Social Work / Maatskaplike Werk (E-Journal)
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THE POWER OF BIOGRAPHY: SHIFTING THE BOUNDARIES OF KNOWLEDGE THROUGH EMANCIPATORY PEDAGOGY AND CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Get PDFIn this paper1 I describe the application of the experiential and emancipatory strategies of Gramsci (1971, 1977, 1988), Freire (1970, 1972, 1973) and Giroux (1983, 1994, 1997) in an attempt to shift the boundaries of knowledge and to develop critical consciousness among students using the author’s work with international students as an example. Sewpaul (2004a; 2004b) described creative teaching/learning strategies and the use of discourse ethics in the development of citizenship education with local students. The main argument in this paper is that critical reflection on one’s social and political realities and the capacity to develop action strategies consequent upon these reflections constitute central elements in shifting the boundaries of knowledge. Both local and international student populations need to be viewed as “client” groups insofar as we recognise that they enter the classroom and the field-training context with varying degrees of disadvantage. One of these disadvantages is the control of consciousness by means of state machinery and ideology (Gramsci, 1977) in an attempt to maintain capitalist and ruling-class hegemony, which is a feature of both Western and non-Western societies
EXPERIENCES OF SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIAL WORKERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Get PDFThis article forms the third phase of a research study conducted to explore the exodus of social workers from South Africa to the United Kingdom (UK). Already reported in a previous article (Naidoo & Kasiram, 2003) are phases one and two of the study wherein the views of two sample groups were explored on relocation in South Africa. This third phase explored the needs, problems and benefits experienced by social workers working in the UK. Social workers abroad were asked about the following questions: · What made social work practice in South Africa problematic? · Was their South African education and training relevant? · What were the benefits of working in the UK? · What were the challenges to working in the UK? · What suggestions did they have for the survival of social work in South Africa?
EVALUERING VAN DIE BENUTTING VAN GEMEENSKAPSDIENSTE DEUR BEJAARDES IN ’N SEMI-STEDELIKE GEBIED
Get PDF’n Behoefte het by die bestuur van die Potchefstroom Dienssentrum vir Bejaardes ontstaan om die bestaande gemeenskapsdienste vir bejaardes te evalueer ten einde te kan vasstel waarom bejaardes by ’n dienssentrum aansluit en van sekere dienste gebruik maak; waarom ander nie wil aansluit nie en watter dienste hulle as belangrik sou beskou indien hulle wel daarvan gebruik sou maak. Die probleem sal eerstens omlyn word, waarna die doelstelling en doelwitte vir die ondersoek bespreek sal word. Die teoretiese begronding vir die ondersoek en die navorsingsmetodologie sal bespreek word, waarna die bevindinge van die empiriese ondersoek weergegee sal word. Gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings rond die artikel af
THE SHAKY HIGH MORAL GROUND OF POSTMODERNIST “ETHICS”
Get PDFHölscher’s (2005) question, “Does postmodernism have a moral, ethical and values base?” appears as something of a paradox. But, as she rightly recognises, she is not the first to ask the question. In posing this question, Hölscher is merely following a long line of scholars, including Bauman, whose Postmodern Ethics (1993) form the theoretical backdrop to her discussion, and Foucault, whose ideas have been more influential than Bauman’s on social work thinking (Chambon, Irving& Epstein, 1999; Hugman, 2003, 2005). In the social sciences Bauman (1995), Benhabib (1992), Foucault (2000) and Young (1990) have grappled with the implications of postmodernism for ethics and morality. In social work Atherton and Bollard (2003), Gray (1995), Hugman (2003, 2005), Parton (1994) and Walker (2001), among others, have critically examined the ethical implications of the so-called “postmodern turn” in social work. In this paper the authors draw on the work of Berman (2000) in trying to unravel the high moral ground of postmodernism; engage in a re-evaluation of the impact of key figures in modern Western philosophy such as Wittgenstein and, especially, Habermas; and consider the implications of their work for social work
THE USE OF THE PERSONAL NARRATIVE IN SOCIAL WORK WITH THE ELDERLY
Get PDFReminiscence and life review have always been regarded as integral parts of the aging process. In the past, however, a stereotypical view of the aged often prevailed. According to Kaminsky (1978:19), this view entails that “…we view them as categories and not as individuals, when the meaning of their characteristic behavior is already fixed in our minds, without our having given them the kind of finely tuned hearing which is vital to understand another human being.” Stereotyping the elderly means that reminiscence and life review are dismissed derogatively as intellectual decline; living in the past; approaching dementia or second childhood; or as symptoms of loneliness; lack of new experiences or clinging to a previous identity (Lewis & Butler, 1974; Kaminsky, 1978). Social workers and other professionals working with the elderly have therefore frequently dismissed these phenomena as meaningless, boring, time consuming and indicative of an irreversible condition
PROACTIVE STRESS MANAGEMENT: THE NATURE, EFFECT AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE’S “MANAGING STRESS EFFECTIVELY” PROGRAMME
Get PDFThe need for a stress-management programme can generally be attributed to the fact that police work is often extremely stressful and that police officials tend to suffer from a variety of stressinduced physiological, psychological and behavioural disorders. McCraty, Atkinson and Tompson (1999:1-3) argue that particular attention should be given to occupational stress in policing as its potentially negative consequences affect society in more direct and critical ways than for most other organisations. It was, therefore, crucial that a stress-management programme should be developed for the South African Police Service (SAPS)
CHALLENGES EXPERIENCED BY GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY
Get PDFFamily structures and roles have evolved over time. In South Africa the extended families that characterised the black social structure in the past have been affected by modernisation and urbanisation (Ingstad, Bruun, Sandburg & Tlou, 1992:379; Department of Welfare and Population Development, 1997:58). The typical family, where the older persons were part of the extended family, was replaced with a new kind of family. Modernisation, which led to the migrant labour system, meant that younger men left their parents, wives and children in the rural areas to look for jobs in the mines and factories in towns and cities. Furthermore, people started to rely less on subsistence farming, and young women also joined men in seeking jobs in the cities and on commercial farms. This led to a situation where grandparents and younger children remained in the rural areas, while younger members of the communities sold their labour where job opportunities existed. However, factors such as unemployment and low wages have also resulted in young parents shirking their responsibilities of providing financial care for their children, so that many grandparents have been forced to take over not only the physical care of their grandchildren, but are also expected to provide for all the other needs of the grandchildren. This full-time responsibility for their grandchildren has proven to be strenuous to the elderly care-givers
THE PERCEPTION OF THE PROFESSIONAL SELF OF SOCIAL WORKERS IN PRIVATE PRACTICE
Get PDFEarl Babbie (1992:251) states that “…who we think we are – our self concept – and how we behave is largely a function of how others see and treat us”. He goes on to say that “…the way others perceive us is largely conditioned by expectations they may have in advance”. This exploratory research focuses on social workers in private practice – how they view their professional selves, the factors that contribute to the development of their professional selves and the factors that hinder or facilitate this development
PLUMBING THE BRAIN DRAIN OF SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIAL WORKERS MIGRATING TO THE UK: CHALLENGES FOR SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS
Get PDFThis article reports research that was undertaken to uncover generalisations pertaining to the migration of South African social workers to the United Kingdom (UK). The intention was to identify challenges for the future contribution of social service providers in South African if local social workers are to be retained in the country. In the South African social work milieu it is recognised formally and informally that a significant number of social workers migrated to the UK during the first decade after democracy. This can be classified as a distinct brain drain of social workers, which has a vital impact on social service delivery and social development (Business Day, 2005; Cape Times, 2004; Louw, 2003:xv-xvi; Herald, 2005). However, verifiable data on the brain drain phenomenon in social work are not available (Business Day, 2005). With reference toSaravia and Miranda’s (2004) use of the metaphor, a plumbing of the South African social workers’ brain drain to the UK is thus needed. This plumbing is effected by describing the research design and methodology, sketching the background for the survey, reporting the survey results, and identifying challenges for social service providers
EXPLORING UNPLANNED PREGNANCY AMONGST UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
Get PDFUnplanned pregnancy poses a multiplicity of problems for students and academic institutions. Using an ecosystemic framework one can uncover the range of costs incurred when a student’s academic life is disrupted as a result of an unplanned pregnancy. The academic programme is derailed with serious financial costs incurred by the institution, the family and the individual. Through-put targets of the institution may be affected, leaving a trail of deficits that are difficult tomanage, together with a bruised public image that impacts negatively on student intake. At a psycho-social level the individual and family lose standing in the community because of the shame of an unplanned pregnancy and an illegitimate child, or trauma upon learning of a positive HIV diagnosis accompanying pregnancy. These concerns provided the motivation for this study, which was to identify factors that contributed to unplanned pregnancy to reduce its impact and inform proactive planning. No such study had been conducted on the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Westville campus previously. The research was conducted on the Westville Campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal under the auspices of the Department of Student Counselling from August 2003 to December 2003 to investigate why an increasing number of students were presenting with unplanned pregnancies