Social Work / Maatskaplike Werk (E-Journal)
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’N STERKTEPERSPEKTIEF OP BEMAGTIGENDE MAATSKAPLIKE GROEPWERK MET ALKOHOLAFHANKLIKE BEJAARDES
Get PDFIn hierdie artikel word daar by die kenmerke van die sterkteperspektief asook die houdings en persepsies van maatskaplike werkers teenoor dié perspektief stilgestaan. In die teks word die agtergrond van die sterkteperspektief, die sterktes van alkoholafhanklike bejaardes, die rol van dié perspektief in geregistreerde behandelingsentra in Suid-Afrika asook die voor- en nadele van dié perspektief onder meer toegelig. Die doelwitte van hierdie artikel is (a) om deur middel van literatuurstudie en empiriese ondersoek die uitdagings, sterktes en behoeftes van alkoholafhanklike bejaardes te identifiseer waarop ’n maatskaplike groepwerk-bemagtigingsprogram gebaseer kan word, en (b) vas te stel oor watter kwaliteite die sterkteperspektief beskik ten einde die alkoholafhanklike bejaarde met maatskaplike groepwerkdienste te bemagtig
SOCIAL CAPITAL, SUPPORT NETWORKS AND BLACK ELDERLY PERSONS
Get PDFThe Department of Social Services and Poverty Alleviation in the Western Cape sees itself as the lead Department for social capital formation. (Department of Social Services and Poverty Alleviation, 2005:5). The said Department accepts the following definition of social capital: “Social capital refers to the strengthening and establishment or networks, relationships, normsand values that contribute to the building of social cohesion, racial integration and the strengthening of a social safety net during times of crisis (economic, natural and other). It is not an end in itself, but a means to an end” (Department of Social Services and Poverty Alleviation, 2005:23). Putnam (2000:19) makes the following statement: “social capital refers to connections among individuals – social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arises from them. In that sense social capital is closely related to what some have called ‘civic virtue’. The difference is that ‘social capital’ calls attention to the fact that civic virtue is most powerful when embedded in a dense network of reciprocal social relations. A society of many virtuous but isolated individuals is not necessarily rich in social capital.” Social capital is thus of pivotal importance in the provincial and national agenda of fostering social cohesion and social inclusiveness
LESSONS FROM RWANDA
Get PDFBefore a recent visit to Rwanda, all that the country held for me, as with most people, was the spectre of genocide, war, poverty and starving children. My brief visit to the city of Kigali challenged my widely held assumptions about the country. Kigali was the epicentre of the genocide in Rwanda, where about one million people experienced murderous tyranny, within a space of 100 days, that wreaked havoc upon the country and left millions of people with untold losses and emotional scars. Rwanda is, indeed, an amazing example of a country rising from the ashes. My first encounter was on the Air Rwanda flight, where the in-flight magazine warns those entering the country to leave their plastic bags behind; no person would be allowed to pass through immigration and customs with plastic bags and wrappings. A plastic-bag-free country is one of Rwanda’s contributions to environmental conservation and saving the earth. And of course in stores, its paper bags all the way
DIE HOUDINGS EN KENNIS VAN DIE PLAASWERKER-GEMEENSKAP TEN OPSIGTE VAN MIV/VIGS
Get PDFOngeveer 6 miljoen Suid-Afrikaners, van wie 26% volwassenes is, sal binne die volgende ses jaar MIV-positief wees, teenoor 0,1% in 1990 (Department of Health, 2004; Pelser, 2004:14; UNAIDS, 2004). Die tendens is dat MIV/VIGS veral in landelike gebiede toeneem (Department of Economic Development and Tourism, 2004:57). Volgens Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (2003) is die verspreiding van MIV in sekere gebiede soos volg: 21,3% in stedelike informele nedersettings, 12,1% in formele nedersettings, 58,7% in stamgebiede en 7,9% in plaasgebiede (Pelser, 2004:14). Luidens ’n verslag van die Verenigde Nasies se voedsel- en landbou-organisasie (VLO) is sowat 7 miljoen plaaswerkers in Afrika sedert 1985 aan VIGS-verwante siektes oorlede (Louw, 2004:14; USAID, 2002). Projeksies toon aan dat Suid-Afrika teen 2020 20% van sy plaaswerkers aan VIGS-verwante siektes sal verloor (Department of Economic Development and Tourism, 2004:57). MIV is dus vir boere een van die grootste bedreigings (Pelser, 2004:5)
SEPARATING SOCIAL WELFARE SERVICES AND SOCIAL WELFARE GRANTS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Get PDFAs a consequence of the fundamental reconstruction and development processes, including a large-scale macroeconomic stabilisation strategy, South Africa’s economic growth has consistently averaged 3% over the last decade. It is expected that the government’s new Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) will increase the economic growth rate from its current level to 4.5% by 2010 and 6% by 2014 (Yemek, 2006). Yet with the majority of its citizens living in poverty (with less than $1 per day), South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies in the world (Statistics South Africa, 2004). Although there has been some improvement over the last decade, the stubborn legacy of apartheid persists and can be seen in the concentration of poverty and underdevelopment in black communities. Twenty four million of South Africa’s population of 45 million are black females who live below the poverty datum line (Statistics South Africa, 2004). Using theexpanded definition of unemployment, Statistics South Africa (2004) estimated that 41% of the economically active population was unemployed in 2004. There is, therefore, growing concern that the strategies employed thus far to raise the unacceptably low standards of living of South Africa’s vulnerable populations, who continue to lack access to basic services and employment opportunities, are lagging far behind what is needed
LAY FORUMS IN CHILD WELFARE
Get PDFDealing with child abuse presents many challenges to both policy makers and service providers internationally. Societies have responded differently to this issue (Gough, 1996). In Western countries two broad streams have emerged: one adversarial, the other consensual. The “child protection” approach, common in countries such as the UK, USA, Canada and Australia, has been criticised as being punitive and adversarial, typically marginalising the voice and experience of service users (Merkel-Holguin, 2004; Waldegrave, 2006; Waldfogel, 1998). A more collaborative approach to child welfare is captured in the “family services” and “community care” models, respectively typical of Europe and of aboriginal communities in “developed” countries. It should be noted that the limited literature on child welfare systems operating in “developing” countries implies that services mostly conform to a “child protection” approach as they tend to be residual, deficit based and treatment oriented, and are heavily skewed towards residential care options (Pilotti, 1999; Stockholm University, 2003; Xiaoyuan & Xioaming, 2003). Indigenous helping approaches co-existing with these systems have typically been overlooked. The “community care” model hence constitutes the only child welfare model that formally articulates indigenous approaches
POWER, DISCOURSE AND IDEOLOGY: CHALLENGING ESSEN-TIALIST NOTIONS OF RACE AND IDENTITY IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING IN SOUTH AFRICA
Get PDFProfessor Malegapuru Makgoba and Professor Sipho Seepe, while serving as the acting Vice-Chancellors of the then University of Natal (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal) and of Vista University, respectively, were authorised by the Minister of Education at the time, Kader Asmal, to produce a document that charted the way forward for transformation in higher education. This responsibility, assigned to Kader Asmal by the State President, Thabo Mbeki, was delegated to Makgoba and Seepe within the framework of regular interactions with the State President (Seepe, 2004). Thus it would appear that the attempt toward drawing up the agenda for educational transformation took place within a broader political project. The resultant paper appeared as a key chapter “Knowledge and Identity: An African Vision of Higher Education Transformation” (Makgoba & Seepe, 2004) in the book Towards an African Identity in Institutions of Higher Learning edited by Seepe (2004). My paper, which had its genesis in an invitation to present a paper at the launch of the book, is based on a critique of Makgoba’s and Seepe’s essentialist notion of an African identity and their call to replace the Eurocentric with the Afrocentri
THE EIGHT HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY SOCIAL WORKERS: A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE
Get PDFMuch has changed in the 10 years since the publication of the White Paper for Social Welfare in February 1997. The boundaries of knowledge and expertise on the delivery of developmental social work services have been expanded and the general field of social development has been subjected to intense analysis and continual reconceptualisation. Perhaps the time has come for the social work fraternity to start asking what has been learnt in the past decade. It is especially pertinent to know which factors determine success and failure in developmental social work in general and community work in particular and what makes some community social workers so effective while others fail. The latter half of this question prompted a research project in which Stephen R. Covey’s (1989) basic approach in determining “The 7 habits of highly effective people” was used to ascertain the equivalent habits of highly effective community social workers. The procedure that was followed and the results that were achieved will be covered in this articl
AN ADAPTED INTERVENTION RESEARCH MODEL: SUGGESTIONS FOR RESEARCH AND PRACTICE
Get PDFThe various existing models of intervention research all have advantages and disadvantages. Postgraduate students, and especially doctoral students in Social Work, have on many occasions expressed their dilemma in choosing a specific model of research for intervention procedures. Therefore, many have used the intervention research model or the developmental research and utilisation model, while others have adapted these models to suit their specific research endeavours. After making a careful study of these two models, an adapted intervention research model will be suggested for use in studies of a combined research and practice nature
THE SOCIO-EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES OF OLDER PERSONS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS
Get PDFOlder persons constitute the fastest growing segment of the population in many nations around the world. The estimation is that by the year 2050 one in every five persons will be 60 years or older (Keigher, Fortune & Witkin, 2000:xiii). According to Branch, Horowitz and Carr (1989:359) visual impairment is the second most prevalent physical impairment among older persons