Increasing tourism numbers in third world countries affect their economies and certain aspects of their society positively; however, there are concomitant negative effects that expose the dark side of the tourism industry. One of these is the escalating commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), particularly child prostitution (CP) in the context of tourism, a phenomenon known as child sex tourism (CST). Although tourism plays an important role in creating the perfect storm of poverty-stricken children colliding with wealthy tourists, it is not solely responsible for this phenomenon. Internationally and nationally, the lacuna of knowledge on CST in particular hampers an informed response by way of resource allocation and coordinated service delivery to both victims and perpetrators. Utilising a qualitative research approach, and the collective case study and phenomenological research designs complemented by an explorative, descriptive and contextual strategy of inquiry, the researcher explored the status of the knowledge of and response to the CSEC through the lens of closely associated role players, who were purposively selected for inclusion in the study. These were adult survivors who were as children engaged in sex work and victims of child sex tourism, social workers and non-social workers involved in rendering child welfare and protection services, members of the Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and representatives of the hospitality and tourism industry. Data was collected via individual in-depth semi-structured interviews, telephone interviews, and email-communication and thematically analysed. The researcher found that a range of microsystem level factors, such as poverty and family dysfunction, pushed children to the street, and as a means to survive engage in sex work, enabling tourists (i.e. local - out of towners) and foreigners, mainly men from varied sexual orientation) to commercially sexually exploit both boys and girls, from as young as nine years of age, and of different race groups, which leave them with physical and psychological scars. The following main findings surfaced: The social workers, in comparison to the non-social workers, who have a primary responsibility to provide child welfare and protection services were ill-informed in terms of identifying CST as phenomenon, untrained and/or slow to respond appropriately with interventions directed to the victims and perpetrators of CSEC. The service provider groups, as microsystems interfacing on a mesosystem, were fraught with perceptions that the social workers and the SAPS were being inadequate. Furthermore a lack of cooperation, collaboration and communication between the service provider groups to respond to CSEC existed. The hospitality and tourism industry service representatives were also ill-informed about the phenomena of CP and CST with a response that at best can be labelled as fluctuating between an indirect response to that of turning a blind-eye. From the findings, recommendations for social work practice, education and training and recommendations specific for the other closely associated role players in responding to the CSEC were forwarded. / Social Work / D.Phil. (Social Work)

The purpose of the study was to investigate the services provided by the Bhambayi Drop-In Centre in Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs). Qualitative research design and in-depth interviews with key informants and foster parents of the OVCs were conducted. The study found that the services which are provided by the Centre enabled the orphans and vulnerable children to enjoy life as normally as possible and to experience life meaningfully. As beneficiaries of the Bhambayi Drop-In Centre the children had access to education and two meals per day. Beyond meeting such basic needs, the study also found that Centre instilled a sense of belonging and community in the children. Access to social grants enabled the children’s basic needs to be met. In addition foster parents played a crucial role in taking care of orphans and vulnerable children. / Health Studies / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

The focus of this dissertation is on exploring the needs of and services provided to orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs) in Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal. This research is based on the findings from in-depth face-to-face interviews, and the focus group discussion conducted with key informants and primary caregivers of OVCs, respectively. The findings underline that although the needs of OVCs are similar to those of all other children, OVCs face unique challenges. It further shows that the government of South Africa has been responsive in developing relevant legislation, policies, and programmes that attempt to address the needs of OVCs. The findings also revealed that the services provided are coordinated, to a limited extent, through the Flagship Project led by the office of the Premier and. that coordination and integration of activities rendered by various stakeholders is crucial to a positive impact, and in increasing the accessibility of these services. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

The prevalence of and increase in unplanned pregnancies (UPs) and the termination of pregnancy (TOP) amongst tertiary students (TSs) have been found to have a detrimental impact on students, their significant others, and tertiary institutions. UPs amongst TSs have been mentioned as one of the factors contributing to the problem of high dropout rates, which calls for an investigation of this phenomenon and strategies to address it. Despite the need for support to TSs who find themselves in the predicament of an UP and/or TOP, a lacuna has been found with specific reference to practice guidelines from the ambit of social work to assist service providers (SPs) in the provision of psychosocial support services to the said students. To explore and describe the experiences, support, and support needs of TSs presenting with UPs and/or TOPs from the perspectives of these students and the SPs rendering services to them, as well as to gather suggestions from them to inform practice guidelines for psychosocial support, the qualitative research approach, designs, and methods of data collection were used to collect data from six TS- and 23 SP-participants that were purposively recruited. Presenting the findings against the backdrop of Schlossberg’s Transition Process Model (Schlossberg, 2011 & 1981), adopted as theoretical framework for the study, the following emerged: Experiencing an UP and/or TOP is a traumatic crisis event for TSs, which rings in a transition resulting in imminent and fundamental changes in their academic and social life, relationships, outlook on life, and self-image, as well as a smorgasbord of feelings and emotional reactions such as shock, denial, guilt, shame, loneliness, depression and anger following this event. The UP-crisis is arrested by deciding how to manage it (either through parenting, foster care, adoption, or TOP). This decision-making process is perceived as difficult with the formal and/or informal convoy of support, or lack thereof, having a decisive influence on the outcome of how the UP is managed. Apart from TS-participants’ appraisal of the support that they received in dealing with this life event, they articulated several support needs and suggestions for themselves and other TSs alike. The SPparticipants also offered several suggestions on how psychosocial support to a TS confronted with this phenomenon should be provided. The suggestions from both participant groups informed the practice guidelines to assist SPs in providing psychosocial support to TSs presenting with an UP and/or TOP. These guidelines focus specifically on how to establish a helping relationship with a TS presenting with the concern of an UP and/or a TOP, and how to assess and intervene in the situation, the self, the support, and the (coping) strategies surrounding the TS’s UP and/or TOP. In addition, recommendations for university policies on student pregnancies, social work practice, and further research were made. / Social Work / D. Phil. (Social Work)

An empirical study was undertaken to conduct applied, exploratory, descriptive research to establish challenges specific to cross racial adoption in Gauteng, South Africa. The objectives of the overall aim were: * to conduct empirical work and to collect data through the use of focus groups with parents who have cross racially adopted, in order to explore challenges specific to cross racial adoptions * to conduct analysis in order to describe the findings of the empirical data * to conduct a thorough literature review on available literature pertaining to cross racial adoption * to draw conclusions and make recommendations on the completion of the afore mentioned objectives The empirical study demonstrated that: * Parents who cross racially adopt do experience challenges and there are challenges specific to cross racial adoption * A number of the challenges experienced by parents who cross racially adopt are directly linked to a lack of support throughout the adoption process * A need exists for a comprehensive model of support for parents who cross racially adopt The empirical study was successful in identifying, exploring and describing challenges experienced by parents who cross racially adopt in Gauteng. / Social work / M.Diac.(Play Therapy)

Many of the caring tasks previously done by health care professionals are these days handled by caregivers. Caregivers are selected, trained and to a certain extend supervised. Little attention is however given to the effects that care giving has on their physical and mental health and own needs for caring and support. This study is an exploratory, qualitative and quantitative investigation into the effects of care giving on the physical and mental health of caregivers in HIV and AIDS programmes to determine their needs for ongoing support. A literature study was supplemented by an empirical investigation. The literature study and empirical investigation proved that care giving has a tremendous impact on the lives of caregivers. Recommendations resulting from the study are the need for more education and skills for caregivers, support through counselling, debriefing and support groups, policies and guidelines that makes provision for caregivers to be registered and receive a fixed income. / Social Work / M. A. ((SS)(Mental Health)Social Work)

The effort of this research was focused on the assessment of the implementation process of the Hands off our Children parental guidance programme by social workers in the Western Cape during 2005. This could be seen as an evaluation of the programme in order to adjust it for future implementation. The objective of this research was to explore the application, experience and implementation of the programme by social workers in the Western Cape. The universe in this study was all social workers that did the training in the HOOC parental guidance programme in the Western Cape. In this study the population was social workers that implemented the HOOC parental guidance programme training in the work place. Participants were selected until saturation of data was reached. The method used in selecting the participants was non-probability sampling. With-in non-probability sampling purposive sampling was used. Conclusions and recommendations on the programme were made in order to empower the Department of Community safety to implement a more effective and streamline project in the future. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Play Therapy)

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of orphanhood on the life world of an adolescent orphaned by AIDS, thereby improving the knowledge base and insight of all those who are involved in helping the orphans. This qualitative study endeavoured to answer the following research question: “What is the impact of orphanhood on the life world of an adolescent orphaned by AIDS, in Ratanda area?”. A literature study was done to give a theoretical overview about AIDS orphans specifically adolescents. A semi-structured interview was conducted from five different schools. Findings from the interviews was discussed and integrated with reference to the literature. A qualitative approach was used as this helped the researcher in understanding the functioning of the AIDS orphan in his natural environment. The researcher aimed at documenting these impacts of orphanhood on the life world and to improve the helping professions’ understanding of the phenomenon. This may lead to more successful intervention strategies for these adolescents. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Text in Afrikaans / Indigenous literature about the experience of a couple, where one of the spouses experiences a spinal cord injury, is scarce in the frame of social work. The experience of 5 couples (10 participants), after a spinal cord injury of one of the spouses was researched in this qualitative study. The aim of this research study is: • to reconnoiter participants’ experience of a spinal cord injury of a spouse, through semi-structured interviews with a purposeful chosen sample • to subject the research findings to a literature control • to make recommendations about how spouses can support each other, as well as how professional people can support client systems, where one of the spouses experience a spinal cord injury From the data it was determined that a spinal cord injury had significantly influenced the couples: - emotions - needs - perceptions (origination of experiences) Recommendations to couples as well as to professional people have been made. / Social Work / Thesis (M. Diac.)

The purpose of the study was to locate the informal hiring sites for day labourers in Tshwane, to determine the approximate number of day labourers, to describe the nature of socio-economic activities taking place at the sites, and to make recommendations to address needs that have been identified. The research approach and methodology was exploratory, descriptive, quantitative and qualitative. In terms of the findings, 80 informal hiring sites were identified in Tshwane with approximately 3032 day labourers standing at the sites. Case studies were done on three sites and it was found that they were hazardous and lacked basic facilities such as shelter and toilets. Employer-employee interactions were also found to be haphazard and sometimes manipulative and exploitative. It is recommended that intervention programmes should be implemented which could include the provision of basic facilities, skills development, job search assistance and access to comprehensive social services. / Health Studies / M.A. (Social Science - Mental Health)