work in
China too remote from their immediate personal career interests. As mentioned
previously, few would look for jobs that were related to social work. Although most
of them were disenchanted with the virtually non-existent social work job market and
most believed that social work’s development in China would not be simple and
straight forward, they saw a promising future for social work as a measure to tackle
538 M. Chung Yan et al.
the social ills caused by economic reform; in other words, they believed that the
fallout from future economic development would provide opportunities for the
social work profession:
Social work in China is developing very fast now; the development process of social work is just coinciding with the rising economic period of China. Along with the economic development, the development of social work in China will be getting better and better. People’s knowledge level also keeps rising and ideas continue to be renewed. Social work will certainly be getting better and better. (Y5)
Among the respondents, there was strong agreement that social work can play
multifaceted roles that would be beneficial to society. These roles include counsellor
for individuals and families, organizer in communities, poverty relief worker for the
homeless, panhandlers and/or rural peasants, just to name a few. These students are
hopeful that one day in China social workers would be found not only in the urban
but also in rural areas; not only in the community and government departments but
also in schools, hospitals, correctional facilities, senior homes, and new NGOs.
As one student noted, the public has already started paying attention to the
multiple roles that social work can play in various aspects of Chinese society.
Say for example … the China Central Television Station has once in its ‘‘Focus Interview’’ programme introduced some new occupations which included social work. In the programme, they said social work could contribute greatly to the communities, the hospitals and helping homeless panhandlers. They also reported some social work practice activities. For example, they mentioned how social work could be practised in hospitals. (L7)
Respondents were hopeful that when more Chinese people realized the benefits of
social work, they would accept it, especially given major reform in China aimed at the
construction of a harmonious society and the massive structural changes in Chinese
society which would create demand for professional social workers’ services:
… social work’s development will become faster and faster, and its scope bigger and bigger. I think in the next couple of years, a sense of general awareness will be formed—whenever the word ‘‘social work’’ is mentioned, everyone knows what social work is about, what it does; knows the kind of service, the kind of notion and the kind of value system it is. (Y1)
Many respondents believed that a major obstacle to social work’s development in
China would be lack of government support. Without government support,
hundreds of social work graduates, like themselves, would be out of work:
The most urgent problem is that students of over 200 universities in China are going to graduate and enter the society, but our efforts will have been wasted as many social work students probably will have to find jobs in other areas. Isn’t this loss of professional students to other areas a waste of resources? (Z3)
They hoped that the government would soon introduce institutional changes and
not only classify social work as an occupation but also recognize its professional
status by introducing a registration system. In addition, promotion of the profession
was important. They also hoped that the government would take the lead in
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promoting social work. They firmly believed that when more people came to know
about what social work was, they would accept this emerging profession as a new
social measure of helping people to resolve their problems:
To raise the recognition status of social work, the government has to support and introduce it to various units and make them understand what social work is about. Various enterprising units will get to know social work more and more. Not only will enterprise units understand more and more about what social work is, business units as well as other units will too. Wait till some units which need employees have completely understood what social work is about and when they feel the need, they will start seeking help from social workers. (X4)
To conclude, the stories of these 32 graduating students indicate that they have
gone through a rough process in the last three or four years. Perhaps their roller
coaster experience may also reflect the struggle of the development of social work in
China both in school and in the society at large. In their opinion, the cultural
compatibility of social work with Chinese culture was not a black and white issue,
particularly when cultures in China were themselves incoherent and changing.
However, they did agree that social work in China must have its own characteristics.
One of these characteristics is the cultural adaptation of western social work. In
addition, social work in China, as they saw it, should be contextually grounded in the
contemporary Chinese society which was generally recognized as highly politically
controlled. This is particularly important when the support of the government is so
critical to social work’s development in China. In their opinion, without the
government support, even with its great potential, social work would have a hard
time flourishing.
Conclusion
This exploratory study of graduating social work students from a city in China
provides a ‘snapshot’ of the perspective of a particular group of students. Given the
small-scale nature of the study, these findings cannot be generalized to the wider
population of social work students or graduates in China. Nevertheless, given the lack
of empirical information on social work’s development in China, the perspectives of
these 32 students provide some, albeit not generalizable, understanding of the current
situation and concerns about social work’s development in China. The speed of social
work education’s development in China is almost beyond comprehension. However,
as found in this study, there is another story to be told about the ‘roller coaster
experience’ of students, the majority of whom were assigned to the social work
programme without their consent and without any prior knowledge and under-
standing of what social work was about. As Yan and Cheung (2006) observed, this
phenomenon is largely due to higher education reform which is massively expanding
higher education but limiting the expansion to several selected ‘new’ disciplines,
social work being one of the chosen few.
The sudden expansion of social work education has led to numerous problems,
such as a lack of professionally qualified social work academics (see Table 1), teaching
540 M. Chung Yan et al.
materials, and field placements as documented in the literature. However, despite all
of these difficulties, social work educators in China, at least as reported by these 32
students, have achieved a great deal of success in nurturing a new generation of social
work trained personnel. The experiences of these students suggest that, in the end,
although this unwilling choice might not offer them an immediate and prosperous
career, most of them believed that they had gone through a very meaningful training
which would be useful to them personally regardless of what they were going to do in
the future. Also, as indicated in the findings, most of them also recognized the need
for and usefulness of social work for China. With this seed firmly planted, there is a
good reason to believe that social work in China will gradually flourish.
Nonetheless, to many of these students social work remains a ‘virtual occupation’.
The social work that they have learnt so far is an intellectual construction of their
teachers who themselves mostly have no social work training and experience. An
indigenized Chinese social work model is still far from being realized. As reflected in
the literature, cultural compatibility is a continuing concern for those pursuing the
indigenization of social work in China (e.g. Yan, 1998; Tsang and Yan, 2001; Yuen-
Tsang, 2002; Yip, 2007). However, thus far, no concrete proposal has been offered.
Learned from their teachers, most students interviewed envisioned that social work in
China should match the Zhongguo guoqing (which roughly means the unique
conditions of China), including its rich culture. Despite its simplicity, the students of
this study offered a particular perspective which might, at least, point to a first step in
the cultural indigenization of social work in China. To them, social work in China, at
least in the near future, must reconcile with ‘familism’—a cultural emphasis on the
importance of family—which is deeply embedded in Chinese culture.
Furthermore, the ‘possibility’ of social work in China is limited by the complete
absence of social work jobs in China which most of these students found most
disappointing. Ironically, so far the development of social work has been confined to
within higher education as an academic discipline. As a field of practice, social work
is largely under-developed in China. Like their teachers, these students also see that
the future development of social work in China lies in the hands of the government.
In other words, the raison d’être of social work in China cannot be detached from its
social assignment—a social safety valve to ensure social stability and economic
prosperity. If this is true, then it is almost expected that social work in China has a
very important political responsibility. Therefore, one of the so-called Chinese
characteristics of social work in China, as most students perceived, is a high level of
state stewardship.
Indeed, in December 2006, the China Communist Party issued a resolution to
create a critical mass of social workers as part of the national effort to build a
harmonious society in China. This resolution has led to a national system of social
work registration under the leadership of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. As announced
by the Deputy Minister, it is expected that a team of more than 100,000 registered
social workers at three different levels—advanced, intermediate and junior—will be
created in five years (see http://www.mca.gov.cn/sw/fugle_show6.asp). Yet, to this
group of students this news might have come too late. Nevertheless, this development
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has offered new hope and raised the morale of social work educators and students in
China, although it is not known how registration would directly affect the job
market.
To conclude, the speed and scale of social work’s development in China is perhaps
the fastest and largest in the world since the inception of social work in the Anglo–
American world a century ago. It has drawn increasing attention from the
international social work community since social work in China has the potential
to be larger than the whole profession of social work outside China! Certainly, some
experiences in China, be they good or bad, are worth learning about. This study offers
some evidence of current developments in China from the students’—as yet
neglected—perspective. To understand this phenomenal development more fully,
further research is needed.
Acknowledgement
We would like to thank Professor Mel Gray for her comments and suggestions for
this paper.
Notes
[1] To prevent losing the original meaning, some key Chinese terms are used in this paper and the
closest English interpretation is provided in parentheses.
[2] We use the term western only to simplify the discussion. The authors would like to
acknowledge that both conceptually and empirically, there are many ways of practising social
work and diverse discourses of what social work is in developed countries.
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Appendix: Interview Guide
1. Why did you decide to study social work?
2. Please tell me how your teachers describe social work.
a. Please also tell me given what you are taught, how you will define social work.
3. From what you know about social work, in what areas and how, you think, social
work can contribute to the Chinese society.
4. Many people have said that social work is a western construct. Please tell me how
you understand social work within the Chinese context.
a. Do you think the social work values you learned in class are compatible with your
understanding of Chinese culture and the prevailing political ideologies in China? If
yes, how? If no, how incompatible and how will you deal with this incompatibility?
5. Please tell me, from your perspective as a social work student, what are the major
problems of the development of social work in China?
6. What will you foresee for the future of social work in China?
7. What will you foresee for your own future as a social work student?
8. Please name three major obstacles that you think are critical to social work
development in China. Why these three?
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