The Hong Kong Journal of Social Work

Astronaut families are those in which one or both parents spend much of their time in Hong Kong or Taiwan, leaving their satellite adolescent children to complete their education in Canada. Very little is known about the experiences of these children. For this exploratory study, interviews with 68 satellite children living in Toronto were examined using thematic analysis and the software program — NUD-IST. Three meta-themes emerged, concerned with ethnic identity development, the socially constructed character of immigrant adolescent experience, and the salient role of time in their adjustment to resettlement. Practice/policy implications are discussed.

This is the first systematic study of adoption in Hong Kong. It examines the changing profile of non-relative adoption in 1987 to 1993 as shown by the files of 486 successful non-relative adoption cases that were analysed. Characteristics of the adoptive parents, the birth parents and the adopted children are presented in descriptive statistics and their inter-relationships are pointed out. The findings are discussed in the light of the changing scene of adoption work against the socio-economic-political background of Hong Kong. A series of recommendations, based on the findings of the study, to the Social Welfare Department are made.

这是香港第一个对领养作有系统的研究。本文分析了486个文件夹，并勾划出1987至1993年间非亲属领养在转变中的剪影。

本文更发表了有关领养父母、生父母及被领养儿童的特徵和描述性统计数据，更指出了其间的关系。就研究所得结果，以社会、经济和政治作背景，本文讨论了领养工作在香港的改变，也向社会福利署作出了连串的建议。

The issue on theory practice integration in social work brings attention to the difference between the positivist and social construction epistemology. The "Attitude About Reality Scale" developed by Unger et al. (1986) tries to measure the personal epistemology of students towards logical positivism and social constructionism. A modified form of the scale was used to measure the personal epistemology of 723 social work students or graduates. Significant difference is detected between diploma and degree students. As social work knowledge is more and more affected by social constructionism, the implications for further research are discussed.

在 社 会 工 作 理 论 与 实 践 结 合 的 讨 论 中， 叫 人 关 注 到 〈实 证〉 及 〈社 会 建 构〉 两 种 不 同 的 知 识 论， 作 者 用 经 修 改 后 的 〈现 实 态 度 表〉， 量 度 了 七 百 二 十 三 位 社 会 工 作 学 生 及 毕 业 生 在 知 识 学 上 对 〈实 证〉 或 〈社 会 建 构〉 的 倾 向， 发 现 文 凭 与 学 位 课 程 中 的 学 生， 在 这 方 面 有 显 著 差 别， 作 者 讨 论 此 结 果。

本研究结果表明，香港与长沙的青少年在对钦佩人物的选择上存在着明显的差异。概括起来，香港的青少年更喜欢理想-浪漫-绝对型名人，这些人突出表现为歌星、影星和体育明星；而长沙的青少年更喜欢现实-理性-相对型名人，这些人突出表现为著名政治家和文学家。在怎样看待所提名钦佩人物时，两地的青少年多将演艺界、体育界和政治界的名人当偶像看，而将自己的家人和朋友师长当榜样看。此外，港的青少年选择亲朋好友作为自己最钦佩人物的倾向要高於长沙的青少年，长沙的青少年则选择政治名人作为自己最钦佩人物。此次研究再次证明，偶像和榜样是两个不同的概念。根据上述结果，本文提出，当今青少年崇拜的主流是对歌星、影星和体育明星的“三星崇拜”，这与当今社会的商业化炒作有密切关系。本文还提出，在看待青少年偶像崇拜行为时，应区分遥亲感和即亲感两个概念。其中对遥亲感的满足可谓青少年偶像崇拜的主要目标和精神需求之所在。

The present study asked 258 high school students in Hong Kong and Changsha to nominate three most admired people in their lives and rate them on degrees to which they could become their idols and models. Hong Kong students mostly nominated celebrities in entertainment and sports industries while Changsha students mostly nominated celebrities in politics. Hong Kong students were more inclined than Changsha students to nominate family members, friends and teachers to be their most admired people. A clear distinction was also noted between idols and models. Based on the above results, the authors argued that "tri-star idol worship" constituted the mainstream of idol worship for young people nowadays and that a distinction could be made between remote intimacy and immediate intimacy in understanding adolescent idol worship.

A study of existing research focusing on marginal and delinquent youths in Hong Kong makes it possible to describe a typical career path for marginal youths. They typically pass through five stages beginning with casually running away at the age of ten until eventually serving a second prison term at the age of 18. The age of 14 is an important turning point at which young people make crucial decisions, which either take them out of this path or fix them more firmly in it. The fact that 14 is a critical age has implications for labor laws, for the educational system and for the provision of social services. It is suggested that (rather than search for causes) this data makes it possible to identify the target group and prescribe interventions.

现时对香港边缘少年及年青罪犯的研究，可以清楚描述一个典型的边缘少年误入歧途所经过的阶段，就如十岁便离家出走 ... ... 十八岁便已经在监狱第二次服刑。

「十四岁」为这些少年，是他们生命中的一个转捩点，他们一是决定回归正途，或是更加泥足深陷，难以自拔。故此劳工法例、教育制度，以及社会服务等，应作出适当的修订及改革。

文中的资料并非为研究青年人误入歧途的原因，而是为确认出这类型的青少年及如何为他们提供协助。

香港的刑事责任年龄是七岁，即七岁以下的儿童，是不会被推定为有罪。这刑责年龄是国际标准上最低之一。近日本地的法律改革委员会建议将它提高至十岁，香港儿童权利委员会更建议以十四岁为刑责年龄。提高刑责年龄的后果，是所有在法定刑责年龄以下的违法少年都不再需要负法律责任，他们不需要经警司警诫或司法审讯，极其量只能由少年法庭引用保护令来保护他们。本文讨论影响青少年犯罪的三种重要因素，现时处理违法少年的方法，和在研究提高刑责年龄的可行性时，在少年司法制度中需要考虑的因素，特别是在没有彻底改善现行的少年司法制度时，广泛地运用保护令所带出之问题，最后建议一些处理方法。

In Hong Kong, the age of criminal responsibility is seven, i.e. any person aged below seven shall not be convicted of a crime. This age is one of the lowest in the world. Recently, the Law Reform Commission has recommended to raise the age to ten; the Committee on Children's Rights even suggested raising it to 14. If the age of criminal responsibility is to be raised, juvenile offenders would no longer be cautioned by the police or prosecuted in the juvenile court, although care or protection order can be granted o them. This article outlines the major factors affecting juvenile crimes and the current methods in handling juvenile offenders. It also identifies several crucial factors for consideration, in particular the negative effect of using care or protection order when no substantial improvement in the juvenile justice system has been made, if the age of criminal responsibility is to be raised. Several recommendations to improve the juvenile justice system are highlighted too.