Social Work / Maatskaplike Werk (E-Journal)
Not a member yet
916 research outputs found
Sort by
IMPACT OF SOCIAL SERVICES ON HUMAN, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND THE PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Get PDFHistorically, the annual South African social welfare budget has focused mainly on social security and hence included a very small percentage of funds for social welfare services. For the 2003/04 book year 91,7% was budgeted for social care, including social security, as opposed to 4,4% for the financing of welfare services (De Vries, 2004). in the 2004/05 budget provision is made for 91,6% for social care as compared to only 4,6% for welfare services, which is shared by the welfare sector in government and NGOs (De Vries, 2004)
CARING FOR AIDS ORPHANS: THE EXPERIENCES OF ELDERLY GRANDMOTHER CAREGIVERS AND AIDS ORPHANS
Get PDFBarnett and Blaikie (1992:2) postulate that the advent of the HIV/AIDS phenomenon seems to have caught countries unaware, and there has been virtually no plan to curb and/or prevent this pandemic. The cost involved in the treatment of HIV/AIDS-related diseases, as well as all the research undertaken in an effort to find a cure for the disease, is also taking its toll on the economies of countries, more so in some cases than in others (Barnett & Blaikie, 1992:2-7).Amidst all these economic problems there are also the soci al problems which, if not created by the coming of HIV/AIDS, at least are exacerbated by its presence (Barnett & Blaikie, 1992:2-7). Orphanhood is one such problem that needs careful handling, as it impacts on the youth who are the future generation of every nation
THE STRESS OF CARING: THE MANIFESTATION OF STRESS IN THE NURSE-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP
Get PDFFollowing global trends in health reforms, South Africa has followed a primary health care approach since the eighties (Petersen & Swartz, 2002; Van der Walt, 1998). The implementation of this approach at first was regarded as selective and piecemeal (Van der Walt, 1998), but with the emergence of a democratically elected government in 1994 a series of health reforms focused on equalising the coverage of service (Van Wyk, 2005). The South African health system can thus best be described as one that has been characterised by time-consuming restructuring processes aimed at the implementation of a comprehensive primary health care service. Within this system all health-care professionals have been exposed to stressful working conditions. However, mental health professionals (psychologists and social workers) agree that the impact of these conditions on nurses is specifically important as they form “…the largest cadre of frontline health providers in South Africa” (Van der Walt & Swartz, 2002:1002)
MAMPHELE RAMPHELE AND XHOSA CULTURE: SOME INSIGHTS ON CULTURE, SELF-DETERMINATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOR SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIAL WORK
Get PDFThe authors continue the debate about indigenous social work following on from previous work where they identified the importance of culture in the indigenisation process (Gray & Allegri/ti, 2002, 2003; Gray, 2003). They suggested that ii was important to articulate African culture and the way in which it differed from Western culture. To this end, this paper draws on the work of Ramphele {2002), which examines traditional Xhosa practices such as imbeleko and the power of the ancestors in African culture. Ways in which African men establish their identity and masculinity are explored and the implications of these cultural practices for social work are discussed. Using the example of self-determination, which in social work is said to be a universal value, the authors highlight the difference between a local cultural practice which stresses ancestral power and self-determination in social work which values individual autonomy. They point to the importance of universal human rights as a safeguard against unjust traditional ways and suggest that, since South Africa is a signato,y to international human rights charters, African writers need to debate thejustnes of their traditional practices in an increasingly globalising world, especially those which impact on women in an unjust way
DIE BEHOEFTES VAN ADOLESSENTE EN RIGLYNE VIR 'N MIV-/VIGS-HULPVERLENINGSPROGRAM TER VOORBEREIDING OP OUERS SE AFSTERWE
Get PDFResearch was undertaken to determine the needs of adolescents and their experience of the death of their parents due to AIDS. AIDS is a still growing pandemic that is eliminatingthousands of lives in South Africa, whilst influencing the lives of relatives in a dramatic manner. Adolescents, in this particular unique stage of life, suffer most from the consequences of this disease. It is of special significance to adolescents when one or both of their parents die due lo AIDS-related causes. Adolescents have unique physical and emo1ional needs and when a parent or parents die, a vacuum is created in the fulfillment of their needs. In this study, some guidelines for an intervention programme, for adolescents who lost a parent or both parents due to AIDS, are suggested in order to empower adolescents to cope with the situation and to deal with the losses that they have to deal wilh. Community-based care and /he buddy system are but two current social work programmes that can partly be incorporated into this specific programme
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY IN SOUTH AFRICA: COUNSELLORS' EXPERIECES FOLLOWING A TRAINING PROGRAMME
Get PDFMany South African communities experience high level of violence and other phenomena that potentially provoke symptoms of traumatic stress among residents. Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has been demonstrated to be an effective psychological intervention to ameliorate symptom of trauma, but is seldom practised in South African community mental health settings. In order to determine the barriers to implementing CBT. 12 credentialed community counsellors participated in a two-day training workshop focused on CBT. Counsellor were asked to implement CBT with their clients who presented with ymptom of PTSD. The counsellors were then asked to complete a questionnaire six-months after the training workshop in order to identify the barriers they experienced in implementing the treatment model. The chief barriers that counsellors identified included high workload and limited time, unsuitable clients, client drop out, and an inappropriate match between the counsellor's theoretical paradigm and the CBT model. These result are considered in the context of community mental health care in post-apartheid South Africa
A POSTMODERN CRITIQUE OF THE SACSSP'S DRAFT CODE OF ETHICS
Get PDFIn the course of the past few years, social work academics have begun increasingly to explore the relevance of postmernism for social work in South Africa, thus beginning to reconsider fundamentally some of its constituting components, including its moral, ethical and values base (Sevenhuijsen, 2003: Sewpaul & Hölscher, 2004; Williams & Sewpaul, 2004). With regard to the latter, it appears that al least since Abraham Flexner's now famous 1915 assertions regardig the professional standing of social work, the profession has been at great pain to make its moral, ethical and value base, and thus its role and function in relation to broader society, explicit. Flexner, in his paper entitled "Is Social Work a Profession?" presented at the 1915 National Conference of Charities and Corrections, defined the professions as those occupations that "...engage in intellectual operations involving individual responsibility, derive their material from science and learning, work this material up to a practical end, and apply it using techniques that are educationally communicable, are self-organised, and are motivated by altruism" (Popple, 1985:561, author's emphasis) and found that social work at the time did not qualify as a profession
TOWARDS SOCIAL WORK INTERVENTION IN RURAL SCHOOLS : PERSPECTIVES OF EDUCATORS
Get PDFThe education reform process in South Africa is faced with the task of improving the quality of schooling by restoring a culture of teaching and learning in die classroom. Establishing healthy learning environments requires an exploration of factors impacting on the learning process. The Education White Paper 6 (Department of Education 2001a) lists the following as areas of concern: problems in the provision and organisation of education, socio-economics barriers, factors such as violence and crime which place learners at risk, substance abuse, attitudes, problems with language and communication, lack of human resource development, and lack of parental recognition and involvement. Sayed (202) views schools as the key institutions through which people could potentially experience themselves as social outcasts, recipients of skills or learning, or as agents of change. It is for such reasons that schools are crucial in human lives
A SOLUTION-BUILDING METAPHORICAL CONCEPT FOR DIRECT SOCIAL WORK WITH CHILDREN: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY
Get PDFAs a practicing social worker the researcher was interested in a specific metaphorical conceptthat was used in a private practice context during direct social work intervention with children.The metaphbrlcal concept was subjected to methodological analysis to determine and describeits applicability with the aim of adding to the body of knowledge regarding the use ofmetaphors in direct work with children from a solution-focused perspective. The underlyingmetatheory was social constructionism with specific reference to solution-focused andstrengths-based social work practice.It was found that the particular metaphorical concept had specific functions that could belinked to solution-building questions and play actions. Adaptations to the basic metaphor wereobserved when it was used as part of sensory play, biblioplay and to enhance posttraumaticplay
POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS SYMPTOMS IN EMERGENCY SERVICE AMBULANCE PERSONNEL
Get PDFA diversity of research has demonstrated that, although all people will present with a reaction after a traumatic incident, only a minority will develop posttraumatic stress disorder PTSD (Allan, La Grange, Niehaus, Scheurkogel & Stein, 1998). A complex interaction of multiple pre- and post-trauma factors determines the response. Numerous studies have attempted to assess variables that make an individual more susceptible to developing PTSD. A number of factors were investigated including genetic (Eisen, Goldberg, Heath, Lyons, Nowak & Rise, 1993), family history (Breslau, Davis, Andreski & Peterson, 1991), individual personality (Schurr, Friedman & Rosenberg, 1993), past history of trauma (Zaidi & Foy, 1994) and life events (McFarlane, 1989). A number of studies have identified posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as an important issue in various South African groups (Kaminer, Seedat, Lockhat & Stein 2000; Marais, De Villiers, Möller & Stein, 1999)