Examining the Person-in-Environment Perspective among Social Work Students in China: Individual- or Society-Orientation?

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to examine the perspective of person-in-environment by identifying whether social work students in China held a dominant orientation. The study was based on a sample of over 1,000 final-year social work students in Guangdong Province. It was revealed that although respondents prioritised the profession's individual-oriented goals, their practice preferences were indeterminate. Moreover, society-orientation was far from absent because social causes of poverty received most support. Paradoxically, micro practice was the preferred way of dealing with poverty. Ambiguity and discrepancy in the orientations of Chinese social work students not only reflected the evolving and pragmatic nature of social work in China, but also indicated the importance of understanding person-in-environment within an authoritarian context.

IMPLICATIONS

• Chinese social work educators should provide integrative learning with both individual and society orientations.

• The international community of social work educators needs to be more culturally sensitive in their teaching regarding person-in-environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Macro Social Work Practice
• Micro Social Work Practice
• Person-in-Environment
• Professionalism
• Social Work in China

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the generous provision of the measurements from Professor Idit Weiss-Gal and Professor John Gal. Also, the authors would like to show gratitude to Dr. Hong Zhang for her valuable comments, and Ms. Xiaoxia Hu and other colleagues from the 28 universities and colleges for their contributions to data collection.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).