External supervision for social workers in another socio-political context: A qualitative study in Shenzhen, China

Abstract

External supervision of local social workers has become a common practice in Shenzhen, China as the development of social work as a profession reaches break-neck pace and when the shortage of experienced social work supervisors also becomes acute. Hence, many supervisors have been recruited externally from Hong Kong to fill the gap. However, for external supervisors working in another socio-political context they will need an awareness and sensitivity of cultural issues, and cultural dynamics in supervision. Based on a qualitative study conducted in Shenzhen of 16 in-depth interviews with supervisors and supervisees in eight supervisory dyads, as well as a focus group meeting with three external supervisors from Hong Kong, this study finds that the institutional hierarchy, ruling culture and traditional Confucian values which place great importance of harmony, reciprocal relationships with others, effective self-control and respect for hierarchy have impacted the day-to-day practice as well as the interactions between social workers and their external supervisors in Shenzhen. The implications of this study is that in achieving successful supervisory practice the further development of intercultural competence is one of the key directions for professionalising social work in the Chinese Mainland.

在中國深圳，對本地社工的外來督導已成為常規實踐。作為一項專業，中國社會工作發展正達到一個極快的速度。與此同時，具經驗的社工導師則極為短缺。因此，很多來自香港的導師被外來招募到中國大陸填補空缺。然而，外來導師於另一個社會政治不同的環境督導，則需要對文化議題、文化動態有意識及敏感性。本次質性研究包括在深圳對導師及被督導者的8組督導組合的16個深入訪談，與及一次與三位來自香港的外來導師參與的聚焦小組會議。本次研究發現，制度化等級、執政文化及傳統儒家價值觀產生重要的和諧、與他人互惠關係、有效自我控制及對等級尊重的思想，而這些觀念會對他們在深圳每天的實踐、社工與導師的互動有所影響。本次研究的意義在於指出要達到成功的督導實踐，進一步發展跨文化能力是中國大陸社工專業化的重要方向。