Lui, Hor Yan Joyce. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 173-184). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / English Abstract --- p.i / Chinese Abstract --- p.iii / Acknowledgements --- p.v / List of Tables --- p.vi / List of Figures --- p.vii / Table of Contents --- p.viii / Chapter Chapter One: --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Research Area and Objectives --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Background and Conceptual Framework --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Significance of the Research --- p.6 / Chapter 1.4 --- Research Methodology --- p.9 / Chapter 1.5 --- Chapter Organization --- p.9 / Chapter Chapter Two: --- Hong Kong in the Midst of its Transformation --- p.11 / Chapter 2.1 --- A State of Euphoria: Prelude to the Crisis --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2 --- Post 1997 Crisis --- p.18 / Chapter 2.3 --- Development of Social Security in Hong Kong --- p.20 / Chapter 2.4 --- The Paradox --- p.26 / Chapter Chapter Three: --- Welfare Debate --- p.28 / Chapter 3.1 --- Social Democratic Welfare Regimes --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Essential Characteristics --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- The Rise and Fall of the Welfare State --- p.30 / Chapter 3.2 --- The New Right --- p.31 / Chapter 3.3 --- The Social Development Approach as an Alternative --- p.34 / Chapter Chapter Four: --- Governments' Responses in the West --- p.39 / Chapter 4.1 --- Workfare Programs Gaining Currency --- p.39 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Origin and Development of Workfare Programs in the West --- p.41 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Debates in the Rhetoric of Workfare --- p.44 / Chapter 4.1.2.1 --- Mandatory versus Voluntary --- p.45 / Chapter 4.1.2.2 --- Work-first versus Education-first --- p.47 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Common Goal shared by various Emphases --- p.50 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- Effectiveness of Workfare Programs --- p.50 / Chapter 4.1.1.1 --- The Bright Side --- p.51 / Chapter 4.1.4.2 --- The Dark Side --- p.52 / Chapter Chapter Five: --- Hong Kong Government's Responses to the Paradox --- p.54 / Chapter 5.1 --- Multi-directional Interventions --- p.54 / Chapter 5.2 --- Workfare Initiatives --- p.56 / Chapter 5.3 --- Focus of the Present Study --- p.66 / Chapter Chapter Six: --- Research Methodology --- p.68 / Chapter 6.1 --- Overview of the Research Design --- p.68 / Chapter 6.2 --- Philosophical Orientation and Justifications --- p.70 / Chapter 6.3 --- Sampling --- p.72 / Chapter 6.4 --- Data Collection Method --- p.75 / Chapter 6.5 --- Data Analysis --- p.77 / Chapter 6.6 --- Ethical Concerns --- p.84 / Chapter 6.7 --- Research Rigour --- p.85 / Chapter 6.8 --- Reflections --- p.87 / Chapter 6.8 --- Limitations of the Study --- p.89 / Chapter Chapter Seven: --- Major Findings of the Study --- p.91 / Chapter 7.1 --- Profile of the Interviewees --- p.92 / Chapter 7.2 --- Characteristics of the IEAP Studied --- p.95 / Chapter 7.3 --- Major Findings --- p.96 / Chapter 7.3.1 --- Users' Overall Impression on the IEAP --- p.100 / Chapter 7.3.1.1 --- Participants' Views --- p.100 / Chapter 7.3.1.1.1 --- Positive Views --- p.100 / Chapter 7.3.1.1.2 --- Negative Views --- p.102 / Chapter 7.3.1.2 --- Practitioners' Views --- p.103 / Chapter 7.3.1.2.1 --- Strengths of the IEAP --- p.103 / Chapter 7.3.1.2.2 --- Weaknesses of the IEAP --- p.104 / Chapter 7.3.2 --- Factors Attributing to Successful Employment --- p.108 / Chapter 7.3.2.1 --- Fresh CSSA recipients --- p.108 / Chapter 7.3.2.2 --- Participants' differential views on Welfare Dole versus Work --- p.109 / Chapter 7.3.2.3 --- Adaptability of the Participants --- p.114 / Chapter 7.3.2.4 --- Family as an important source of Motivation --- p.115 / Chapter 7.3.3 --- Program Factors Facilitating Successful Employment --- p.119 / Chapter 7.3.3.1 --- Being-first Orientation --- p.119 / Chapter 7.3.3.2 --- Use of Social Capital in the Community --- p.124 / Chapter 7.3.4 --- Factors Inhibiting Successful Employment --- p.126 / Chapter 7.3.4.1 --- Age --- p.126 / Chapter 7.3.4.2 --- Market Constraints --- p.127 / Chapter 7.3.4.3 --- Low Economic Incentives --- p.129 / Chapter 7.3.4.4 --- Inadequacies of the Human Capital Development --- p.131 / Chapter 7.3.5 --- Barriers in Achieving Total Self-Reliance --- p.132 / Chapter 7.3.5.1 --- Poor Financial Management --- p.133 / Chapter 7.3.5.2 --- Low Market Wages --- p.134 / Chapter 7.3.5.3 --- Flex-Work --- p.135 / Chapter Chapter Eight: --- Discussion and Implications --- p.138 / Chapter 8.1 --- Success Factors Leading to Employment --- p.138 / Chapter 8.1.1 --- Culture versus Economic Incentives --- p.140 / Chapter 8.1.2 --- Family Solidarity --- p.142 / Chapter 8.1.3 --- Being-first Orientation: An Alternative to Education-first and Work-first Approach --- p.148 / Chapter 8.2 --- Barriers to Sustainable Employment and Self-Reliance --- p.155 / Chapter 8.2.1 --- Long Spell on Welfare --- p.156 / Chapter 8.2.2 --- Low Economic Incentives --- p.157 / Chapter 8.3 --- Implications and Conclusion --- p.160 / Appendix 1 The Distribution of the 40 Operating Agencies --- p.164 / Appendix 2 Questions in the Interview Guide --- p.166 / Appendix 3 Case Summary and Analysis Sheet --- p.169 / Appendix 4 Within Case Display for Participant B --- p.172 / Bibliography --- p.173

This thesis presents a reflection on a series of published papers which attempt to explore, in the systematic way, the interface between guru-led and Hindu-inspired faith movements, Indic spirituality and social work through conceptual and empirical considerations. The context of guru-led and Hindu-inspired faith movements, and their spirituality, has been explored through a meta-analysis, followed by qualitative studies of five contemporary guru-led movements and their distinctive styles of seva or social service – “mission”-isation; syncretism, lived religion and organised charity; millenarianism, post-apocalyptic vision and social service; humanity, divinity and service; and austerity, nationalism and service. This is followed by a study of followers/adherents who participate in social services of these guru-led and Hindu-inspired faith-movements and beneficiaries, through five fairly large datasets. The first dataset is on adherents of these movements and what motivates them to join, serve and gain. The second dataset is on followers of a particular new movement and how they derive their sense of well-being from the same. The third dataset is on beneficiaries of social initiatives of these movements and organisations. The fourth dataset is beneficiaries of a particular spiritual programme of the Art of Living Foundation called the Sudarshan Kriya. The fifth dataset is on a similar spiritual programme for adolescents and how it positively influences them. Theoretically it can be said that the adherents and beneficiaries together form a habitus of these movements. I finally discuss, through two published works in social work journals, as to how a specific spiritual technique of a guru movement and spirituality in general is perceived as having critical bearings for the social work discipline in the contemporary Indian and South Asian contexts. The structure of the thesis illustrates the progressive nature of the research and demonstrates how the component parts come together to form a cumulative and coherent case. The collection of works argues the following contentions, to make critical contributions to the domain knowledge of guru-led movements, faith, spirituality and social work. Guru-led and Hindu-inspired faith movements use social service as a legitimising trope. Guru-led and Hindu-inspired faith movements have implicit and explicit spiritual techniques, which accompany the social service/work package. Followers and beneficiaries of these movements gain materially and spiritually, which keeps them motivated to be aligned. This in turn contributes to the fellowship of guru-led movements. For the social work discipline, the phenomenon of guru-led movements is an important aspect to be paid attention to. Their social service engagements call for a need for working in or with guru-led movements as a part of social work practice horizon. With this focus, in the published works, implications for the discipline of social work are drawn out and made explicit. The power of a cumulative study using a range of empirical tools is shown.

In spite of the prevalence of rural-urban interactions in developing countries, much remains to be learnt about their welfare impacts. This thesis extends the discussion on rural-urban linkages by examining – for Ghana – two of the main forms of such interactions: migration and remittance flows. The study explores factors influencing migration and remittance flows, and also evaluates the impacts of these linkages on poverty and consumption welfare, using data from the 1998/99 Ghana Living Standards Survey. A key feature of the analyses is the construction of counterfactual scenarios and the application of a methodology that adjusts for selectivity bias.

Telecare – the use of technology to facilitate access to health and social care services – has risen in prominence over the last decade in the context of population ageing, a rise in long-term conditions and economic uncertainties. UK policy advocates adoption of telecare at scale, citing the promotion of independence and empowerment as benefits, but local implementation has been variable and the experiences of service users show a nuanced picture. This thesis investigates telecare policy, and its interpretation and implementation. It draws on an argumentative discourse analysis and material-semiotic approach to understand the experiences of telecare at a case study site. Narrative interviews and observations were undertaken, involving service provider and technology industry stakeholders and service users. Findings reveal four ‘story-lines’ of telecare policy but discrepancies between this discourse and local experiences. People are shown to engage with telecare to different extents, with the prevailing technology ‘script’ influencing non- or mis-use of devices. New work roles created by telecare sometimes appear ‘invisible’ or devalued. Furthermore, there is a lack of meaningful involvement of service users in decision-making. This study adds a theoretically-informed voice to the academic field and makes recommendations for future telecare policy, practice and research.

When New Labour came to power in 1997, one of the best known social policy changes they made was the prioritisation of social exclusion as at the vanguard of government policy, through the establishment of the Social Exclusion Unit. Social exclusion’s ‘value added’ potentiality is as a broader analysis of the causes and conditions of disadvantage than poverty. However, this potentiality is limited by the ‘weak’ form of social exclusion adopted by New Labour, wherein social exclusion is considered as a process engendered by the excluded themselves. Giddens’s notions of late modern individualisation and reflexivity underpin this weak account, and while agreeing with Giddens’s notion of the late modern, his claims of the centrality of individualisation are rejected. Instead, what appears most evident from treating young people as an illustrative case of individualisation is how ‘strong’ old processes of structural inequality and a new form of social relations through individualism are at the heart of social exclusion. This leads to the thesis that underlying structural inequalities are principally reproducing the disadvantaged nature of young people’s existence, and thus their social exclusion. This critical realist perspective rationalises an in-depth, qualitative, tripartite critical realist framework for data collection and analysis, focussed on the real underlying mechanisms reproducing social reality, and thus social exclusion. The research findings are directly related to the critical realist emphasis on both understanding and change from understanding, making it clear that there is a need to move social exclusion theory and policy away from the evidently flawed emphasis on its weak, individualised form towards its analytically and conceptually stronger, structural inequality focus.

This thesis investigates the issues of treatment programme effectiveness and issues surrounding programme implementation such as the sequencing of interventions. Chapter 1 presents a historical account of the issue of offender rehabilitation and provides a critique of studies into the effectiveness of treatment programmes delivered in the UK. Regression analyses are used in Chapter 2 to investigate the predictive value of criminogenic needs, and the impact on reconviction levels of having a need met through the completion of a relevant treatment programme. Results highlighted the predictive validity of static risk factors over dynamic factors and indicated a lack of effectiveness of treatment programmes. Findings are discussed with reference to methodological limitations and the potential impact of programme implementation issues. Chapter 3 provides a review of the literature on the programme implementation issue of the sequencing of interventions. Studies investigating the process of behavioural change in offenders are reviewed; issues such as readiness to change and the impact of level of motivation to change are discussed with reference to the sequencing of a set of interventions. The views and experiences of violent and sex offenders regarding programme implementation issues are reported in Chapter 4. The desire for coherent sequencing of interventions is expressed by the majority of offenders and concerns are noted regarding a lack of communication with staff. The issues of responsivity to the needs of the individual offender and motivation to change are highlighted as impacting upon engagement with interventions. Chapters 5 and 6 report the views of treatment facilitators and Offender Supervisors and Managers regarding the sequencing of interventions. Staff recognised readiness to change issues and highlight the importance of the coherent sequencing of interventions. The results are discussed with reference to current practice, research limitations, and recommendations for further research.

The need for health and social care agencies and their professionals to work in partnership is a central component of contemporary English health and social care policy. Partnership is predicated on the notion that this way of working improves services and outcomes for service users. However, as there is little evidence that partnerships improve service user outcomes, some commentators suggest that this indicates either a failure of the policy or a deficit in terms of implementation. This thesis investigates the link between health and social care partnerships and service user outcomes. Rather than adopting the types of rationalist and instrumental approach which the majority of studies in this field have done, the thesis develops a new conceptual framework for partnership which is interpretive and performative. This framework is developed and tested in four exploratory case study sites and concludes that partnership is not necessarily simply an instrument of improvement in a traditional sense. The power of partnership lies in its cultural and symbolic value. This takes partnership beyond traditional discussions of partnership and governance; rather than representing a particular mode of governance, instead arguing that partnership is an active tool of governance.

This thesis investigates the views of English social workers and child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) clinicians about how social workers use the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) with looked after children. Focus groups and semi structured interviews (conducted 2011 - 2013) examined social workers' (n = 58, from nine local authorities) understandings of the mental health needs of looked after children and their use of the SDQ in assessing this, as well as how CAMHS clinicians (n = 24, from 11 Health Trusts) viewed the role of social workers in appropriately assessing mental health problems. Normalisation Process Theory was used to appraise how the SDQ had been routinely operationalised in everyday social work practice. A case study of one local authority explored the working practices of looked after children's social workers and specialist CAMHS clinicians working in a co-located (high integration) service which had achieved consistently high annual SDQ returns over a number of years. The study found most social workers were not aware of the SDQ scores of the children or young people they were allocated and did not know how to interpret it in terms of looked after children's mental health. Routinely collected SDQ data on looked after children who had been in care for a year or longer was not utilised by most of the social workers or the local authorities which collected it. Specialist CAMHS used the SDQ alongside social workers in only two local authorities. Level of integration (based on degree of co-location of social workers and CAMHS) did not appear to be associated with social workers' SDQ use. Detailed examination of one local authority showed that although it contained a highly integrated service and was the best in the country at getting completed SDQ forms returned from foster carers, having a robust process for data collection was not enough to ensure the SDQ was integrated within social work practice in the organisation. Given challenges to local authority budgets and services, any recommendations to improve current practice must be mindful of resource implications. Better utilisation could therefore be made of existing local authority processes and resources to embed the SDQ into routine practice. A multi-agency approach remains critical to establish the routinised usage of the SDQ. This has the potential to benefit all agencies and most importantly, looked after children.

This dissertation consists of three essays on the role of asymmetric information in economics. The central theme is on how asymmetric information, which can arise either exogenously or endogenously, have important implications on welfare and market design. Chapter 1 is entitled Within-Household Selection in the Health Insurance Market. This chapter studies the existence of adverse selection in Vietnam's Social Health Insurance program and how household decision making affects individual enrollment into insurance. I find that while there is a strong evidence of adverse selection at the individual level, selection into insurance happens both \emph{across} and \emph{within} households. I then explore different household factors that affect the selection of health insurance within the household such as the household's ability to share risk and within-household bargaining power. These findings have important policy implications for two reasons. First, in the presence of household decision making, price discrimination policy to reduce adverse selection at the individual level such as age-based pricing might not always be welfare improving. Second, any policy that attempts to generate pooling beyond the level sustained by the private market can distort the household's incentive to buy health insurance and worsen adverse selection for the rest of the market. Chapter 2 is entitled Household Bundling to Reduce Adverse Selection: Application to Social Health Insurance. This chapter explores the use of bundling to reduce adverse selection in insurance markets and its application to social health insurance programs. When the choice to buy health insurance is made at the household level, bundling the insurance policies of household members eliminates the effect of adverse selection \emph{within} a household since the household can no longer select only sick members to enroll. However, this can exacerbate adverse selection \emph{across} households, as healthier households might choose to drop out of the insurance market. The net effect of this trade-off depends on the characteristics of the household demand for medical care and risk preferences. I explore this issue using individual survey data on insurance enrollment and medical spending in Vietnam that contain detailed information about the structure of the household. I develop and estimate a model of household insurance bundle choice and medical utilization that accounts for these features. The results suggest that much of the adverse selection is concentrated within the household. Counterfactual analysis reveals that under optimal pricing, household bundling yields significantly higher consumer surplus and insurance enrollment than individual purchase. Furthermore, the insurance market is less susceptible to complete unraveling under household bundling. Chapter 3 is entitled Information Control in the Hold-up Problem, and it is a joint work with Teck Yong Tan. In this chapter, we study the use of information control to mitigate hold-up risks. Our main result identifies a separation between information that creates ex-ante investment incentive and information that causes ex-post inefficiency, which then allows ex-post inefficiency to be eliminated without compromising the ex-ante investment incentive. We characterize the properties of the optimal information structure and the investment levels and welfare achievable with information control in the presence of hold-up risks.

This thesis investigates attitudes to sexual violence against children as revealed in penal codes and criminal courts in Florence during the long nineteenth century. The main question is: how did the approach to sexual violence against children shown by institutions of the state, society and family change throughout the so-called century of childhood? The choice of Florence as a case study of child abuse in Italy was made for three main reasons: first, the succession of several régimes –not unusual in Italy during this period- permits me to examine how different governments regulated sexual violence towards children, tracing continuities and changes; second, the considerable attention paid to children, to their health and education, by private and public institutions in Florence throughout the century would lead historians to assume there was a general condemnation of child sexual abuse; last but not least, the widespread historical assumption that Tuscany possessed especially advanced and modern penal codes made me wonder whether Tuscany was also especially progressive in attitudes to sexual violence against children. Given the gulf between law and judicial practice, the latter has been analysed through criminal records. Even though during the body of the thesis sexual violence against girls, and against boys, and within the context of incestuous relationship have been analysed within different sections, in the conclusions they have been brought together offering a nuanced account of varieties of response, while also keeping in mind the central research question.