King's School of Social Work Professors awarded SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Congratulations to King’s School of Social Work professors Dr. Siu Ming Kwok and Dr. Dora Tam who have been awarded a SSHRC Insight Development Grant for two-years with an amount of $74,940 for the project titled “Identifying promising practices for Chinese youth in conflict with the law in Canada.” This project builds upon their previous projects funded by another SSHRC grant and is also an outgrowth of their studies supported by a King’s Internal Research Grant.

The objective of this research project is to develop a practice model for Chinese youth in conflict with the law in Canada. The issue of crime intervention and racialized youth is under-researched in Canada. By relating the perspectives of service providers to existing literature about Chinese youth and crime, this project attempts to facilitate new ways of conceptualizing practices, programs, and policy for youth from the second largest racialized group in Canada. The focus of this practice model is on Chinese youth but it could be relevant and transferrable to other ethnic groups who encounter similar issues in Canada. Developing a practice model of this kind is composed of (1) identifying promising practices at the direct services level; (2) examining program initiatives at the mezzo level; and (3) building a framework for prevention and intervention strategies at the policy making level.

The outcomes of this proposed project will benefit to academic community, practice community, and the general public. For the academic community, results of this project will allow us to understand how cultures might inform and refine theories when applied to a specific ethnic group. The benefits of knowledge advancement might go beyond the academic community in Canada as researchers in China and/or countries with a large Chinese population might be interested in the results of this project. In addition, the practice model will benefit the practice community at the levels of direct practice, program development, and policy making. Results of this project could inform appropriate and culturally sensitive direct practices, program initiatives, and policy formation for youth from racialized groups in conflict with the law. Moreover, through open dialogue and discussion of the project results in Chinese and English media, concerns of the ethno-community and the general public related to youth crime and intervention could be addressed.