The civil society perspective and the corporatist perspective have thus far dominated studies on state-society relations in the Chinese context. While these paradigms are insightful, their unidirectional and rigid natures may no longer adequately describe the complex nature of evolving state-society relations in China. As such, Joel S. Migdal’s State-in-Society framework is adopted as the theoretical premise of this study. Allowing for more fluidity, the State-in-Society theory serves as an alternative approach towards examining interactions between the state and nonprofits and between the state and society. The concept of social control within the framework is examined in further detail. Descriptive multiple case study was used as a method of inquiry, followed by thematic analysis. Findings generally corroborate with the logic of social control, with compliance, participation and legitimacy being the incremental stages with which both nonprofits and the state seek to attain from each other and from the public. It was found that the state employ strategies including co-optation, procedural validation and hijacking scholarship to gain participation whereas moral reinforcement, rhetoric validation, and image consolidation are used to attain legitimacy. Ironically, nonprofits employ similar strategies in an attempt to change the state’s behaviour. Vilification and shaming are used to gain compliance, while resource appropriation and preemptive engagement are employed to attain participation. Moral reinforcement, image consolidation, individual credibility and persistence were found to be critical factors in bolstering organizational legitimacy. Furthermore, findings generally support the claim that nonprofits operating in rural areas enjoy greater autonomy than those active in urban areas. Even so, state-society relations is highly localized and therefore overgeneralization should be avoided. In addition to contributing to the discourse on state-society relations, this study seeks to identify the role of nongovernmental organizations in orphan care provision in China. Along with content analysis and field observations, 10 in-depth cases are presented to illustrate existing obstacles pertaining to orphan care provision. Identified barriers are subsequently compartmentalized into five main categories: knowledge level, policy level, cultural level, organizational level, and state-NGO relations. Given the distinct welfare system extant between rural and urban areas, findings indicate that orphans in rural areas are disproportionately disadvantaged compared to those residing in cities. This may be due to the relatively weak economic and human resources that often characterize rural China. One important observation is the growing tendency for local governments to regard nongovernmental organizations as critical service partners. However, the sustainability of this service model is questionable, especially when the state claims to carry primary responsibility over citizen welfare. The legal ambiguity concerning the registration and governance of nonprofits also jeopardizes future undertakings. Nevertheless, it is strategically and rationally sensible for local governments to ally with nonprofits insofar as there are deficiencies in the former’s capacity to deliver social services for disadvantaged children. This study concludes by discussing policy implications on China’s third sector and social development. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Humanities / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Ng Chor-kong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-171). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1: --- "Introduction: The reappraisal of the possibilities and constraints of the ""autonomous mothering""" --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- "Encapsulating subjectivity: Understanding mothering through the ""subjectivistic"" coping strategy" --- p.37 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Reflection of self: Anxiety in coming to terms with lives on welfare --- p.76 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Problematization of self: Anxiety of interacting with the welfare agency --- p.105 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Recognition of self: Active subjects passively resisting marginalization --- p.122 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- Conclusion: Subjectification of self through practice --- p.153 / Bibliography --- p.163

兒童貧窮問題引起香港社會及政策制定者的深切關注。香港特區政府及各非政府組織推出了不同的策略、計劃及方案以舒緩兒童貧窮問題。可是，大部份針對小學生的現行計劃及方案普遍著重提升兒童的學術成果多於其全面發展。本研究旨在探討由企業發起及持續舉辦的校本計劃及社區為本計劃在幫助香港貧窮兒童脫貧及全面發展的成效。 / 本研究採用多重個案研究法，對兩個與企業合作推行持續性兒童扶貧計劃的個案，包括學校一(School-1)及非政府組織一(NGO-1)作深入了解。多種質性數據從這兩個個案的三項計劃中搜集，包括十二節參與式觀察及四十五個半結構性訪談(負責職員、組織者、主持人、義工、兒童參與者及他們的父母)。 / 本研究有四項主要研發現: / 一，連結社會資本及橋樑社會資本是兒童參與者在建立人力資本過程中的催化劑。二，在兒童參與者及義工建立信任關係的過程中連結社會資本及橋樑社會資本是互相依賴而成。三，兒童參與者能夠成為主動的行動者。他們除了能夠在影響他們生命的決定上作出選擇；並藉著把握學習及社交機會，抗拒因生活於不利環境中所產生的負面影響，更能夠改變環境，把希望灌注入父母的生命。四，三項計劃均提供為期九至十個月的服務，讓介入工作在這段較長時間中引發兒童參與者的改變，並把希望灌注入他們的生命。此外，也讓他們的父母、計劃組織者及負責職員觀察兒童參與者的成長及改變。 / 綜合這些研究發現，人力資本的建立、建立連結社會資本及橋樑社會資本所帶來的支援關係、兒童的聲音能否獲得聆聽及作出決定時兒童的意見能否受到尊重，均對計劃能否有正面效果有直接關係。基於這些研究發現，建議扶貧計劃需在貧窮兒童的較早期的生命歷程中推行，並且介入的時期較長，讓兒童參與者的成長及改變能被引發並被觀察出來，把希望灌注入兒童及父母的生命，讓他們能發現彼此的優點、對生命存有盼望、為美好的將來釐訂實際計劃及具信心與社會人士保持接觸。這些均是他們在打破貧窮困局及戰勝社會排斥的過程中不可或缺的原素。 / Children poverty problem has become a main concern of Hong Kong society and the policy makers. Different strategies, programmes and projects have been implemented by the HKSAR government and different NGOs to alleviate the child poverty problem. However, most existing programmes and projects for primary school children emphasize on educational outcomes rather than the holistic child development. / This study aims to understand whether and how the enterprise-initiated and ongoing school-based and community-based programmes may help the poor children in Hong Kong in poverty alleviation and holistic development. / One school (School-1) and one NGO (NGO-1), which implemented ongoing poverty alleviation programmes with enterprises, were selected for this multiple-case study. Based on the analysis of the multiple sources of data collected from the three main programmes, including 12 sessions of participant observation and 45 semi-structured interviews (with responsible staff, organizers, host, volunteers, participating children and their parents), four key findings were obtained to answer the research question. / First, bonding and bridging social capital acted as a catalyst in the process of developing human capital among the participating children. Second, bonding and bridging social capital relied on and built upon each other in the trust building process among the participating children and the volunteers. Third, the participating children could be the active agents, who could exercise their choices in decisions affecting their lives, resist the negative influences of the adverse environment by holding onto the learning and social opportunities, and even change the environment by instilling hope in their parents. Fourth, the three main programmes under this study were organized for the same group of children for about nine to ten months in each cycle, which allowed time for the intervention to generate change and instill hope in the participating children and also enabled the parents, organizers and responsible staff to observe the growth and change in the participating children. / The findings suggest that the development of human capital is directly related to the supportive relationship built during the intervention process through bonding and bridging social capital, and the experiences of being listened, involved and respected in decisions affecting them through child participation. It is recommended that programmes should be organized for the poor children in their early stage of life-course and with a longer period of time for intervention and observation of their growth and change in the participating children. When hope is instilled in the children through joining the programmes, hope is subsequently instilled in the parents as well to acknowledge one’s merits, to feel hopeful to live a life with a wide range of possibilities, to have more confidence in making concrete plan for a better future and getting in touch with the people in the society. All these are indispensable on the road to beat the odds of poverty and conquer social exclusion. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Tang, Mun Yu. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 437-467). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Tang, Mun Yu.