Piecing Together Family Social Work in Mainland China

ABSTRACT

As rapid economic and sociopolitical development brings about drastic changes in family structure and processes in China, many social concerns arise. Through a review of journal articles published over a period of 28 years (1979–2006) in social work and related disciplines in China, this article presents a glimpse of family social work using the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database. The result is despairing, in that only a small number of articles on family social work were found. Given social work's traditionally strong belief in the family, as well as the strong emphasis on the family in China, the social work profession can contribute to China's social development through strengthening family social work and family policy. Nevertheless, this article argues for family social work to be sensitive to the cultural needs and characteristics of families in China, instead of imposing Western theories and interventions as if families come in just one size and shape.

KEYWORDS:

• China
• Chinese
• family social work

The author would like to thank Dr. Guat Tin NG for her critical comments on an earlier draft of this article.

Notes

Note. Theoretical orientation was not included as all eight articles did not specify the theoretical framework used for the study or article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Timothy Sim

Timothy Sim, PhD, is Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.