Social Work / Maatskaplike Werk (E-Journal)
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PROFIEL EN BETROKKENHEID VAN AFGETREDE VRYWILLIGERS BY ’N NIE-WINSGEWENDE ORGANISASIE
Get PDFIn hierdie artikel word daar gefokus op die betrokkenheid van afgetrede vrywilligers by ʼnspesifieke nie-winsgewende organisasie, naamlik die Potchefstroom Dienssentrum virBejaardes. Daar word gepoog om ʼn profiel van afgetrede vrywilligers van hierdie organisasiesaam te stel, die terreine waarop hulle betrokke is, te ondersoek, asook om die mate vanverantwoordelikheid te bepaal wat hulle bereid is om te aanvaar. Die verwagtinge watvrywilligers van die organisasie koester en die betekenis van vrywillige werk vir die afgetredevrywilliger self, word ook ondersoek
OUTCOMES-BASED EDUCATION: IS IT RIGHT FOR SOCIAL WORK?
Get PDFOutcomes-based education (OBE) has been very much in the news lately. Graeme Bloch’sbook The toxic mix: what’s wrong with SA schools and how to fix it (2009) has receivedwidespread coverage in the press, as have the results of the National Benching Tests Project(HESA, 2009), which demonstrated that a large number of entry-level students at tertiaryinstitutions were not sufficiently competent in academic literacy, quantitative literacy ormathematics to succeed at university without substantial additional help. There are manycomplex reasons for the problems in the South African education system, but the suitabilityoutcomes-based education to address the education challenges in South Africa has beenseriously questioned
LOSS, GRIEF AND BEREAVEMENT: THE EXPERIENCES OF CHILDREN IN KINSHIP FOSTER CARE
Get PDFAlthough there has been a plethora of studies on the impact of HIV and AIDS, there wouldseem to be a paucity of research on the grief reactions and psychological trauma experiencedby children who have been orphaned by the pandemic and have subsequently been placed infoster care families
EDITORIAL
Get PDFThe Journal publishes articles, book reviews and commentary on articles already publishedfrom any field of social work. Contributionsmay be written in English or Afrikaans. Allarticles should include an abstract in English ofnot more than 100 words. All contributions willbe critically reviewed by at least two referees onwhose advice contributions will be accepted orrejected by the editorial committe
CONTENT AREAS FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT: SPIRITUALITY AND SOCIAL WORK
Get PDFCalls for the integration of spirituality into social work curricula emerged in the Westernliterature on the issue over two decades ago (Canda, 1989). Empirical enquiries in theAmerican and British contexts proliferated, revealing a conspicuous void in spiritualityeducation (Furman, Benson, Canda & Grimwood, 2005; Gilligan & Furness, 2006; Graff,2007). They also showed strong support for the introduction of a course on spirituality andsocial work, thus leading many schools of social work to begin offering it as an elective in theUnited States (Bhagwan, 2002). In contrast, the schism between spirituality and social work inpractice, education and research has been pronounced in South Africa
ATTITUDES TO ARV ACCESS AND FACTORS UNDERMINING HIV/AIDS PREVENTION. LESSONS FROM THE 2008 TSABONG STIGMA CASE STUDY (BOTSWANA
Get PDFThough the broad research study from which this article is derived was to assess the prevalenceof stigma and discrimination in the Tsabong District, the aim of this article is to assess theattitudes, views, perceptions and thinking of selected Tsabong communities and people livingwith HIV/AIDS on access to ARV drugs and the administrative success against those factorsand challenges that undermine the prevention efforts especially among the people living withHIV/AIDS and who are on ARVs
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FAMILY PRESERVATION SERVICES: PERSPECTIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS AT NGOs
Get PDFAccording to the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997), one of the goals of child and familywelfare services in social work is to maintain and strengthen the functioning of high-riskfamilies in order to enhance their physical, social and emotional development. Familypreservation is a strategy to empower families to enhance the optimal development of childrenand to prevent the statutory removal of children from their families. To avoid this removal thefocus of social workers, when rendering family preservation services, must first be onprevention services, then on early intervention services and last on statutory services in order toimplement a developmental social service policy (Department of Social Development, 2006:20,Ministry for Welfare and Population Development, 1997:62)
A DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH TO DEALING WITH YOUNG OFFENDERS: AN IMPERATIVE FOR PROBATION PRACTICE AND POLICY FRAMEWORK
Get PDFThe Child Justice Bill (SA Law Commission, B49 of 2002) (CJB) made provision for allchildren in conflict with the law to be assessed by a probation officer, thus making it possible todivert those children who committed serious offences. The re-drafted 2007 CJB,1 in contrast,excludes children arrested for serious offences from assessment by a probation officer andtherefore denies them the possibility of being diverted from the criminal justice system. Thispaper challenges the bifurcation of offences, a policy of separating out the minor offences fromthe serious offences with the intention of being tough on the latter. This is one of the keyprinciples underlying the 2007 CJB, which seems to be informed by the general misconceptionthat diversion and restorative justice are inappropriate when dealing with serious youthoffences. In contextualising this article,2 a brief historical background to the factors that haveinfluenced the reform of child justice in South Africa will be provided. Secondly, the role of aprobation officer in relation to policy development, with specific reference to the 2007 CJB,will be examined. Thirdly, the developmental approach to working with young offenders willbe explored, so as to create a conceptual framework for the central discourse of this article.Fourthly, the concept of restorative justice as a proposed philosophical and developmentalapproach to working with young offenders and its appropriateness in dealing with serious youthoffences will be investigated. The terms “young” and “child” are used interchangeably,referring to any person less than 18 years of age as stipulated in the Convention on the Rightsof the Child (CRC) (1989) and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996b).Finally, guidelines are offered that can help probation officers to give effect to restorativejustic
THE ROLE OF THE SOCIAL WORKER TO EMPOWER FAMILIES IN A DEEP RURAL COMMUNITY
Get PDFA research study was conducted at Heuningvlei near Vryburg in the Northern Cape Province ofSouth Africa during 2006. The study was called “Tshwaragano”, meaning togetherness, andwas sponsored by the National Research Foundation. The research focused on health issues andpoverty, and was undertaken to determine their effect on families in rural areas. Seven master’sstudents and two PhD students were involved in the project. The master’s students did a needsassessment with their specific aim in mind and developed guidelines. The PhD students usedthis needs assessment of the first phase to compile their social work group-work programmes toempower the families of Heuningvlei and to enhance their quality of life. This article reports ona section of the research which examined the living conditions and income of the households,and the causes and effects of poverty and unemployment. Aspects such as crime, violence andmarital conflict received attention. Because the strengths approach was used in this study, thestrengths of the families were investigated. Finally, the roles of the social worker to implementpreventive and treatment strategies in the community were discussed
THE STATUS OF SOCIAL WORK AS PERCEIVED BY KEY HUMAN SERVICE PROFESSIONALS
Get PDFFirst-hand experience in various practice settings points to large-scale misunderstanding,ignorance and undervaluing of social work. In fact, it may be argued that the social worker isoften confused, lacks confidence and has a weak voice when compared to other professionals.Barter (cited in Shera, 2003:203) adds that the profession is indeed actively marginalised and islosing ground to nurses, health workers and occupational therapists. Dane and Simone (cited inDittrich, 1994:19) also mention this marginality and token status that is generally attributed tosocial workers in secondary settings such as hospitals, schools, legal aid offices, nursinghomes, business and industry. Their explanation for this perception is that, where socialworkers are few in number but their visibility high, this may lead to their decisions beingconstantly scrutinised, thereby undervaluing and undermining their worth. To add to thiscomplexity these writers introduce the dimension of gender into the undervaluing of theprofession, stating that social work may be “devalued as women’s work in such settings that arepredominantly male in inspiration” (Dittrich, 1994:20)