Disaster Work in China: Tasks and Competences for Social Workers

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a survey on the social work tasks and competences required in disaster management in China. The survey questionnaire was administered at two training workshops held in Sichuan in July and September 2010. The number of survey respondents was 67. The results of tasks analysis indicated perceptions of a division of labor among government officials, social workers, and other disaster responders. The survey results also showed that identifying and addressing the special needs of vulnerable populations required moderate to high levels of competency. Overall, the results should be seen as preliminary and used as the basis for ongoing dialogue with social work educators and social workers about what is required in disaster training.

Keywords:

• Competency
• Curriculum Development
• Assessment
• Disaster Management
• Disaster Training
• Wenchuan Earthquake
• China

Acknowledgement

The author thanks Ms Yang Jing for her assistance in pilot testing the survey questionnaire among social workers in Shenzhen, and Ms Fok Siu Ling for administering the survey questionnaire in one of her training workshops. Ms Fok also kindly gave permission to the author to administer the same questionnaire in another workshop organized by her. The author also acknowledges with grateful appreciation the mainland Chinese workshop participants for their voluntary participation in the survey.