In order to promote scientific exchanges between all research departments of the Institute for Family and Gender studies, on the 11th of June 2014, in Hanoi, a seminar “Some theories in family value research” was held by the Department of Family studies. This is also one activity in the implementation of the ministry-level project “Vietnam family value system under sociological perspective” (Case Study in Thai Binh province) in 2013-2014 by the Department of Family Studies. Workshop attendants included the leaders and officers of the Institute for Family and Gender studies, as well as the project participants. The workshop was divided into two main parts: 1. Theory presentations; 2. Discussion. In part one, there were 03 reports, including: The report “The theory of modernization and post-modernization” was presented by Dr. Le Ngoc Van. After some main points on theories, the report focused on analyzing the impacts of modernization on family and the application of modernization on family value theme. The second report “Theories on intergeneration value transformation” was by Dr. Mai Van Hai. On the basis of the characteristics of the three agricultural, industrial and post-industrial societies, the author emphasized that the intergeneration value transformation was a continuous process. The report “Cultural relativism” was presented by Dr. Dang Thi Hoa. The theory emphasized that the process of cultural changes took place through the contact of two or more separate cultural systems that result in making them becoming more alike. This is an important theory in family value research. The discussion was very exciting in the second part of the seminar, not only on the three theories, but also on the interaction between family values and personal values in the comparison between Eastern and Western societies. A broader view on theory application in family researches in Vietnam in various levels was mentioned: macro, medium theories, and theoretical hypotheses. Some issues were suggested to be clarified in future studies, including: the impacts of industrialization and modernization on Vietnam family value transformation; the transformation of different values in each family groups; how to measure family value transformation; research on values in motion; the combination of different theories in Vietnam family value transformation analyses; etc. Dr. Nguyen Huu Minh, Director of the Institute for Family and Gender studies confirmed the success of the seminar and stated the plan to organize these scientific seminars held by the institute departments, and concentrating on scientific issues under the institute’s research orientation.

This study aims to point out the differences between the North and the South of Vietnam, more particularly, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly named Sai Gon) and Hanoi, in terms of family and work roles of women. It helps to explain the ways women in Ho Chi Minh City reconstruct their reproduction role, the attitudes of Southern husbands towards household tasks and the husband-wife relationship in the Southern family. The literature in Vietnamese studies shows that the regional differences remain considerable. Studies on Ho Chi Minh City therefore must take into account the geographical, historical, cultural, social and economic context. Even the notion of ‘family in Ho Chi Minh city’ cannot be understood as the same notion of ‘family in the South’ due to the differences between urban and rural life.

This is a study exploring the social trust of Vietnamese people. Based on the data of a large scale survey of 1430 households’ representatives in northern, central and southern Vietnam, the study has modeled the observed indicators in order to extract the components of general social trust. The findings show that the general social trust of Vietnamese people has a complex structure consisting of at least five components: trust in members of the immediate family, trust in non-members of the immediate family, trust in public servants and officials, trust in mass media and trust in social groups and classes. Trust in members of the immediate family is the highest while trust in non-members of the immediate family is the lowest. However, it is paradoxical that the high level of trust in members of the immediate family does not contribute an equivalent weight to general social trust. On the contrary, although trust in non-members of the immediate family is low, it contributes the most significant weight to general social trust. The research has also found that the general social trust of Vietnamese people is significantly varied across sub-groups of the population from the perspectives of gender, regional and socio-economic backgrounds.

Based on quantitative and qualitative data collected in the case study in 3 sub-urban communes of Hanoi conducted in 2013-2014, this paper presents selected aspects of human capital, social capital and access to information of young people (aged 18-34) living in sub-urban areas. Empirical evidence in this study shows that young people in sub-urban areas of Hanoi have good education and vocational training, no less than the level for young people in urban Hanoi. They have good health and sensitive with technological innovation products such as computer, internet, mobile phone. However, young people seem to lack capacity to make full use of their potentials, especially their social and information capitals. Community attachment and relations with local government are becoming increasingly a formality more than substantial values. Only family ties remain strong but start to show sign of degradation.