Social support for ethnic minority ex-offenders in Hong Kong : recipients’ and providers’ perspectives on what is helpful

Abstract

 This research aims to identify commonalities and discrepancies between the self-reported social support needs which are identified by ethnic minority (EM) ex-offenders (service users) as well as social worker and peer supporters (service providers). The objective is to identify the strengths of and gaps in the existing social support services in Hong Kong, and to make recommendations to facilitate a more rehabilitative and supportive system. Eight semi-structured interviews are conducted, with four EM ex-offenders which include one local Chinese social worker and three peer supporters who were also from an ethnic minority background. Francis Cullen’s social support theory and Travis Hirschi’s social bond theory were used as the key frameworks for data coding, and a thematic approach was adopted in analyzing the data. Our findings show that peer supporters play a significant role in providing services to EM ex-offenders as they speak the same language and share similar backgrounds. The value and the underdevelopment of peer supporters will be discussed in this research. Moreover, EM ex-offenders continue to face employment and accommodation problems, low attachment with their family, their ethnic community and the Hong Kong society. They show little commitment to conventional standards and goals and are rehabilitating in an environment in which their religious belief are often neglected. Despite our small sample size and the mono-ethnic sampling consisting of only Nepalese service users and peer supporters, the results and findings of this research can nevertheless shed light into the current well-being of EM ex-offenders. They further provide insights into future development of social support for EM ex-offenders in Hong Kong and also it becomes a framework to enhance Hong Kong’s correctional and social policies. As such, it gives future researchers a solid foundation to conduct further work on this important topic.