Challenges of social workers' involvement in the recovery of the 5.12WenchuanEarthquake inChina

Abstract

This article explores the challenges of social workers' involvement in recovery work of the 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake (12 May 2008). Six social workers working in three social work stations in Sichuan, China, were asked to report the challenges they faced in working with disaster survivors. Findings reveal that the social workers faced many challenges. These include lack of government support, low professional status of social work, rapid changes in the social environment in disaster‐affected areas, lack of supervision, lack of cooperation and coordination among social service agencies, and lack of experience and knowledge in working with disaster survivors. The practical, educational and policy implications of the findings are addressed.

Post-disaster social work research: A scoping review of the evidence for practice

“…These 38 articles related to 35 different empirical studies. Three articles related to one study after the Sri Lankan tsunami (Dominelli, 2014, Dominelli, 2015, Vickers and Dominelli, 2015, two articles related to one post-hurricane study in the USA (Tosone et al, 2016, Tosone et al, 2015, two articles related to one study related to the Wenchuan Earthquake in China (Huang et al, 2014, Huang andWong, 2013). Table 3 summarises the nature of these articles by way of disaster type and location and shows that most studies relating to social work and disasters have been published in the United States and focus on hurricanes.…”

“…Of note is that many of these studies were conducted by researchers located outside of the country where the disaster occurred (Becker, 2009, Benson et al, 2016, Cooper et al, 2018, Dominelli, 2014, Dominelli, 2015, Doostgharin, 2009, Drolet and Sampson, 2017, Huang et al, 2014, Huang and Wong, 2013, Larson et al, 2015, Pentaraki, 2013, Powell and Leytham, 2014, Sim et al, 2013, Vickers and Dominelli, 2015. Studies of disasters in Australia, Barbados, Finland, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and the USA were conducted by researchers from within those countries (Bell, 2008, Chae et al, 2005, Harms et al, 2015, Hawkins and Maurer, 2010, Hickson and Lehmann, 2014, Kreuger and Stretch, 2003, Kulkarni et al, 2008, Leitch et al, 2009, Lemieux et al, 2010, Liu and Mishna, 2014, Marlowe, 2015, Plummer et al, 2008, Pyles, 2011, Rock and Corbin, 2007, Tang and Cheung, 2007, Tosone et al, 2016, Tosone et al, 2015, Tudor et al, 2015, First et al, 2018, Fogel, 2017, Kranke et al, 2017, Prost et al, 2018, Rapeli, 2018.…”

Organisation and delivery of social services in extreme events: Lessons from social work research on natural disasters

“…In the aftermath of a disaster, people need both the existing pre-disaster social services and new ones, to meet the needs triggered by the disaster itself (Smith, 2014 Current practices vary, depending on the country and the level of experience of disaster management (Huang et al, 2014). In Barbados, for example, all social workers employed by the government have a remit to respond to the needs of people affected by disasters (Rock and Corbin, 2007).…”

“…This is particularly important to emphasise for international services intervening in a disaster context in any country (Huang et al, 2014;Tang and Cheung, 2007;Wang et al, 2013), but also for national services intervening in a disaster-stricken locality within their own country (Manning and Kushma, 2016;Sherrard Sherraden and Fox, 1997;Webber and Jones, 2013).…”

Competency‐based Education: Evidence from Social Work Postgraduates from Five Universities in China

“…Despite the growth of this educational sector, appropriate infrastructure may be lacking, as the need for an improved standardized curriculum for graduate students exists (Li et al., ). Literature indicates that the lack of a practical curriculum, or curriculum intended to increase practice knowledge and improve practice behavior in real‐world settings, impacts the ability of students to engage in meaningful and professional social work practice (Huang, Fu & Wong, ; Yan et al., ). Although Western curriculum has been used as a model for Chinese graduate social work curriculum, little is known about the use of standardized curriculum for social work education in China as it relates to practice knowledge (Li et al., ).…”