Social Work / Maatskaplike Werk (E-Journal)
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DEVELOPMENT OF A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO ASSISTING FAMILIES WITH AN ALZHEIMER ' S SUFFERER
Get PDFAlzheimer's is an irreversible degenerative disease in which brain cells die and are not replaced . It re sults in progressive impairment of memory, declining cognitive abilities, emotional distress and eventually, death. From an eco-systemic perspective the patient in an illness such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the family rather than the sufferer alone. An intense period of suffering is experienced by all in the caring network as a sufferer progressively loses mental faculties,. emotional balance and motor abilities. This demands a more holistic response than simply medical management of the patient. Doctors, however, are often the first professionals to become aware of a patient's declining capacities, and possibly as much through reports by family members as from direct assessment of the patient. Within the evolution of a comprehensive response to AD, then, medical practitioners occupy a gatekeeper role. In tracking the evolution of support services for AD sufferers over a period of time in the Nelson Mandela Metropole, this article gives particular attention to a survey of general practitioners and physicians as well as psychiatrists and neurologists who explored, inter alia, their knowledge and use of support groups as part of treatment plans and their attitude to a holistic treatment approach
A STRUCTURAL SOCIAL JUSTICE APPROACH TO FAMILY POLICY: A CRITIQUE OF THE DRAFT SOUTH AFRICAN FAMILY POLICY
Get PDFSexist language aside, the following quotation aptly captures the power of the family:“The institution of the family stands in a peculiarly central, crucial position. It faces inward to the individual, outward toward society preparing each member to take his place in the wider social group by helping him to internalize its values and traditions as part of himself … It has enormous creative potential, including that of life itself, and it is not surprising that, when it becomes disordered, it possesses an equal potential for terrible destruction.” (Skinner cited in De Bruyn, 1992:21
A CRITICAL VIEW OF DIVERSION PROGRAMMES IN CONTEXT OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
Get PDFThis article describes the background and purpose of life-skills diversion programmes for young offender and then critically explores to what extent they currently endorse theprinciples of restorative justice to which the new South African child justice system aspires. Since the advent of the life-skills programmes for youths at risk, the child justice system has evolved into a comprehensive piece of legislation called the Child Justice Bill (Bill 49[2002]). Central to this Bill is the promotion of re toralive justice, which seeks to repair damage caused by crime by returning criminal cases to the main players: the victim, the offender and the community. Through a process of negotiation, these players agree on appropriate solutions which include (]) restitution, (2) reconciliation following an acknowledgement of the circumstances around the offence and its impact, and (3) an acceptance of responsibility by the offender leading to reintegration into the community. Diversion options from criminal justice procedures are the key to installing restorative justice for crimes committed by young offenders. To date the most popular form of diversion has been life-skills programmes for youths at risk, but it is not evident to what extent this meets the criteria inherent in the philosophy of restorative justice
MONITORING AND EVALUATION FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: A CASE FOR SOCIAL WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA
Get PDFIt is now ten years since the transition from autocracy to democracy unfolded and seven years since the development welfare paradigm was formally adopted as South Africa's welfare policy. During this period momentous changes have transpired in the sector. Critical among these are the repealing of archaic racist and exclusive legislation or policies; shifting of programmatic foci to more inclusiveness and issue-based targets, e.g. poverty reduction; the transformation of the former Council of Social Work; refocusing of social work education and training to reflect the changed social order; and changing the financing regimes of the sector. Despite these positive endeavours, it is still difficult to ascertain systematically the efficacy of programmatic interventions, especially the way in which they have impacted positively upon the lives of vulnerable groups. The present discussion proposes that monitoring and evaluation (M&E) need further implementation and articulation in social development so as to address the aforementioned shortfall in this arena
PERSPECTIVES ON THE COMMUNITY EDUCATION MODEL OF SOCIAL WORK: IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
Get PDFThe purpose of this paper is to construct perspectives on community education as a model of community work by unpacking the knowledge of community education that exists in social work, and packaging it in the context of social work's response to contemporary risk issues, in order to identify implications for social work education and practice. This is done by motivating the addressing of risk issues by means of community education, exploring the roots of the community education model, examining the relationship between community development and community work, analysing the theoretical foundation of the community education model, and by conceptualising an ideal type of community education. Core concepts of community education arising from these contexts are also elucidated
SOCIAL WORK MEETS THE SILVER SCREEN
Get PDFThe author describes a study involving filmmaking and the film industry. Although departing from typkal social work subject matter, the project draws on social work values and usesrelated social cience methods and theoretical concepts. Film is a force that influences the basic attitudes and behaviour of millions of people around the world. The medium has thepotential to disseminate social work values and aims widely if appropriately addressed
PROTECTING CHILDREN WHERE IT MATIERS MOST: IN THEIR FAMILIES AND THEIR NEIGHBOURHOODS
Get PDFGlobally, there has been a growing tendency to make civil society the primary participant and beneficiary of community-based intervention. In South Africa, since the publication ofthe White Paper for Social Welfare (1997), with its emphasis on developmental social welfare services, many social welfare agencies have been recognising the benefits of working in partnership with local communities. In the field of child protection, it has long been recognised and accepted that formal child and family welfare services will never be able to respond adequately to the increasing number and diverse range of child protection issues and challenges presenting in communities on a daily basis. The Child and Youth Research and Training Programme (CYRTP) (previously the Institute for Child and Family Development) at the University of the Westem Cape has introduced a neighbourhood-based child protection approach in a number of neighbourhoods around the country. This approach is aimed at building stronger families and communities to safeguard children. Important lessons are emerging from the implementing neighbourhoods. The aim of this article is to report on these experiences and to share some of the lessons learnt
FUNDING STRATEGIES: SURVIVING IMPERIAL INTENTIONS, PROTEAN POLICIES AND RUTHLESS REALITY
Get PDFWilliam Bolitho [Twelve Against the Gods, ‘Lola Montez’] enchantingly stated that “You need more tact in the dangerous act of giving...than in any other social action.” The act of giving funds in the welfare world is hazardous and sadly, many of our welfare mandarins eschew tact – some even think ‘tact’ is an acronym for some technical applicatio
POST-ADOPTION REUNION: A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE
Get PDFThis article explores the adoptee 's desire for and experience of reunion with the birth mother, from within a psychoanalytic framework and within the South African contat. The study was conducted from within a non-probability framework and is an empirical, ethnographic study with a predominantly qualitative, inductive approach, which is exploratory and descriptive in nature. The quantitative research provides width to the in-depth, qualitative data and takes the form of a content analysis of the adoption register of a Cape Town-based adoption agency. The quantitative aspect of the study employed an in-depth, face-to-face, unstructured interviewing technique, followed by an interview schedule. The qualitative sampl is comprised of 8 adult adoptees, who experienced face-to-face reunion with the birth mother, while the quantitative sample is comprised of 207 contacts in the post-adoption register of Cape Town Child Welfare between 1989 and 1995. The conclusion drawn from the study is that the adoptee's desire for reunion is a health-promoting process, which is motivated by both external, social factors as well as intrapsychic forces. The process of reunion enables the adoptee t o estab!ish a new sense of stelf, and assists in placing the adoptee within an historical and biological narrative. The adoptee, whilst seeking to reclaim the 'lost object', does so as a means of reclaiming and completing the self, the development of which was disturbed as a result of premature interruption of the primary infant-mother bond. The value of reunion does not lie in the "success" or outcome of the reunion, but in the process or personal "journey" of the adoptee
POVERTY ALLEVIATION: THE NEED FOR A KNOWLEGEABLE, ACTIVE AND EMPOWERED CIVIL SOCIETY
Get PDFMany poverty alleviation programmes have been established in South Africa in an effort to overcome poverty and inequality. This paper explores reasons as to why the problem has worsened, despite all these efforts. An overview of the literature suggests that most of these programmes are project based, with a focus on financial gain and the development of technical skills. The success of these projects has been limited. The author argues that the focus on these "hard" issues is insufficient in dealing with poverty, given the history and context in which it is occurring in South Africa. The neo-liberal macro-economic policy undermines the success of projects. It could in fact sustain poverty and the status quo. It is argued that poverty cannot be overcome without a knowledgeable, active and empowered civil society. People's capacity needs to be developed to challenge the economic, political and social organisation of society. It is recommended that interventions be more holistic and skills for social empowerment be strengthened. Conscientisation, organising for collective action and skills for transformingpolicy frameworks are considered important. A list of components vital for social empowerment is presented. Recommendations are made that research be undertaken to explore ways in which these components could be operationalised as key performance indicators in the evaluation of programmes