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Tsunami
Tsunami
Identify the more apparent social needs and problems in Hong Kong and the Asian region (as a result of the Tsunami in late 2004) at that moment. Discuss how related policies and services (in particular social welfare programs) can help to meet these needs and resolve these problems
Date ：21st April 2005
Introduction
Just after the Christmas 2004, the strongest earthquake in the past forty years kicks up the greatest tsunami in the past hundred years. It brings disaster to the coastal areas of Indonesia, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bangladesh. More than 170 thousands people are killed. More than 1000 thousands people have lost their relatives and homes. We will try to identify the more apparent social needs and problems in Hong Kong and the Asian region (as a result of the Tsunami in late 2004) at that moment. We will also try to discuss how related policies and services (in particular social welfare programs) can help to meet these needs and resolve these problems in this essay.
Definition and conception of need
Maslow develops his hierarchy of needs. From the bottom to the top of his pyramid, namely, are physiological needs, safety and security, belongingness and love, self-esteem and self-actualization. In his late age, after his visit to Eastern Asia, he discovers that not all people need to pass through every stage of his pyramid. He also thinks that his hierarchy no need to be in a pyramid form.
According to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, need is a necessary condition of some state of affairs. Michael Hill states that need is defined as a state of tension or dissatisfaction felt by an individual that refer him to action towards changes. Based on the experience of the United Kingdom, David Harvey, a British academic, divides social needs in nine categories: food, housing, medical care, education, social and environmental services, consumer goods, recreational opportunities, neighborhood amenities and transport facilities.
If we can not manage needs accordingly, they will become problems.
Definition and conception of social problem
According to A Modern Dictionary of Sociology, social problem is defined as any situation which is regarded as / by a significant numbers of people within a group as a threat to one or more of the group’s basic values and that is believed to be remediable by collective action. G. W. Carter thought in another way round. He states that there is no universally accepted list of social problems because the boundaries differ in different regions and places as economic, social and technological trend change. If is also due to different political climate and public opinions.
According to the cultural lag theory, social problems arise due to different cultures; certain things are viewed as inappropriate and not good. The value conflict theory elaborates that individual or group would view something as bad and unacceptable. The social disorganized theory claims that problems emerge as a result of changing pattern in a society.
Social problem is dangerous and may be harmful to some people or / and our society physically, psychologically, socially, financially or environmentally. It is a social phenomenon that can be felt or experienced.
When we do something to satisfy social needs or to solve social problems, a series of social policies have to be carried out.
Definition and conception of social policy
A policy should contain concepts, policies and programs to carry out.
Professor T. H. Marshall says that there is no absolute meaning in social policy because different countries and societies would have different meanings. Different political and social system and economic structure would also affect development of social policies in different countries and places. Different outcomes of policies would be led because of different faiths and religious beliefs. Social policies are changing non-stop and speedily to meet different social needs and solve different social problems.
Professor Francois Lafitte believes that social policy is marked, direct and measurable acts of the authorities and governments, undertaken by / for a variety of political reasons, to provide for a range of needs, materials or / and social, that the market does not satisfy for certain designated part of population.
Michael Hill and Glen Bramley think that publicness and collectiveness are very important in social policies. They list out that:
Social policy is a set of inter related decisions taken by a political actor or a group of actors concerning the selection of goals and the mean of achieving them with a specified situation where these decisions should, in principle, be within the power of these actor to achieve.’
Professor Richard Titmuss divides social policy into two categories: social services and social welfare. Titmuss argues that it is impossible for social policy to be not values and bias. He has developed three models of social policy.
The residual welfare model shows that social needs would usually be met via family or private market. If the mentioned channels do not work, social welfare would play a temporary role. Hong Kong is belonged to that model.
The industrial / occupational achievement performance model tells that social welfare is important in economics. Social needs should be satisfied in terms of merit, work performance and productivity. This model is greatly influenced by economic and psychological theories that are related to incentives, effort, reward, class and group loyalties. Japan and Germany are belonged to that model.
Institutional redistribution model claims that social welfare is a major system in the society. It provides universalistic services on the principle of need, outside the private market. Multiple effects of social changes and the economic system, principle of social equality are its theoretical basis. Generally, it includes systems of redistribution in command-over resources through time. Many Northern European states, such as Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands and Denmark are belonged to that model. In 1970’s and 1980’s, the United Kingdom also operates this model.
Social policy and services in Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, the government uses the term social services in operating social policies and divides them into six categories: education, labor services, medical and health services, public housing, environmental protection, and social welfare. Social welfare can further divides into: family and child, children and youth, elderly, rehabilitation, offenders, community, supportive, social security, social planing, research and evaluation, and social work training, according to the 1998 Hong Kong Government Social Welfare Five Year Plan. The situation in Hong Kong is changing due to privatization. Professor John Jones explains social service as means of promoting the common good. Ian Mcleod and Enoch Powell insist that social service contain an element of redistribution. The majority of individuals and families who favor themselves of it are taking more than they give.
Social problems and needs facing by the South Asian governments after the Tsunami and discuss how they can be solved
As a result of the Tsunami 2004, the South Asian governments are facing series of social needs and problems. We will elaborate them in the following and discuss how can they be solved:
Discontents among people in the disaster areas
Discontents among people rise. Some small-scale riots have been broken out in Northern Indonesia. Rescue teams are afraid that it would be another disaster if the police cannot control the situations (http://www.the-sun.com.hk/channels/news/20041231/index.html).
The concept is to lower the discontents among people in the disaster area. The policy is to satisfy their needs. The items are to build shelter to them, and to give them food. The limitation is that it is very difficult to satisfy 1000 thousand people in a short time.
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