Esther C L Goh
Biographic Data
| ID | 193401 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Esther C L Goh |
| GIVEN NAMES | Esther C L |
| FAMILY NAME | Goh |
| SIGNATURE | GOH E C L |
| AFFILIATIONS | National University of Singapore |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0235-2363 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 68 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Mixed evidence concerning the effects of the hopeful mindset among mother and child in low-income families in Singapore
Citizenship pathways of children with cross-national parents: Strategic and Affective Contemplations of Citizenship Choice
Identifying the Relationship Between Strength of School Social Support and Level of Hope in Children from Low-Income Families
Trajectories of perceived economic hardship: Relations with mother’s and child’s mental health and the role of self-esteem
The moderating role of trajectories of family hardiness in the relationship between trajectories of economic hardship and mental health of mothers and children
Using whatsApp video call to reach large survey sample of low-income children during covid-19: A mixed method post-hoc analysis
This paper is a post hoc analysis and critical reflection of an unplanned methodology change made in the face of the unforeseen disruption brought by Covid-19 pandemic to a longitudinal study on children (N=462) from low-income families in Singapore. The research team was thrown into a state of intense ambivalence between waiting for life to come back to normal so that face-to-face survey could be resumed or to reformulate the methods and keep to…
Hope in Low‐Income Families—A Study of Family Hardiness in Singapore
Relational dimensions in poor children’s decisions to obtain a mobile phone – the case of Singapore
Children’s influence on the purchase of mobile phones, particularly among poor children, received little research attention. To study the dilemma children from poor home face between strong desire to be part of the media peer culture within the context of family’s financial distress, and hence, limited access to mobile phones, this paper utilized vignette as a tool to elicit children’s thoughts and considerations in whether to purchase mobile pho…
An Enhanced Stress-Buffering Model of Social Support on Mental Health Outcomes of Low-Income Children
Predictors of maternal distress among mothers in economic hardship: A classification and regression tree analysis (Cart)
A recurrent observation in poverty research is the association between many attendant stress factors and the high incidence of maternal distress. In this study, we reason that such risk factors do not preclude mothers from possessing adaptive capacities, through perceived parenting efficacy and family hardiness, as buffers against two common distress sources in low socioeconomic status (SES) households-perceived children's emotional and behaviora…
“I have HIV but I'm not the HIV” – the experiences of heterosexual Chinese men living with HIV in Singapore
As HIV is widely acknowledged as a stigmatized chronic condition which impacts the self, it is important to study the experiences of people living with HIV in relation to their selves and identities. According to extant literature on HIV and identity, the incorporation of an HIV identity is essential to adapting to the diagnosis. However, most of the participants in this study reject HIV as an identity. Using qualitative in-depth interviews, this…
Using vignettes as a ‘safe space’ for low-income children to discuss sensitive topics in social work assessment
Children’s voices are rarely heard in the social work assessment process, with their opinions often missing in decisions made about their lives, despite them being key contributors of their lives. As such, this paper aims to examine the usefulness of vignettes in eliciting and discussing sensitive issues, such as the lack of financial resource, with children to aid the social work assessment process. Vignettes are defined as short stories, embedd…
Using photo elicitation interviewing to access the subjective well-being of children from poor families within an affluent Asian society: Insights for service delivery
Young persons as epistemological agents in social work assessment and intervention
Agency in Vulnerable Families: Reply to P. J. Miller
My article “Vulnerable Families as Active Agents of Their Own Change Process: A Bidirectional Perspective” (Goh, 2015), published in this journal, focused on the importance of the strengths perspective (Saleebey, 2013), which guides social workers’ interactions with clients from vulnerable families. I argued that the strengths perspective primarily operates at the ontological level but requires additional specific mid-level conceptual tools regar…
Vulnerable Families as Active Agents of Their Own Change Process: A Bidirectional Perspective
The literature on successful practice with vulnerable families reports social workers' efforts in forging therapeutic bonds with clients, their ability to both recognize clients' strengths and pain and support them as they work through adversity. Vulnerable families' own contribu- tions to their change process, however, have remained largely opaque. This article offers concrete conceptual tools to consider both social workers and clients from vul…
Granny as Nanny: Positive Outcomes for Grandparents providing Childcare for Dual-Income Families. Fact or Myth
The proliferation of dual-income families has led to the prevalence of grandparents providing child care in Singapore. The Chinese culture and values have tasked grandparents to fill the role of providing child care while mothers seek employment. Literature on grandparents providing informal care posits this situation to be a rewarding experience and a protective factor for grandparents’ stability in old age. This study uses the Social Relational…
She is Too Young for These Chores’ — Is Housework Taking a Back Seat in Urban Chinese Childhood
The child in contemporary urban China is experiencing an increasingly exclusive focus on academic achievement at the expense of non‐academic activities, particularly housework. In‐depth interviews with caregivers (including grandparents and parents) from 9 three‐generational families (n = 34) and parents from 10 nuclear families (n = 20) were conducted. Results show that although children from both family types were low in housework participation…
China's One-Child Policy and Multiple Caregiving: Raising little suns in Xiamen
This book explores the effects of China’s one child policy on modern Chinese families. It is widely thought that such a policy has contributed to the creation of a generation of little emperors or little suns spoiled by their parents and by the grandparents who have been recruited to care for the child while the middle generation goes off to work. Investigating what life is really like with three generations in close quarters and using urban Xiam…
Agency and Power of Single Children in Multi-Generational Families in Urban Xiamen, China
This paper examines ethnographic data collected over six months from Xiamen, China, on children as active agents in their relationships with their parents and grandparents. It explicates the usefulness of the conceptual tools of ‘agency’ and ‘interdependent power’ derived from social relational theory in demonstrating the bilateral influences between children, grandparents and parents. Ways in which children’s agency is enhanced in their interact…
Grandparents as childcare providers: An in-depth analysis of the case of Xiamen, China
Raising the Precious Single Child in Urban China-An Intergenerational Joint Mission Between Parents and Grandparents
This article is based on a pilot study conducted in Xiamen, an urban city in southern China. Its research goal was to understand how the grandparents and parents jointly raise a single grandchild in the multi-generational family context. This research attempts to address the following questions: What are the parents' concept of an ideal child? How do grandparents and parents work together in this alliance? Are their child rearing values and pract…
Grandparents as childcare providers: An in-depth analysis of the case of Xiamen, China
Raising the Precious Single Child in Urban China-An Intergenerational Joint Mission Between Parents and Grandparents
This article is based on a pilot study conducted in Xiamen, an urban city in southern China. Its research goal was to understand how the grandparents and parents jointly raise a single grandchild in the multi-generational family context. This research attempts to address the following questions: What are the parents' concept of an ideal child? How do grandparents and parents work together in this alliance? Are their child rearing values and pract…
Vulnerable Families as Active Agents of Their Own Change Process: A Bidirectional Perspective
The literature on successful practice with vulnerable families reports social workers' efforts in forging therapeutic bonds with clients, their ability to both recognize clients' strengths and pain and support them as they work through adversity. Vulnerable families' own contribu- tions to their change process, however, have remained largely opaque. This article offers concrete conceptual tools to consider both social workers and clients from vul…
Using photo elicitation interviewing to access the subjective well-being of children from poor families within an affluent Asian society: Insights for service delivery
Young persons as epistemological agents in social work assessment and intervention
Granny as Nanny: Positive Outcomes for Grandparents providing Childcare for Dual-Income Families. Fact or Myth
The proliferation of dual-income families has led to the prevalence of grandparents providing child care in Singapore. The Chinese culture and values have tasked grandparents to fill the role of providing child care while mothers seek employment. Literature on grandparents providing informal care posits this situation to be a rewarding experience and a protective factor for grandparents’ stability in old age. This study uses the Social Relational…
Citizenship pathways of children with cross-national parents: Strategic and Affective Contemplations of Citizenship Choice
An Enhanced Stress-Buffering Model of Social Support on Mental Health Outcomes of Low-Income Children
Using vignettes as a ‘safe space’ for low-income children to discuss sensitive topics in social work assessment
Children’s voices are rarely heard in the social work assessment process, with their opinions often missing in decisions made about their lives, despite them being key contributors of their lives. As such, this paper aims to examine the usefulness of vignettes in eliciting and discussing sensitive issues, such as the lack of financial resource, with children to aid the social work assessment process. Vignettes are defined as short stories, embedd…
Raising the Precious Single Child in Urban China-An Intergenerational Joint Mission Between Parents and Grandparents
This article is based on a pilot study conducted in Xiamen, an urban city in southern China. Its research goal was to understand how the grandparents and parents jointly raise a single grandchild in the multi-generational family context. This research attempts to address the following questions: What are the parents' concept of an ideal child? How do grandparents and parents work together in this alliance? Are their child rearing values and pract…
Grandparents as childcare providers: An in-depth analysis of the case of Xiamen, China
Agency and Power of Single Children in Multi-Generational Families in Urban Xiamen, China
This paper examines ethnographic data collected over six months from Xiamen, China, on children as active agents in their relationships with their parents and grandparents. It explicates the usefulness of the conceptual tools of ‘agency’ and ‘interdependent power’ derived from social relational theory in demonstrating the bilateral influences between children, grandparents and parents. Ways in which children’s agency is enhanced in their interact…
China's One-Child Policy and Multiple Caregiving: Raising little suns in Xiamen
This book explores the effects of China’s one child policy on modern Chinese families. It is widely thought that such a policy has contributed to the creation of a generation of little emperors or little suns spoiled by their parents and by the grandparents who have been recruited to care for the child while the middle generation goes off to work. Investigating what life is really like with three generations in close quarters and using urban Xiam…
She is Too Young for These Chores’ — Is Housework Taking a Back Seat in Urban Chinese Childhood
The child in contemporary urban China is experiencing an increasingly exclusive focus on academic achievement at the expense of non‐academic activities, particularly housework. In‐depth interviews with caregivers (including grandparents and parents) from 9 three‐generational families (n = 34) and parents from 10 nuclear families (n = 20) were conducted. Results show that although children from both family types were low in housework participation…
Vulnerable Families as Active Agents of Their Own Change Process: A Bidirectional Perspective
The literature on successful practice with vulnerable families reports social workers' efforts in forging therapeutic bonds with clients, their ability to both recognize clients' strengths and pain and support them as they work through adversity. Vulnerable families' own contribu- tions to their change process, however, have remained largely opaque. This article offers concrete conceptual tools to consider both social workers and clients from vul…
Granny as Nanny: Positive Outcomes for Grandparents providing Childcare for Dual-Income Families. Fact or Myth
The proliferation of dual-income families has led to the prevalence of grandparents providing child care in Singapore. The Chinese culture and values have tasked grandparents to fill the role of providing child care while mothers seek employment. Literature on grandparents providing informal care posits this situation to be a rewarding experience and a protective factor for grandparents’ stability in old age. This study uses the Social Relational…
Agency in Vulnerable Families: Reply to P. J. Miller
My article “Vulnerable Families as Active Agents of Their Own Change Process: A Bidirectional Perspective” (Goh, 2015), published in this journal, focused on the importance of the strengths perspective (Saleebey, 2013), which guides social workers’ interactions with clients from vulnerable families. I argued that the strengths perspective primarily operates at the ontological level but requires additional specific mid-level conceptual tools regar…
Young persons as epistemological agents in social work assessment and intervention
Using photo elicitation interviewing to access the subjective well-being of children from poor families within an affluent Asian society: Insights for service delivery
“I have HIV but I'm not the HIV” – the experiences of heterosexual Chinese men living with HIV in Singapore
As HIV is widely acknowledged as a stigmatized chronic condition which impacts the self, it is important to study the experiences of people living with HIV in relation to their selves and identities. According to extant literature on HIV and identity, the incorporation of an HIV identity is essential to adapting to the diagnosis. However, most of the participants in this study reject HIV as an identity. Using qualitative in-depth interviews, this…
Using vignettes as a ‘safe space’ for low-income children to discuss sensitive topics in social work assessment
Children’s voices are rarely heard in the social work assessment process, with their opinions often missing in decisions made about their lives, despite them being key contributors of their lives. As such, this paper aims to examine the usefulness of vignettes in eliciting and discussing sensitive issues, such as the lack of financial resource, with children to aid the social work assessment process. Vignettes are defined as short stories, embedd…
Hope in Low‐Income Families—A Study of Family Hardiness in Singapore
Relational dimensions in poor children’s decisions to obtain a mobile phone – the case of Singapore
Children’s influence on the purchase of mobile phones, particularly among poor children, received little research attention. To study the dilemma children from poor home face between strong desire to be part of the media peer culture within the context of family’s financial distress, and hence, limited access to mobile phones, this paper utilized vignette as a tool to elicit children’s thoughts and considerations in whether to purchase mobile pho…
An Enhanced Stress-Buffering Model of Social Support on Mental Health Outcomes of Low-Income Children
Predictors of maternal distress among mothers in economic hardship: A classification and regression tree analysis (Cart)
A recurrent observation in poverty research is the association between many attendant stress factors and the high incidence of maternal distress. In this study, we reason that such risk factors do not preclude mothers from possessing adaptive capacities, through perceived parenting efficacy and family hardiness, as buffers against two common distress sources in low socioeconomic status (SES) households-perceived children's emotional and behaviora…
Trajectories of perceived economic hardship: Relations with mother’s and child’s mental health and the role of self-esteem
The moderating role of trajectories of family hardiness in the relationship between trajectories of economic hardship and mental health of mothers and children
Using whatsApp video call to reach large survey sample of low-income children during covid-19: A mixed method post-hoc analysis
This paper is a post hoc analysis and critical reflection of an unplanned methodology change made in the face of the unforeseen disruption brought by Covid-19 pandemic to a longitudinal study on children (N=462) from low-income families in Singapore. The research team was thrown into a state of intense ambivalence between waiting for life to come back to normal so that face-to-face survey could be resumed or to reformulate the methods and keep to…
Identifying the Relationship Between Strength of School Social Support and Level of Hope in Children from Low-Income Families
Citizenship pathways of children with cross-national parents: Strategic and Affective Contemplations of Citizenship Choice
Mixed evidence concerning the effects of the hopeful mindset among mother and child in low-income families in Singapore
Psychology (22 works) · Developmental psychology (18 works) · Social Psychology (18 works) · Political science (14 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Medicine (6 works) · Psychiatry (6 works) · China (5 works) · Grandparent (5 works)