Social Work / Maatskaplike Werk (E-Journal)
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A SITUATION ANALYSIS OF HOSPITALISED PHYSICALLY ABUSED PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN IN SOUTH AFRICA: CONTRIBUTING SOCIAL FACTORS
Get PDFThe experience of physical abuse is a traumatic event, which is so intense and frightening that it overwhelms the child’s ability to cope with his/her normal developmental tasks. The goal of the study was to expand social worker’s knowledge of the social circumstances of physically abused preschool children who are hospitalised, and to offer guidelines for professionals from a variety of disciplines to identify and assess physical abuse. To obtain the goals, the objectives were threefold: first to present demographic data on children with intentional physical injuries and their families; second, to describe the experiences of the perpetrators and circumstances under which the abuse took place; and third, to determine how social workers assess children who are suspected of having been physically abused. The study was conducted at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied. The diagnoses reported were drawn from a sample of preschool aged children presenting with intentional physical injuries at the hospital over a four month period, interviews with four perpetrators using set guidelines, and conducting a survey with four of the social workers employed at the hospital using a self-completion questionnaire. The findings offered demographic details of the abused children and confirmed that children under the age of six were the most vulnerable age group to be subjected to physical abuse. Head injuries and gunshot wounds were the most frequent occurring physical injuries in this sample, indicating gang activities, effects of poverty and substance misuse. Four case studies are presented following the interviews with the perpetrators/parents, which give a situation analysis of these social circumstances under which the abuse took place. The social circumstances under which the physical abuse took place, and criteria used for assessment can be used as a framework for professionals rendering services to childre
THE ATTITUDES OF OLDER SOUTH AFRICANS TOWARDS EUTHANASIA
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of older South African adults (65 years and older) towards euthanasia. The subjects of the study were people 65 years of age and older who resided in homes for the aged within the rural and urban areas of the Cape Town Metropolis. An equal number of subjects from the African, Coloured and European communities were randomly selected. A biographical questionnaire, the Euthanasia Attitude Scale and the Purpose In Life Test were administered. The influence of four variables – namely age, ethnicity, meaning in life and health – was investigated. A Pearson correlation coefficient analysis and a one-way ANOVA analysis were used. Age was the only variable found to have a significant correlation with euthanasia. The findings are discussed and certain recommendations are made
EMANCIPATORY CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN ACTION: DISCOURSE ETHICS AND DECONSTRUCTION (PART 1)
Get PDFThis paper elucidates the importance of emancipatory education to social work education and training, identifies the objectives and underlying epistemologies of a course on Human Behaviour and the Social Environment, and emphasises the importance of negotiating relationships for the creation of a participatory and emancipatory approach to education. It reflects the application of Habermas’s (1996) theory of communicative action and discourse ethics to complex issues including HIV/AIDS and the relationship between race, class and gender and the relationship of these to issues of power, privilege, status and access to resources in the South African context. The incorporation of creative, experiential and empowerment-based teaching/learning strategies are central to the development of critical consciousness in students, and for facilitating effective and meaningful citizen participation among students. The paper also highlights the potentially damaging, albeit unintended, consequences of such teaching strategie
RETIREMENT VILLAGES AND RELATED CARE SERVICES: PERCEPTIONS, PREFERENCES AND NEEDS OF ELDERLY CONSUMERS AND PROVIDERS IN CAPE TOWN
Get PDFThis article describes the findings of a study in the Cape Metropolitan Area and its fringe districts of the perceptions, preferences and needs of elderly persons and the views of housing providers for the elderly regarding retirement housing and related care services. Interviews were conducted with 228 sampled elderly persons in neighbourhoods with a high concentration of the elderly and in selected retirement villages in the study area. The views of experts on retirement housing and role players in the field of elderly care were elicited separately. The basic preferences of the elderly can be summarized as: renting residential units instead of buying them; no luxuries such as therapy services; safety considerations incorporated in the design of the interior of the units; being able to use their own furniture in the units; primary health care offered; availability of recreational facilities; good corporate management; and accessibility to essential general services (in terms of the location of the village). These findings are considered for consumers in different cultural and socio-economic groups and are also compared with the views of developers, housing providers and other role players. It is contended that - given the Government’s new policy on housing and care for the elderly - the findings may assist the providers of retirement housing and related care services to understand the diversity of needs of the South African mature retirement market and to provide facilities and services accordingly
DIE GEMEENSKAPSWERKDIENSTE VAN DIE PRIVATE WELSYNSEKTOR: ’N PROFIEL MET IMPLIKASIES
Get PDFThe practical implications of the significant changes in social and welfare policy that occurred from 1994 to 1999, are as yet unknown. This is mainly due to the lack of empirical research data on this issue. This deficiency was partly addressed in a study on the nature of the private welfare sector’s community work services in the North West Province during 2000.The aim of the study was to compile a profile of the Province’s community work services and to utilise this profile in the formulation of guidelines for improved future service delivery.In the study, both community work theory and the South African social and welfare policies were used in the development of a classification framework for community work services. This framework formed the basis of a questionnaire that was sent to all private welfare organisations in the Province. The collected data was analysed and, together with policy dictates, used for the development of guidelines.It was firstly found that there was a discernable move towards targeting policy designated client systems. However, the services did still not fully comply with policy requirements or South Africa’s considerable development needs. Certain deficiencies in the service delivery process were also identified. Therefore, guidelines for addressing both these imbalances and deficiencies were formulated. It was thirdly found that the new classification framework could be constructively used in both further research and in practice
PERSONAL AND INTERPERSONAL EFFECTS OF A LIFE SKILLS PROGRAMME ON GRADE 7 LEARNERS
Get PDFLife skills education covers the skills and competencies that an individual needs for sustaining and enriching life and also the kind of behaviour-based learning that the individual needs for coping with predictable developmental tasks (Adkins, 1984:53-54; Pickworth, 1989:105: Schmidt, Brown & Waycott, 1988:13). The central reason for including life skills education in the school curriculum is that an interventional, preventive and developmental approach to equipping schoolchildren (learners) with coping skills will help them to deal effectively with predictable developmental tasks and an ever-changing world (Department of Education, 1997
AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DETERMINANTS OF JOB SATISFACTION AND THE IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY OF WORK LIFE OF GRASSROOTS SOCIAL WORKERS
Get PDFIt is often simply assumed that social workers experience job satisfaction because it is assumed that people who choose this profession do so for altruistic reasons (King & Botha 1997:107). The consequence of the lack of job satisfaction among social workers is poor quality of work and this in turn has a negative impact on their physical health, mental health and social functioning (Vinokur-Kaplan, Jayarentne & Chess, 1994:95)
DIE ONTWIKKELING VAN ’N BEMARKINGSTRATEGIE VIR CENTURION GEMEENSKAPSDIENS
Get PDFCenturion Community Services (CCS), a social service agency situated in Lyttelton,Pretoria, was founded in February 1999. The geographical area where services were rendered over the past four years has been transformed from a once quiet rural scene to a densely populated urban area. The founding of CCS testifies to a pro-active step to address anticipated social problems associated with urbanisation.A qualitative study was launched with the aim to assess the community’s perception concerning CCS and whether this service is able to fulfil the needs and wants of the community with a view of development of guidelines for a consumer-based marketing strategy.A schedule covering the seven critical areas of decision-making in a marketing strategy had been developed and utilised as a data collection instrument to collect data from respondents, who have all been beneficiaries in one way or another of this service.It was found that a strategic planning process should be implemented in order to obtain clarity regarding the vision and mission of the organization; a marketing plan (which includes the strategic analysis, the SWOT analysis, marketing objectives and marketing strategy) should be applied extensively. A number of recommendations regarding critical decision making areas were also formulated
THE DANGER OF HIV INFECTION FOR GIRLFRIENDS AND WIVES
Get PDFAny social scientist hopes to make a contribution, albeit small, to the improvement of the lives of people in society. In the light of the fact that, to date, no cure for HIV has been discovered, prevention remains crucial and strategies to prevent the disease are urgently sought. Studies that help uncover the social dynamics that underlie HIV transmission are valuable to the social sciences – social work in particular.The aim of this study was to explore the underlying social dynamics that make women vulnerable to HIV infection. Issues such as the reasons for engaging in (unsafe) sex and the types of relationships that these women were involved in were also investigated
EMANCIPATORY CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN ACTION: CREATIVE TEACHING/LEARNING OPTIONS (PART 2)
Get PDFThis is the second part of a two-part series on “Emancipatory citizenship education in action”, with a focus on the use of creative teaching and learning options with a group of students taking a course on Human Behaviour and the Social Environment. The student-centred teaching/learning strategies described in this paper allow students to actively engage in discourses of difference of various types, to develop an understanding of, and respect for diversities, to develop self-awareness, and awareness of self in relation to the broader socio-political and cultural world. The premise is that the development of such awareness and reflexivity, serves as a precursor to the recognition of the need to work toward change in structural conditions that maintian people in disadvantaged, marginalised and excluded positions