Ka Tat Tsang

Biography

A. Ka Tat Tsang is the Director of the China Project and holds the Factor-Inwentash Chair in Social Work in the Global Community. The focus of his research and scholarship is the development of a knowledge base for social work practice in a globalized environment, through active integration of theory, practice and research. Diversity is a major theme in the development of Dr. Tsang’s scholarship and research. The social work profession has to wrestle with the challenges of intersecting diversity related to dimensions such as race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, sexual practice, class, religion, age, ability, citizenship, geographical location, and so on. Within a context of rapid and pervasive globalization, the impact of such diversities is increasingly salient in everyday social work practice. Professor Tsang believes in proactive engagement with such diversities, and moves beyond the conventional academic model of narrow specialization to address the complex and interconnected issues that cut across different domains of social work practice. Following a multiple contingencies approach, he has developed a number of practice systems such as the SSLD (Strategies and Skills Learning and Development), ICCP (Integrative Cross-Cultural Psychotherapy), and MCM (Multiple Contingencies Model) of psychotherapy.

Dr. Tsang has been actively involved in the development of social work in China since the 1980s. His current projects in China involve collaboration with a number of leading universities such as Tsinghua, Shandong, and the Beijing Institute of Technology.

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Lee, E., Tsang, A.K.T., Bogo, M., Wilson, G., Johnstone, M., & Herschman, J. (2017). Joining revisited in family therapy: Cross-cultural encounters between a therapist and an immigrant family. Journal of Family Therapy. DOI: 1111/1467-6427.12148

Zaheer, J., Shera, W., Tsang, A.K.T., Law, S., Fung, W.L.A., Eynan, R., Lam, J., Zheng, X., Liu, P, & Links, P.S. (2016). “I just couldn’t step out of the circle. I was trapped”: Patterns of endurance and distress in Chinese-Canadian women with a history of suicidal behaviour. Social Science and Medicine, 160: 43-53.

Tsang, A. K. T., Fuller-Thomson, E., & Lai, D. W. L. (2011). Sexuality and health among Chinese seniors in Canada. Journal of International Migration and Integration,13(4), 525-540.

 Peer-Reviewed Books

Tsang, A.K.T., & Li, B.Y. (2017). Building a practice system for working with immigrants and refugees: The SSLD approach. In M.C. Yan & U. Anucha (Eds.), Working with immigrants and refugees: A handbook for social work and human services (pp. 67-86). Toronto: Oxford University Press.

Tsang, A. K. T. (2013). Learning to change lives: The Strategies and Skills Learning and Development System. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. (with Chinese translation published in 2017)

Ho, P. S. Y., & Tsang, A. K. T. (Eds.), (2012). Love and desire in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. (with Chinese translation published in the same year)

Invited Contribution

Tsang, A.K.T., Xu, R., Hu, S. (2013). The development and future of social work in North America and its implications for China. Annual Report on Development of Social Work in China (2011-2012) (pp. 235-252). Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press. 曾家達，許認，胡曉韻(2013)：社會工作在北美的發展與在中國的未來，《中國社會工作發展報告（2011-2012）》(235-252页)，王杰秀、鄒文開主編，北京：社會科學文獻出版社。