A social worker with two watches: Synchronizing the left and right ideologies

Abstract

Accompanying the diminishing voice of the client in cross-subsidized social work, the author makes an attempt to reveal the ambivalence and ambiguity of state-sponsored social work in Hong Kong. In light of the increase in quasi-welfare markets that promote an environment of competitive bidding on government subventions, this article addresses the contradictions between commercial and social work values after the commodification of welfare. Because frontline practitioners are becoming more reluctant to be involved in ‘typical’ social work interventions, reconsidering and recalculating costs are recommended under the pendulum of left and right ideologies in a postcolonial, neoliberal metropolis.

Keywords

Cross-subsidization layered account neoliberalism reflective practice state-sponsored social work subvented services youth work

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Audit Commission (2012) Chapter 10: Youth Employment Services, Report No. 59 of the Director of Audit, 26 October 2012. Hong Kong: The Hong Kong SAR Government.

Bisman

(2004) ‘Social Work Values: The Moral Core of the Profession’, British Journal of Social Work 34: 109–23.

Carey

(2008) ‘Everything Must Go? The Privatization of State Social Work’, British Journal of Social Work 38(5): 918–35.

Chan

R.K.H.

(2004) ‘Globalisation, Unemployment and the Welfare Regime in Hong Kong’, Social Policy and Society 3(3): 273–82.

Chaskin

R.J.

Richman

H.A.

(1992) ‘Concerns about School-Linked Services: Institution versus Community-Based Models’, The Future of Children 2(1): 107–17.

Cheung

J.C.S.

(2014) ‘Children and youth services from a family perspective: To be or not to be?’, Social Work 59(4): 358–360.

Cheung

J.C.S.

(2015) ‘An Exploration of Social Workers’ Role in Remunerative Vocational Training: Caring, Controlling, or Contractual?’, Qualitative Social Work. Epub ahead of print 26 May 2015. DOI: 10.1177/1473325015588122.

Chu

Tsui

M.S.

Yan

M.C.

(2009) ‘Social Work as a Moral and Political Practice’, International Social Work 52(3): 287–98.

Chui

(2011) ‘More or Less? Welfare Provision Amidst Economic Downturn – The Hong Kong Experience’, Journal of Asian Public Policy 4(1): 4–17.

10.

Clarke

Newman

(1997) The Managerial State. London: SAGE.

11.

Coates

J.B.

(1980) ‘Productivity: What Is It?’, Long Range Planning 13: 90–7.

12.

Esping-Andersen

(1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

13.

Faulhaber

G.R.

(2005) ‘Cross-Subsidy Analysis with More than Two Services’, Journal of Competition Law & Economics 1(3): 441–8.

14.

Ferguson

(2008) Reclaiming Social Work: Challenging Neo-Liberalism and Promoting Social Justice. London: SAGE.

15.

Fine

(2002) The World of Consumption: The Material and Cultural Revisited. London; New York: Routledge.

16.

Flynn

(2002) Public Sector Management. London: SAGE.

17.

Fry

S.W.

(2010) ‘The Analysis of an Unsuccessful Novice Teacher’s Induction Experiences: A Case Study Presented through Layered Account’, The Qualitative Report 15(5): 1164–90.

18.

Fujii

(1989) ‘User Charges, Cross-Subsidization, and Public Subsidy – The Case of Expressways in Japan’, Transportation Research 23(1): 7–12.

19.

Fung

K.K.

Hung

S.L.

(2011) ‘Community Work in Hong Kong: Changing Agenda in the Recent Phase of Economic Globalization’, Community Development Journal 46(4): 458–75.

20.

Hancher

Buendia Sierra

J.L.

(1998) ‘Cross-Subsidization and EU Law’, Common Market Law Review 35: 901–45.

21.

Harlow

Berg

Barry

Chandler

(2013) ‘Neoliberalism, Managerialism and the Reconfiguring of Social Work in Sweden and the United Kingdom’, Organization 20(4): 534–50.

22.

Harris

(2003) The Social Work Business. London; New York: Routledge.

23.

Howe

(1996) ‘Surface and Depth in Social-Work Practice’, in Parton

(ed.) Social Theory, Social Change and Social Work, pp. 77–98. London; New York: Routledge.

24.

Hyslop

(2012) ‘Social Work as a Practice of Freedom’, Journal of Social Work 12(4): 404–22.

25.

James

(1990) ‘Economic Theories of the Nonprofit Sector: A Comparative Perspective’, in Anheier

Seibel

(eds) The Third Sector: Comparative Studies of Nonprofit Organisations, pp. 21–30. Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter.

26.

Lapsley

Llewellyn

Mitchell

(1994) Cost Management in the Public Sector. London: Longman Information and Reference.

27.

Lee

B.S.F.

Wong

C.K.F.

(2008) ‘Transition to Comprehensive Student Guidance Service in Hong Kong’, Counselling, Psychotherapy, and Health 4(1): 17–23.

28.

Lee

(2009) ‘The Colonial Government of Hong Kong’s Development of Social Welfare: From Economic and Social Service Perspectives’, Social Welfare Practice and Research Centre. Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Paper 7 (Working Paper Series), March 2009.

29.

Llewellyn

(1998) ‘Boundary Work: Costing and Caring in the Social Services’, Accounting, Organizations and Society 23(1): 23–47.

30.

Lump Sum Grant Independent Review Committee. (2008) ‘Review Report on the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System’, Hong Kong, 16 December 2008.

31.

Manthorpe

Bradley

(2002) ‘Managing Finances’, in Adams

Dominelli

Payne

(eds) Critical Practice in Social Work. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

32.

Markham

(2005) ‘“Go Ugly Early”: Fragmented Narrative and Bricolage as Interpretive Method’, Qualitative Inquiry 11: 813–39.

33.

Parsons

S.G.

(1998) ‘Cross-Subsidization in Telecommunications’, Journal of Regulatory Economics 13: 157–82.

34.

Payne

(2000) Anti-Bureaucratic Social Work. London: Venture Press.

35.

Reamer

F.G.

(1993) The Philosophical Foundations of Social Work. New York: Columbia University Press.

36.

Rogowski

(2012) ‘Social Work with Children and Families: Challenges and Possibilities in the Neo-Liberal World’, British Journal of Social Work 42(5): 921–40.

37.

Ronai

C.R.

(1995) ‘Multiple Reflections of Childhood Sex Abuse: An Argument for a Layered Account’, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 23(4): 395–426.

38.

Ronai

C.R.

(1997) ‘On Loving and Hating My Mentally Retarded Mother’, Mental Retardation 35(6): 417–32.

39.

Ruch

(2007) ‘Reflective Practice in Contemporary Child-Care Social Work: The Role of Containment’, British Journal of Social Work 37(4): 659–80.

40.

Savas

E.S.

(2002) ‘Competition and Choice in New York City Social Services’, Public Administration Review 62(1): 82–91.

41.

Sinclair

(1997) ‘After Excellence: Models of Organisational Culture for the Public Sector’, in Considine

Painter

(eds) Managerialism: The Great Debate. Melbourne, Australia: Melbourne University Press.

42.

Social Welfare Advisory Committee (2010) Long-term Social Welfare Planning in Hong Kong: Consultation Paper. Hong Kong: Social Welfare Advisory Committee.

43.

Sprenkle

D.H.

Moon

S.M.

(1996) Research Methods in Family Therapy. New York: Guilford Press.

44.

Stanford

S.N.

(2011) ‘Constructing Moral Responses to Risk: A Framework for Hopeful Social Work Practice’, British Journal of Social Work 41(8): 1514–31.

45.

Stolt

Blomqvist

Winblad

(2011) ‘Privatization of Social Services: Quality Differences in Swedish Elderly Care’, Social Science & Medicine 72(4): 560–7.

46.

The Hong Kong Council of Social Service (2009) Children and Youth Services in Hong Kong (Factsheet). Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Council of Social Service.

47.

Woodcock

(2012) ‘Knowing Where You Stand: Neoliberal and Other Foundations for Social Work’, Journal of Comparative Social Welfare 28(1): 1–15.

48.

Yan

M. C.

Cheung

J. C. S.

Chu

W. C. K.

Tsui

M. S.

(2015) Examining the Neoliberal Discourse of Accountability: The Case of Hong Kong’s Social Service Sector. International Social Work. Epub ahead of print 22 September 2015. DOI: 10.1177/0020872815594229.