SOCIAL FUNCTIONING DISCOURSE IN A CHINESE CONTEXT - DEVELOPING SOCIAL-WORK IN MAINLAND CHINA

The intention of this article is to present a critique of the fundamen tal conceptualization found in traditional social work discourse. It a rgues that social work is a social construct and that the meaning of s ocial work and one of its key concepts, namely, social functioning, sh ould therefore be understood in its context. With this notion, the art icle discusses how western. culture contains three inherent deficienci es in this concept and how we can interpret these deficiencies differe ntly under traditional Chinese culture. Finally, it highlights some im plications of developing social work in mainland China in view of its existing cultural development.