Contractual controls and pragmatic professionalism: A qualitative study on contracting social services in China

IF 2.3 2区社会学 Q1 SOCIAL ISSUES Critical Social Policy Pub Date : 2022-04-25 DOI:10.1177/02610183221089009

Jie Lei, Tian Cai, C. Chan

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引用次数: 3

Abstract

This study used the contracting projects of a district branch of the Women's Federation in Guangzhou as case examples to demonstrate both the Chinese state's contractual controls over social work organisations (SWOs) and the pragmatic response strategies of SWOs and professionals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seventeen participants, including local officials of the Women's Federation and social workers from contracted SWOs. It was found that with the ultimate goal of consolidating the legitimacy of the Communist Party of China, the Women's Federation's dual role in politics and service provision had led to normative, managerial, technical and relational controls over SWOs. SWOs and professionals were generally submissive to these controls, but they employed diverse coping strategies, including compliance, bargaining, transformation and investment in personal relationships. The interactions within the contractual relationship created a pragmatic professionalism that embraced dominant political ideologies, employed de-politicising techniques, and personally depended on individual officials.

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契约控制与实用专业主义:中国社会服务契约的定性研究

本研究以广州市妇联某地区分会承包项目为例，探讨了中国政府对社会工作机构的契约控制，以及社会工作机构和专业人员的务实应对策略。对17名参与者进行了半结构化访谈，其中包括妇联的地方官员和签约的社会服务机构的社会工作者。研究发现，为了最终巩固中国共产党的合法性，妇联在政治和服务方面的双重作用导致了对swo的规范、管理、技术和关系控制。swo和专业人士通常服从这些控制，但他们采用不同的应对策略，包括遵守、讨价还价、转变和投资于个人关系。契约关系中的相互作用创造了一种实用的专业主义，这种专业主义接受了占主导地位的政治意识形态，采用了去政治化的技术，并个人依赖于个别官员。

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来源期刊

Critical Social Policy Multiple-

CiteScore

4.70

自引率

8.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： Critical Social Policy provides a forum for advocacy, analysis and debate on social policy issues. We publish critical perspectives which: ·acknowledge and reflect upon differences in political, economic, social and cultural power and upon the diversity of cultures and movements shaping social policy; ·re-think conventional approaches to securing rights, meeting needs and challenging inequalities and injustices; ·include perspectives, analyses and concerns of people and groups whose voices are unheard or underrepresented in policy-making; ·reflect lived experiences of users of existing benefits and services;