Social Work / Maatskaplike Werk (E-Journal)
Not a member yet
916 research outputs found
Sort by
INDEBTEDNESS OF FINANCIALLY VULNERABLE HOUSEHOLDS: WHAT DO SOCIAL WORKERS DO?
Get PDFHousehold debt in South Africa has grown significantly relative to income over the past twentyyears under the guise of financial liberalisation (FinMark Trust, 2007). Currently householdsspend approximately 60c to 70c of every rand of their income on repayment of debt (Gous,2008; Van Rooyen, 2008a). During the past decade the disposable income, financial assets andnet prosperity of households have therefore not accrued to the same extent as their debtobligations. For this reason households’ savings are urgently needed to contribute to alessening of the country’s current account deficit in order to sustain economic growth and jobcreation (Van Tonder, 2008). On the macro level, economic growth and job creation form partof the ideal underpinning the social development philosophy in South Africa. This ideal is tocombine social welfare assistance with developmental strategies, thereby promoting botheconomic and social development in order to strengthen people’s capacity to enhance theirsocial and economic inclusion and alleviate poverty (Patel, 2005:118). Social work, as aprofession within the social development paradigm, is primarily focused on the poorest of thepoor households (Department of Social Development, 2006). In the context of a relativepoverty line, set in relation to changing standards of living (Statistics South Africa, 2007), apoor household is to be understood when the household’s condition of poverty endures over aperiod of time, when the household has an inability or lack of opportunity to improve itscircumstances over time, or to sustain itself through difficult times (Aliber, 2001:2). Research(Collins, 2007; Rand, 2004) has shown that poor households have the highest debt to incomeratio. For this reason social work intervention focusing on household debt is also essential onthe micro level within the social development paradigm in order to reduce households’financial vulnerability (Engelbrecht, 2008a)
BRIDGING THE GREAT DIVIDE: MODIFYING TRAUMATIC MEMORIES
Get PDFSocial workers and other professionals in South Africa are constantly challenged by the impactof extreme traumatic events on many of their client populations. This article focuses on aspecific area of post-trauma intervention, namely understanding and actively working withtraumatic memories. The underlying theoretical paradigm is the constructive narrativeperspective (Meichenbaum, 1994) with a focus on more than mere information processing.Account-making and restorying traumatic material into a verbal narrative is core work.Meichenbaum (1994:103) rightly postulates: “People make meaning of their lives byorganizing key events into stories which they incorporate into a larger life narrative.” Theprocess of meaning-making incorporates each individual’s subjective interpretation of events.Psycho-education is a central part of the process to empower traumatised persons to initiate theprocess of memory shiftin
WOMEN’S EXPERIENCES OF REPORTING RAPE TO THE POLICE: A QUALITATIVE STUDY
Get PDFSouth Africa has the highest incidence of rape in the world among the countries that reportreliable crime statistics (Snyman, 2005). Between April 2006 and March 2007, 52 617 rapeswere reported to the police in South Africa (“Information management, South African PoliceServices”, n.d.). A national crime survey conducted by Statistics South Africa (SSA) found thatone out of two rape survivors reported the matter to the police (SSA, 2000), while a threeprovincesurvey by the Medical Research Council on violence against women found that onlyone in nine victims reported their rape experience (Jewkes, Penn-Kekana, Levin, Ratsaka &Schrieber, 2001)
USING ADVENTURE TO INCREASE THE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE OF THE POOR
Get PDFIn many instances the clients that social workers encounter are trapped by poverty andexperience feelings of powerlessness (Reyneke, 2000:384). In order to help them the socialworker should use his or her skills and knowledge to assist clients to reclaim the power thatthey lost or possibly never possessed in the first place. Payne (2005:295) analysesempowerment and argues that clients can gain power of decision and action over their ownlives by reducing the effect of social or personal blocks to exercising existing power, byincreasing their personal capacity and self-confidence to use power, and by transferring powerfrom groups and individuals. Reyneke (2000:383-384) shows that in order to empower peoplein poor communities more effectively, their human potential needs to be developed. This maybe done through the development of their emotional intelligence (EQ). Techniques that reducethe effect of social or personal blocks should be used in order to help them improve, amongstother aspects, their personal capacity and self-confidence. This is especially important whenplanning and implementing sustainable development projects where many of the participantsare from communities that experience powerlessness and are poor
LIVING IN FOSTER CARE AND IN A CHILDREN’S HOME: VOICES OF CHILDREN AND THEIR CAREGIVERS
Get PDFFoster care is clearly seen as the preferred option in alternate care of the vulnerable child inSouth Africa and internationally (Kiraly, 2001; Long, 2007; McKay, 2002; Morei, 2002). TheChildren’s Act 38/2005 clearly prioritizes a foster care placement over a child and youth carecentre of which a Children’s Home is a part (Section 46(1)(a) – Children’s Act 38/2005 –(http://www.acts.co.za). Given the steady decline in traditional family living due to amongstother factors HIV/AIDS, poverty and unemployment in South Africa, the dominant view offamily care being prioritized may not always be feasible. This paper provides researchedevidence of lived experiences in both alternative care placements to deepen understanding ofbest practice options for alternate care planning and management.The objectives of the research study were:• to explore children’s experiences of foster care and the Children’s Home placement.• to explore experiences and challenges of foster parents and caregivers in Children’s Homesin caring for vulnerable children
AN EVALUATION OF A COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAMME IN SOWETO
Get PDFThe developmental approach to social welfare in South Africa is intended to address poverty,oppression and inequality, and in the process make welfare just, equitable, participatory andappropriate to the needs of all South Africans. Within a broader framework of socialdevelopment, the aim is to build a self-reliant nation through an integrated social welfaresystem, in which the government – in partnership with civil society, namely non-governmentalorganisations and grassroots communities – maximises the potential for equitable, sustainable,accessible and people-centred developmental welfare programmes
THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC REALITIES OF THE SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
Get PDFWhen a tertiary institution such as the University of South Africa (Unisa) agrees to offertraining for a profession such as social work, it accepts the responsibility of educating studentsaccording to the minimum standards of the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree asregistered at the South African National Qualification Framework (NQF). These requirementsinclude a body of knowledge, required practical skills and the values and ethics of theprofession. Social work is a profession which focuses on people and their socio-economiccontext. It is regulated by its professional Council, the South African Council for Social ServiceProfessions (SACSSP), which expects the training institutions to deliver a certain quality ofprofessional who can work together with troubled and marginalised people, facilitate processeswith groups and communities in order to meet their basic needs, and improve their livelihoods,based on the principles of respect for people, social justice and equality. The training of socialworkers in South Africa is also largely determined by the South African context and thepolicies that guide the type of service delivery, e.g. the South African Constitution, Bill ofRights (Act 108 of 1996) and the developmental approach to welfare, i.e. the White Paper forSocial Welfare (RSA, 1997). According to Van Delft (2002), the White Paper for SocialWelfare (1997) and the Financing Policy (1999) changed the face of social welfare in SouthAfrica from a residual model to a developmental model. Within the South African context, thefocus of service delivery is aimed at the poor and unemployed, those with HIV/Aids, those thathave been affected by crime and violence, pregnant teenagers, malnutrition, low levels ofliteracy and education, abuse and neglect, poor housing and public health, women and children,people with disabilities and the aged
DESIGNING QUESTIONNAIRES FOR USE IN MULTICULTURAL CONTEXTS
Get PDFMeasurement is an integral part of the assessment process in social work. Whether or not this is done formally, social workers inevitably quantify the functioning of client systems during assessment: “This community lacks access to social resources; this family experiences high levels of conflict; this person has a severe drug addiction.” All of these statements, typical of social work assessments, involve measurement
CONCEPTUAL RESEARCH ON THE TERM FACILITATION: REDUCING AN ELEPHANT TO CHEWABLE CHUNKS
Get PDFThe term “facilitation” is often used in promoting social change and used by change agents to refer to many actions they perform to bring about learning, change and development. For instance, in training and education the terms used are “facilitators” and “learners” and in other contexts facilitation is more comprehensive than merely facilitating learning. It may include different types of change and development. Soal (2004:55) refers to the latter form of facilitation as “facilitation through the change threshold”. Often change agents refer to their actions as facilitation, but do not clearly describe themeaning of the concept, or they act in such a way that it cannot be regarded as facilitation but rather as instruction, induction or top-down methods. The need for this article arose because of this lack of clarity and the different meanings that are attached to the concept of facilitation and its theoretical base
CHILDREN’S HOMES AND FOSTER CARE: CHALLENGING DOMINANT DISCOURSES IN SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE
Get PDFThe dominant view in South Africa and internationally, supported by various legislative tools, is that vulnerable children are best cared for in foster homes as compared to Children’s Homes (Kiraly, 2001; Long, 2007; McKay, 2002; Morei, 2002). Legislation in South Africa pertaining to the care and protection of children is presently under review. The Children’s Bill consists of two sections: Section 75 and Section 76. Section 75 of the Bill was signed by President Mbeki in June 2006, and is called the Children’s Act 38/2005 and Section 76 of the Bill remains before parliament, being referred to as the Children’s Amendment Bill [B19-2006]. The Children’s Act 38/2005 is not operational as yet and social service providers are still using the Child Care Act 74/1983. It is envisioned that the Children’s Act 38/2005 will replace the Child Care Act 74/1983 in 2008 (Jacobs, Shung-King & Smith, 2005). Should alternative care be necessary for a vulnerable child, the Children’s Act 38/2005 prioritises a foster care placement over a child and youth care centre, of which a Children’s Home is a part (Section 46(1)(a)). Given the steady decline in traditional family living as a result of, amongst other factors, HIV/AIDS, poverty andunemployment in South Africa, the dominant view of family care being prioritised may not always be a feasible option. Of course, sound social work practice, where individual needs match placement, must always predominate in the decision on the placement of the child. The article critically reviews two alternative care options from an ecological and structural socialwork framework