published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

This exploratory retrospective record review extending from 1975 – 2013 of the Pietermaritzburg Child and Family Centre (hereafter referred to as the “CFC”) aimed to create a database to electronically capture CFC records to generate descriptive statistics, and the create CFC user profiles utilising multiple data analysis methodologies in order to create baseline data to inform future program evaluations. To date, no formal program evaluation has been conducted by the CFC, resulting in programs being launched without the backing of systematic and empirical data used to inform decisions. Data driven decision making is imperative when deciding on resource allocation to ensure maximum derived benefits. The study sample totalled 1974 records from the past three decades since CFC inception in 1975. These records were captured electronically in a Microsoft Access database. SPSS and ArcGIS were used to analyse the data to create service user profiles, and gather baseline data to inform future Needs Assessments and Program Evaluations. The study found temporal changes in CFC user demographics, referral problems, socio-economic standing, and referral schools since inception in 1975. The study explored, using geographic information software, client distribution of demographics, residence, referral problem, and CFC service reach, and found that there are significant geographical variations in each of these constructs. The geographic variations, together with the statistical findings highlight the importance of establishing Monitoring and Evaluation systems in order to stay relevant to the needs of CFC users. Further, findings suggest a tailored approach to CFC program development and focus, depending on future CFC priorities. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

The aim of this study is to investigate how men in the social service in Gävle experience gender biases within the social work profession. We conducted a qualitative research with five male social workers that we interviewed regarding gender biases. The main result ended up under three themes which are client influence and reinforcement; work culture; and lastly the unconscious experience. The conclusion is that male social workers experience gender biases accordingly through three themes.

M.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. (Social Work) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Population ageing has motivated policy makers around the world to focus on how best to organise health and social care services to meet an aniticipated growing demand on services. Two popular initiatives are reablement and telecare. Reablement is an approach within homecare that enables older individuals with social care needs to improve their functional performance and live independently. Telecare, on the other hand, involves use of devices to monitor individuals' health and safety, and provide response when needed. This thesis investigates the effectiveness of reablement and telecare by conducting a comprehensive review of the literature and undertaking three empirical studies. It is composed of six chapters. The first chapter presents a theoretical model that links the demand for reablement and telecare to various outcomes. The model is estimated using a strategy that controls for the effects of confounding variables and unobservable factors, and is general in the sense that it nests several other estimation strategies and study designs as special cases. The next chapter contains the literature review. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 present the three empirical studies. The first study investigates the effect of telecare on independent living at home; the second study determines the relationship between the use of telecare and admission to hospital, while the third study determines the relationship between telecare use and the length of stay in hospital. Chapter 6 concludes the thesis and provides some suggestions for further research. Unlike the results of the previous studies, the findings from this thesis suggest that the treatment effects are not homogenous across the poulation and also vary depending on the type of telecare device under consideration.

This study reports the findings of an instrumental qualitative case study exploring the impact of service users' stories in professional social work education. A number of mandates -legal, practice and not least from the service user movement itself – have led to a closer involvement of service users in the pre-qualifying curriculum. Current research is beginning to consider how service user perspectives may be integrated within the social work curriculum although there has been less focus on the impact of such involvement. Located within a social constructionist paradigm, this study explores one aspect of involvement- stories of personal experience as told by service users themselves-and illuminates the understanding of 'impact' from the perspectives of students and service users as well as the lesser heard voice of the social work academic. Key questions in relation to an emancipatory approach to social work education are raised. Drawing on in depth individual and group interviews, document analysis and participant-as-observer data, key pedagogical implications emerged. Presented as thematic networks, findings identified the creative potential of using stories to promote criticality, personal reflection and reflexivity within the classroom. Emotionality and its management were also identified as significant themes as were the construction of roles and the identities of professional lecturers, students and service users. The findings revealed how aspects such as childhood sexual abuse, trauma and working with those with mental health needs may be taught via narratives. In this light, it identifies the key features of transformative learning and proposes a 'constructive' pedagogic model to promote personal and professional development. The opportunities and challenges relating to the use of stories are also scrutinized. Discussion includes the need to revisit how theory is taught including the potential of service users' told experience to enhance knowledge for practice and to practise via the creation of 'live theory' in the classroom. The study concludes by identifying key messages for the social work curriculum and evaluates this case study methodology including its potential to generate theory amid wider calls for social work education research to be more firmly embedded in evidence-based and evidence-informed approaches.

The study assessed the level of AIDS knowledge in Black families with adolescent children, and identified the cognitive-behavioral skills associated with such knowledge. The assessment focused upon general AIDS knowledge, and knowledge of transmission and prevention. Subjects are 129 male and female household heads, currently residing in an inner-city public housing project. The housing project is located in Harlem, an urban community within New York City. Subjects were recruited through the use of flyers and periodic announcements within the housing complex. An AIDS knowledge and Attitude Schedule was used to measure the level of AIDS knowledge in three areas, general knowledge, knowledge of AIDS transmission and knowledge of prevention. The Frequency of Self-Reinforcement Questionnaire was used to measure the extent to which respondents used self-reinforcement. The Problem-Solving Inventory was used to measure how individuals perceived themselves to have reacted to problems faced on a daily basis. The Simple Rathus Assertiveness Schedule was used to measure the assertiveness. The respondents manifested misconceptions about how AIDS is transmitted and prevented. The respondents were less knowledgeable about AIDS when compared with a national sample of Black Americans. General AIDS knowledge and knowledge of transmission are correlated with assertiveness. Knowledge of AIDS transmission is correlated with perceived problem-solving ability. Respondent's perceived comfort in discussing AIDS and sex with their children is correlated with perceived problem-solving ability.

This study explored the effects of various patient, therapist and treatment variables on continuance and treatment satisfaction at an outpatient mental health center. One hundred patients who had terminated treatment between January 1, 1987 and March 31, 1989, were selected for study by stratified proportionate random sampling on the basis of the number of attended sessions. Patient variables included sociodemographic status, fees, degree of stress at time of intake, locus of control (external vs internal) and presenting problem causal attribution type (self, self-in-situation, environmental and situational). Therapist variables included age, gender, years of experience and professional discipline. Treatment variables were comprised of the patients' perceptions of the therapists' skills, the perceived quality of the professional relationship and the perception of concurrent logistical problems. The findings indicated that four variables contributed significantly to the variance in continuance; the quality of the professional relationship, the patient's degree of stress, social class and problem causal attribution type (multiple R² = .61, p ≤ .001). That is: patients who perceived the therapeutic relationship as a poor one, with low degrees of stress, who are from lower social classes, with problem causal attribution types of stimulus (other) or situation, were most likely to terminate within twelve sessions. Four variables were found to contribute significantly to the variance in overall satisfaction: perception of the professional's skills, the quality of the professional relationship, perception of a long initial wait for service and the ability to afford the fee (multiple R² = .83, p ≤ .001). That is: patients who perceived the professional's skills as ineffective, the quality of the professional relationship as a a poor or fair one, who felt they had initially waited too long for service and paid too high a fee, were most likely to be dissatisfied with the overall treatment experience. It was hypothesized that when the relationship between continuance and satisfaction was not a linear one; i.e., patients who dropped out after one session with high degrees of satisfaction, or patients who remained beyond twenty-five sessions with low degrees of satisfaction, the combination of variables for both continuance and satisfaction accounted for this phenomenon.

Social support networks have been shown to be related to the health status of various groups of people, when measured in different ways and under different circumstances. Yet, there have been few comparisons of this relationship across population groups. Therefore the purpose of this study was to compare the ways that social support networks relate to the health status of different population groups. The study used data that was collected in Wave I of the National Survey of Personal Health Practices and Consequences in 1979, in telephone interviews with 3025 persons aged 20-64 residing in households with telephones. Ten target groups were selected for study--those with high stress jobs, the unemployed, the aged, the widowed, the bereaved, the disabled, those who had recently experienced serious illness or injury, the poor, those with negative status inconsistency, and single parents. It was found that there was no uniform pattern in the way that social networks relate to health status, but rather different elements of social networks related to the health status of members of different target groups. These relationships were fairly consistent regardless of which of two health status measures were employed--self-rated health status and composite health status. And social networks were more strongly related to the health status of target group members than they were to the health of the general population. Existing theories regarding the ability of social networks to predict health status are explored, in an attempt to explain the findings of this study. As they prove inadequate, a new model is proposed, in which the needs of various groups are seen as determining which social network elements will be able to modify health status. That is to say, the success of social networks in maintaining health is contingent upon a proper fit between social networks, individual needs and health status. The implications of the study for social work practice and policy center around the importance of specificity in relating networks to health. In addition, avenues for future research are explored, especially in designing studies to specifically test the proposed model.