Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / This thesis explores the personal, social and environmental factors of caregivers from the Groblershoop community to determine whether these factors influence the caregiver’s ability to provide care to children from birth to six years. Using the Human Capabilities Approach and the Ethics of Care Perspective, this study seeks to examine the resources that are available for caring in Groblershoop. It also explores how the factors above (personal, social and environmental) play a role in how the resources are used by caregivers to increase the well-being of children under six years. The Human Capabilities Perspective purports that caregiving resources are not an end in itself. The resources are only as valuable as they are able to improve the functioning of the caregivers to provide care and assist in ensuring the well-being of the care receivers, namely the children. The Ethics of Care Perspective is used to examine the consequences of inadequate care by the State, community and caregivers themselves.This study was conducted among caregivers from the community of Groblershoop, which is 150km from the main town of Upington in the Northern Cape Province. The town is rural in nature and unemployment, poverty and social ills such as substance abuse and teenage pregnancies are rife. Work is largely seasonal in nature and is found mainly on the surrounding grape and cattle farms. This study is qualitative in nature and used a purposive sampling method. Ten caregivers were selected using the criteria that they must reside in the community of Groblershoop and must be the primary caregiver to children from birth to six years of age, to participate in the semi-structured interviews. Seven other caregivers were also selected using the same criteria above to participate in a focus group interview using participatory action learning techniques. Participant Observation was conducted in the homes of three caregivers that participated in the individual interviews. Additionally, seven individual interviews were conducted with service providers that provide services to the community of Groblershoop.The main findings of the study reflect that the personal, social and environmental factors do influence the caregiver’s ability to provide care to children from birth to six years among a small group of caregivers from the Groblershoop community. The personal factors explored in the study included the age, gender, health status, substance usage, educational level and income of the caregiver. Ill health was found to be a key factor which posed a challenge to caregivers in terms of being able to provide care to children. The World Health Organisation’s five key elements of care was used to provide a framework for assessing adequate caregiving. These factors were sustenance, stimulation, support, structure and surveillance. Factors such as educational levels were closely linked to income levels. The higher the educational level the better the income for the caregiver. The Child Support Grant was a major source of income for the majority of caregivers. Low levels of income also meant that the caregivers were unable to provide adequate nutrition to children.The social factors focused on in this study was public policies which make provision for care resources, parenting practice, support systems, and the gender practices of caregivers. The consequences of inadequate care were examined through focusing on the children and the associated developmental delays experienced by them. The study found that while good public policies exists not enough resources were available to enable these policies to increase the well-being of people at community level. The lack of resources available for caring in the Groblershoop community impacted on parenting practices of caregivers. Caregivers in this study, due to the lack of resources as well as other factors such as limited knowledge of child care, resulted in care being considered inadequate using the World Health Organisation’s five elements of care. Gender practices among the caregivers are based on the stereotypical gender roles which sanction the ideology of patriarchy. Women are the primary caregivers and the biological fathers were absent from the caring process. The environmental factors that were explored in this study were the climate, the physical home environment and the neighbourhood condition. Due to the excessive summer heat and the harsh cold of winter, physical activity and movement in the community is severely hampered. During summer, families sleep outside as the housing structures are built in a way that retains the heat and is freezing in the winter. Dwellings are small and typically compromises of a big room sub-divided by the family themselves. No ablution facilities are available inside dwellings and some homes still make use of chemical toilets and pit latrines.Crime and violence is closely linked to the alcohol usage at the local shebeens. These factors impact on caregiving as the environment with the lack of facilities and the harsh climate lends itself to fostering of illnesses amongst children.The study concludes that the personal, social and environmental factors significantly influence the caregiver’s ability to provide care to children from birth to six years in Groblershoop. To assist the development of children, it is essential that the above factors are considered as they influence the ability of the caregiver to use resources to achieve wellbeing. The findings of this study provides a good argument for an integrated coordinated approach to service delivery which takes into account the distinct challenges of rural communities, with regards to their distance from urban centres and the current lack of infrastructure within these communities. The study highlights the importance of focusing on how resources can effectively improve the quality of life of caregivers in communities as opposed to just making resources available and ensuring uptake. As this study demonstrates through the Human Capabilities lens, that resources alone do not result in people being able to live the lives they value. Ensuring that they are able to convert the resources into wellbeing should be the focus of how the State evaluates the effectiveness of programmes. November 2009