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This study explores the importance of organizational structures and formal affiliations with the Hong Kong triads to delinquency among youth street gang members in Hong Kong. More specifically, this study examines the relative importance of the number of organizational structures and triad affiliation to patterns of delinquency in a sample of active members of youth street gangs ( N = 201). With the aid of outreach social workers, a convenience sampling method was used to recruit a gender-balanced sample of at-risk youths. Logistic regression analysis of the survey data that was gathered indicated that formal affiliation to Hong Kong triads and the presence of organizational structures significantly increased the odds of delinquency (independently of each other). Suggestions for future research on gang membership and delinquency, with particular reference to the Asian context, are provided.

Bullying has become one of the most significant problem behaviors that school-aged adolescents face. The current study examines the strain–delinquency relationship by employing General Strain Theory as a guiding framework. “Strain” was operationalized as bullying victimization and family dysfunction, “delinquency” was operationalized as bullying perpetration, and “negative affect” was operationalized as anxiety and depression. Analyses were carried out based on a group of 2,139 Macanese schoolchildren. Using a structural equation modeling technique, the results revealed that exposure to family dysfunction and bullying victimization was associated with adolescents’ negative affect, such as anxiety and depression. Contrary to our expectations, the indirect effect of victimization on bullying through negative affect was negative, though the mediation effect was relatively small and only significant in boys. In addition, gender analyses of invariance showed that male adolescents who experienced more family conflict and parental control were less likely to engage in bullying. This study could lead to further anti-bullying interventions and practical efforts designed to improve positive parenting and adolescents’ interpersonal skills.

International service-learning (ISL) programmes, grounded under the transformative learning theory, have long shown promising results in enhancing the development of college students. However, in recent years, scholars have begun to take notice of the number of conceptual and methodological deficiencies that the ISL body of research suffers from. Our study addresses this void by adopting a quasi-experimental design to understand the developmental benefits accrued by college students who joined one of three ISL programmes. More specifically, this study seeks to understand the role of service settings and social context in the transformative process. A pretest-posttest approach was used to examine students’ growth in three ISL programmes (one from Cambodia and two from Myanmar). A total of 31 college students completed the questionnaire before and after the ISL programmes. Analysing the data through repeated-measure ANCOVAs, all three ISL programmes were found to help students increase their personal insight (general and social self-efficacy), understanding of social issues (interpersonal and problem-solving skills and political awareness) and cognitive development (communication skills). Establishing a non-hierarchical relationship with the partner agency in the service setting, providing emotional counseling to the college students and organizing multiple community outreach opportunities were found to be particularly beneficial for facilitating these transformations. Building on the results, suggestions for ISL practice and research are provided.

China’s new National Security Law, enacted in Hong Kong on 30 June 2020, has amplified widespread concerns among the city’s population regarding the implications of this law. These concerns have at root anxieties related to Hong Kong’s resinicisation, referring to anxieties over Hong Kong's political and economic dependence on mainland China, including loyalty and patriotism towards the motherland. This paper explores these developments in relation to the ongoing legacy of localism, argued to be instilled as a colonial project to help secure the populations’ identification with Hong Kong. Seen as ‘criminals’ from the perspective of mainland Chinese authorities, many of those involved in today's protests (many of whom include young people) see themselves as engaging in legitimate forms of civil disobedience. First explicating the context of Hong Kong's colonial history in order to help make sense of present-day turmoil, we turn to recent trends in arrests related to the protests, as well as evidence of rapidly declining trust in the Hong Kong Police Force, seen by some as increasingly beholden to the interests of mainland China. Implications for these trends going forward are considered, with a discussion of the need for greater attention to colonial histories and post-colonial ramifications.