Black cat,white cat: a pragmatic and collaborative approach to evidence‐based social work in China

Current thinking suggests that evidence‐based practice (EBP) is a key to unlocking the potential for social work development in mainland China. But Chinese social workers may be confronted by the challenges of EBP in using research evidence, exercising expert judgment, as well as considering client characteristics, as social work is a relatively new enterprise in China's unique social–economic–political context. There is little indigenous research evidence for Chinese social workers to refer to. There are few experienced social workers and researchers since social work practice, education and research were reinstated only in the late 1980s. Mainland Chinese may not be aware of what social workers can do and may prefer authority‐based practice. This paper aims to first review the definition of EBP, followed by a discussion of the challenges and opportunities in applying EBP to social work in China. It then highlights the usefulness of collaboration between academics, practitioners, and clients in implementing EBP. A recent research project on ex‐offenders and their family members in Singapore is used to illustrate the feasibility of collaboration between academia and the field.

当前的理论认为, 以证据为本的实践是一个解开中国大陆社会工作重新发展潜能的钥匙。 然而, 中国社会工作者在运用研究证据、行使专业判断及考虑服务使用者的特质时, 或许会遇到实证为本的挑战, 因为在中国独特的社会、经济及政治环境下, 社会工作是一个相对地新兴的专业, 没有太多本土化的研究证据可供中国社会工作者参考。 同时, 因为社会工作实践、教育及研究在1980年代末期才得以复苏, 也没有太多富有经验的社会工作者及研究人员。 中国内地民众或许未曾意识到社会工作者能够做什么, 宁可依据以权威为本的实践。 本文的主要目的首先是检视以证据为本的实践的定义, 然后讨论在中国应用以证据为本的实践的挑战及机遇。 文章突出了在引用以证据为本的实践时, 学术界、前线工作者及服务使用者相互合作的益处。 藉一项在新加坡进行的前刑事犯人及其家人的近期研究成果, 以说明学术界与社会工作界合作的可行性。     

Neoliberalism and the reform of regulation policy in the Australian trucking sector: policy innovation or a repeat of known pitfalls?

This study explores the influences of neoliberalism on the design and operation of regulation policy in the Australian trucking sector. It examines the introduction of a programme of voluntary self-regulation and considers why despite known weaknesses, regulators persist with such policy reforms. The study draws on qualitative research involving representatives of policy and regulatory agencies as well as industry participants. The analysis examines the role of markets in directing truck operator interest towards public policy compliance objectives. This generates a diversity of responses from firms ranging from willing compliance to deceptive ritualism. The findings reveal how voluntary self-regulation appeals to some segments of industry and how in this case it also signals a shift in regulatory culture, facilitating a new and more engaging dialogue between industry and regulators around compliance and safety concerns. This study shows that advances in industry-regulator engagement help explain why neoliberal policy influences are often readily embraced by regulatory agencies. Here, we see how programmes of voluntary self-regulation present both symbolic and substantive value for key policy actors.     

Urban–rural disparity in the satisfaction with public sports services: Survey-based evidence in China

As part of the national project of advancing citizens’ fitness and developing mass sports in China, public sports services (PSS) have been implemented rapidly throughout the country. However, how citizens of different social backgrounds evaluate PSS is still an open question. Drawing on the survey data from the Study of Community Sports in China collected in 2012, this article detects a significant urban–rural disparity in the satisfaction with PSS. Relative to urbanites, rural residents show a significantly lower level of satisfaction with PSS. This urban–rural difference primarily concentrates on the provision of supporting services such as sports consulting, but least on the availability and price. In terms of regional variations, the rural–urban gap in the satisfaction of PSS is less severe in eastern provinces, relative to either middle or western provinces. Implications of the urban–rural differential in the appraisal of PSS are discussed.     

Social cohesion in rural Australia: Framework for conformity or social justice?

While social cohesion has become a commonly accepted policy goal and framework in many ethnically diverse societies, there is a general concern in some academic literature that it can be a form of governmentality that constructs manageable subjects and communities, represses diversity and distracts attention from the social, political and economic production of inequalities. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in two rural Australian towns with ethnically diverse populations, this article engages with these criticisms of social cohesion while simultaneously asserting that social cohesion is viewed by local practitioners as a desirable objective for both strengthening intercultural community and addressing issues of social justice and inequality. We also aim to bring some needed clarity to relevant debates in the literature in distinguishing between social cohesion discourses used for normative and/or homogenising purposes versus frameworks developed in the academic literature with a concern for social justice and equality among diverse populations.     

Has the Targeted Poverty Alleviation program improved household welfare in rural China?

China's government launched the Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) program in 2015 as a part of a multipronged framework to lift every Chinese above the national poverty line by 2020. This study is devoted to examining the effects of the TPA program on household welfare indicators. To this end, the China Family Panel Studies data for the period 2010–2018 are analyzed. The propensity score matching and difference-in-difference (PSM-DID) method is employed to address the sample selection bias and endogeneity inherent in program participation. The results show that TPA program participants earn significantly higher incomes than non-participants. However, the program's effect on consumption expenditure is insignificant, suggesting that the program has contributed to lifting people out of poverty mainly by increasing incomes. Furthermore, even though the program seeks to deliver precisely targeted interventions, it is more effective in some regions than in others. Removing regional disparities is an area of opportunity for improving the efficacy of the TPA program.     

Some considerations on the debate on social work in China: who speaks for whom?

In this article I persist with my argument that indigenous, local, culturally relevant practice ought to trump the external imposition of social work definitions, standards and professional models. The challenge, however, is not to fall prey to false dichotomies. Importantly, social work in China is not static but emergent, and no‐one is sure of the exact shape it will take. And the essential question is to what extent will Western knowledge and standards be uncritically appropriated into China? Most contributors to the debate thus far have taken the international definition of social work as their starting point, but far more significant are the political dimensions involved in this process of indigenisation. This article proposes that empirical evidence from within China regarding culturally appropriate, effective local responses – and some clear benchmarks for international engagement – should form the basis for dialogue between China and the broader social work community.     

Cultural policy and investment in China: Do they realize the government’s cultural objectives?

Cultural policy in China has both economic and cultural objectives. In this paper we consider how these two objectives are linked through increases in cultural output. We use a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the Chinese economy to analyse the impact of cultural investment on the output of cultural goods and services between 2009 and 2015, and we carry forward the simulations to 2030. Our results show that this cultural policy instrument has had a positive impact on the output of cultural goods and services in a manner that also underpins the purely cultural objectives of government.     

Farmers’ adaptability to the policy of ecological protection in China—A case study in Yanchi County,China

Due to long-term human activities, grassland ecosystems have been severely damaged. To protect grassland ecosystems, the prohibited grazing policy (PGP), a grassland ecological protection policy, was instituted for Chinese grasslands in 2002. However, it is unknown whether farmers have effectively adapted to the PGP. The adaptability of farmers to this policy has directly influenced the effective implementation of the policy and the sustainable development of the ecosystem. Previous research on adaptability has not focused on the adaptation to political change. This article uses a case study in Northwest China to investigate the adaptability of farmers to the policy. First, we study the restoration status of ecosystems. In addition, this paper studies the perceptions regarding farmers’ adaptability to the policy and explores the adaptation strategies of different types of farmers. Finally, this paper discusses the main factors that influence farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies. The implementation of the PGP has achieved remarkable ecological benefits. Farmers of different types had different adaptation perceptions, and their choices of adaptation strategies also varied. In addition to the farmers’ perception of the policy, the main factors that influenced farmers’ adaptation strategies also included livelihood capital.     

Violence and Order on the Chengdu Plain: the story of a secret brotherhood in rural China, 1939–1949

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Guy Chaussinand‐Nogaret (ed.), Une Histoire des Elites, 1700–1848; recueil de textes présentés et commentés (1975), 376 (Mouton, Paris and The Hague, 38.50 guilders, 64 francs). (A History of Elites, 1700–1848; a collection of texts with introduction and commentary.)

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Can the minimum living standard guarantee scheme enable the poor to escape the poverty trap in rural China?

The rural Minimum Living Standard Guarantee (Dibao) Scheme is the most important social assistance programme in rural China. However, how the rural Dibao programme affects household expenditures and whether it can enable the poor to escape the poverty trap are questions that remain largely unexplored. This study used data from the 2012 Rural Household Survey in China to investigate the impact of the rural Dibao programme on household expenditures. We found that the programme significantly improved the well‐being of low‐income households. Particularly, the programme significantly increased household expenditures on housing, education and health; furthermore, the impact was greater for households with educated household heads. However, the programme did not significantly affect household expenditures on food, transportation or farming inputs. The results imply that participation in the rural Dibao programme induces household investment in human capital, which could help to break the inter‐generational transmission of poverty and raise long‐run welfare.     

Introduction:Changes in Social Stratiflcation in China Since the Reform

本文回顾和梳理了改革开放20多年来,中国社会分层的变化历程。作者认为,中国的经验表明,社会分层秩序本身越来越成为现代社会发展的重要内容。为此,在具有不同利益要求的社会阶层之间,通过对话、沟通和理解来实现相互的社会认同,建立有序的社会分层结构,塑造与市场平等竞争相容的社会公正价值观,应成为不同思想派别共同的改革要求。     

Inter‐industry Inequality: An Important Source of the Urban Income Gap—Regression‐based Decomposition

基于回归方程的收入差距分解发现,1988年、1995年和2002年,行业间收入不平等对中国城镇居民收入差距的贡献越来越大,而且这主要是由一些收入迅速提高的垄断行业造成的。同时,区位、教育、所有制和职业类型以及是否有第二职业对收入差距的贡献也在提高,是否完全就业和年龄对收入差距的贡献明显下降。因此,缩小中国城镇收入差距,亟需打破劳动力市场进入壁垒和产品市场行业垄断。此外,减轻地区间的劳动力流动障碍、普遍提高劳动者的受教育水平等措施也将是未来政府缩小城镇收入差距的重要政策着力点。

关键词: 行业垄断?收入差距分解?夏普里值

Regression‐based decomposition of inter‐industry earnings differentials shows that in 1988, 1995 and 2002, inter‐industry earnings differentials made an increasing contribution to urban earnings inequality in China. The primary reason for the widening gap lay in monopoly industries. At the same time, geographical location, educational level, type of enterprise ownership, type of occupation and whether the individual had a second job also contributed to rising earnings inequality, while age and being fully employed made a decreasing contribution. Therefore, if China is to reduce the earnings gap it is imperative that we remove barriers to labor market entry and break down some monopoly industries in the product market. Additionally, reducing obstacles to the free movement of labor and improving workers' educational level should also be important elements of the government's strategy for reducing the urban income gap in future.     

Development of minimum livelihood guarantee programmes in urban China: an empirical analysis based on 31 regions over 2003–2013

The Minimum Livelihood Guarantee (MLG) system in urban China is functioned as the last resort safety net for poor people and plays a substantial role in poverty reduction. This paper provides new empirical insights into the MLG development across 31 regions in urban China between 2003 and 2013. In addition to widely used indicators like benefit levels and number of benefit recipients, we construct two indicators of MLG replacement rates to measure the generosity of the benefits relative to income from work. The results show that the development of the urban MLG system in China has followed different tracks before and after 2008. Since 2008, the governments have made great efforts to increase the generosity of the MLG system while put more stringent conditions on MLG beneficiaries. Moreover, since 2008, the generosity levels of the MLG programmes began to converge across regions.     

Ideas and actors in policy processes: where is the interaction?

Several influential frameworks in the field of policy analysis explicitly acknowledge that the role of ideas is as important as the role of actors in analyzing and understanding policy and policy change. An issue of principal interest in this body of literature concerns the interaction between ideas and actors. This article argues that, regardless of important contributions from previous research, the literature can be enriched by new analytical tools that further our understanding of the complex interplay between ideas and actors in policy-making. The article outlines a dynamic approach to policy analysis, which has proven fruitful in producing high quality empirical research in a Swedish case of policy on prostitution. Three new analytical dimensions are specified and operationalized: (1) the political institutionalization of frames, analyzing how the influence and content of ideas change over space and time in policy-making; (2) the mechanisms of institutionalization and assignment of jurisdiction through which ideas become part of the political context and work restricting and enabling for actors; and (3) risk-taking and limitation as unintended consequences of actors' involvement and strategic action in the construction of meaning.     

Videos: Where do they fit in an aging infused social work curriculum?

As technology progresses, college instructors are presented with the availability of new and exciting pedagogical methods. Though the use of videos is not new, their use is becoming increasingly simplified and relevant to popular culture. This conceptual paper presents a theoretical rationale for the use of videos as a teaching and learning tool in the infusion of aging content into the social work curriculum, provides in-class strategies with a case example, and discusses the use of videos outside of class.     

China’s Industrial Efficiency: An Empirical Analysis based on the Macro Level

After comparing ten company technical economic indicators, this paper selected the value-added rate of industry, overall labor productivity, the total asset contribution rate, the ratio of profit to industrial costs and the debt-to-asset ratio as the basis for a study of industrial efficiency.