This study from the onset sought to explore, through a postcolonial critique, the meaning ascribed to child labour by fishers in a fishing community in Ghana. The purpose was to inform practice in social work so that social justice might be achieved for working children and their parents. However the study expanded, methodologically and theoretically, to preliminarily include a psychoanalytically informed psychosocial and discursive approach, extending the postcolonial critique to develop a nuanced understandings of the fishers' lived experience of, and responses to, children's work. Distinct from the dominant reductionist and positivistic etiologic understandings of child labour, this approach neither derides child labour as morally reprehensible and unequivocally dangerous, nor romanticises its beneficial aspects and links to cultural and traditional beliefs and practices (see Klocker, 2012). Instead, enables understanding of the fishers as ‘defended subjects' who invest in certain discourses as a way of defending against their vulnerable selves. It also affords a critically reflexive understanding of myself as a ‘defended researcher', owing to my semi-insider position as a former child labourer, and of the impact of this on my research relationships and findings. The study is intended to inform social worker practices in order to deal with complex situations concerning the relationship among fishers and their children paying equal attention both to the inner and the social circumstances of the fishers (Wilson, Ruch, Lymbery, & Cooper, 2011). In this regard it is inspired by Mel Gray's (2005) contention that social work practice should be shaped by the extent to which local social, political, economic, historical and cultural factors, as well as local voices, mould and shape social work responses. The study is conducted using critical ethnographic design that draws on the lived experiences of 24 fishers. Attempts were made to explore the fishers' experiences using psychoanalytically informed method (FANI) in addition to other conventional methods. The study highlights the fishers' use of narratives of slavery to explicate child labour. It focuses on the relationships that the fishers' have developed with their children and with the laws surrounding the use of children in work. It gives an indication of how the fishers' violently and aggressively relate with their working children. It also highlights the fishers' rejection of the laws surrounding child labour as being foreign and an imposition which excludes customary laws. The study further examines the identities the fishers developed in relation to laws that regulate them and children's work. It suggests that others see the fishers as powerless subjects who don't matter. It also underscores my shame and worries as a researcher considered by the fishers as an ‘educated elite' who works for ‘white people'. It further highlights how I provided self-justifying explications to defend myself as a researcher. The findings imply that solutions to child labour need to be localised paying equal attention to both the psyche and the social life of the fishers. They speak to the imperative for critical review of social workers/NGOs practices taking into account the unconscious processes that go on between fishers as parents and social workers as service providers. This thesis introduces a psychosocial dimension and insight into debates on child labour in Ghana.

This project is an extended case study design investigating the mentoring programme of Kids Company, an innovative and controversial organisation that closed during fieldwork. The study considers the programme both as a case of the larger category of ‘youth mentoring' as well as a case in itself – of a unique and situated intervention. Methods employed included participant observation and interviews with professional staff, as well as the analysis of a sample of mentoring records documenting the one-year relationship of six mentoring pairs from the perspective of the mentor. Plans to interview mentoring pairs were curtailed by the unexpected demise of the organisation, but the data set includes interviews with five new mentors and mentees. The project has developed from a collaborative studentship aimed at understanding the mentoring programme, to include a post mortem of an organisation in crisis. Thus, documentation by and about Kids Company during this very public downfall also forms part of the data set. The thesis organises its findings into three chapters with insights on the model of mentoring employed by Kids Company and the reliance of popularised ideas from attachment theory and neuroscience; insights into the mentoring relationships themselves, including the value of a middle stage of everyday ‘being there'; and critical insights into how Kids Company's approach to young people and communities simultaneously takes on representations of race and class, yet elides them. The thesis draws together critical social policy and childhood studies literature on the history of child saving interventions and representations of the child in need within society, and psychology literature on youth mentoring initiatives, in order to make the argument that mentoring must be understood as an intervention situated in time and place. The messiness, complexity, and variety of youth mentoring experiences needs to be recognised. Nevertheless, youth mentoring also has potential to be powerful and productive for all involved and the thesis reflects on both the strengths and weaknesses of the Kids Company approach to make suggestions for good practice.

What does it mean to be an adult? What makes a person an adult? How have the circumstances of the lives of the six young women in my study shaped their understanding and perceptions of adulthood? These are the research questions at the heart of this thesis. I wanted to know more about the experiences of the young women that I worked with as a carer at a residential centre for young people with epilepsy and the influences that their experiences have had on how they perceive the world. This thesis begins with a puzzle in the form of fictional fieldnotes and concludes with an obligation. It charts the journey of the research from origins in a particular cultural setting to its conclusion as the beginning for the next stage, providing an opening chapter for the work that will grow from this study. The puzzle at the beginning of this thesis relates to the neurological functioning of a young woman, Evie (21). As soon revealed, Evie is a fictional character whose story has been told to represent themes from the research. Telling her story was also a way to use ‘writing as a method of inquiry' (Richardson, 2003). The methodological approach taken in this research sits within a phenomenological tradition by way of its modern guise as Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as developed primarily by Jonathan Smith, Paul Flowers and Michael Larkin. The use of this methodology reflects a concern with the meaning my participants take from their experiences (Smith et al. 2009). I focused on the transition to adulthood as this was the ‘common phenomenon' that my participants seemed to hold as a central concern in their lives. Five themes emerged from the analysis: · Alcohol = Adulthood · Adulthood is - independence · Adulthood is - domestic competence · Adulthood is - a ‘code of behaviour' · Adulthood is - an achievement The findings from the phenomenological analysis have been juxtaposed with an account of the research findings written as ethnographic fiction. ‘Evie/I' is a story that includes reflections on the relationships I have had with young people in my care and the one which developed when I took on a researcher identity. It relates how knowledge of past histories shaped how I interpreted what the participants in my study revealed to me and the development of a reflexive stance as a researcher. It is my intention that the juxtaposition of these related but different accounts of the findings should enhance the reader's understanding of both. Central to this thesis are Bourdieu's concepts of species of capital, habitus and field theory and they have been used as a theoretical framework. A conceptual model has been created to map the themes developed as they fit into the ‘code of behaviour' my participants seem hold central to the achievement of adult status. The epilepsy centre where this research was conducted is a ‘field' with certain characteristics. This has been considered in relation to the ‘habitus' my participants have developed as young women in this particular situation. Feminist theory has also influenced the way in which this research was conducted. Research relating to people with epilepsy seldom includes the voices of those with the condition and qualitative research approaches are relatively scarce (Andermann, 2000). The young women in this study also have learning disabilities and this factor likewise lessens the likelihood that their views will be represented in the research literature (Walmsley, 2001; Atkinson, 2005). The rationale behind the research relates to the need to address this omission. The obligation that concludes this thesis concerns the need for further research that includes the perceptions and voices of young people such as those in my study.

In conceptualising the new visibility of postsecular social work this thesis develops alternative perspectives to former secular, liberal and neoliberal hegemonies within the profession. Firstly secularism is considered as compromising deliberative and participatory democracy by inhibiting religious citizenship within the public sphere and in response the new visibility of postsecular social work incorporates the inclusion of religious perspectives into social welfare considerations with particular reference to faith based social action. Secondly liberalism is observed as perpetuating the marginalisation of religion, tolerated merely as a personal lifestyle choice, from public legitimacy and the new visibility of postsecular social work therefore recognises the contribution of public religion to addressing social welfare concerns in challenging this marginalisation. Thirdly neoliberalism is critiqued as an outcome of the marginalisation of religion from the public sphere by both secularism and liberalism and accordingly the new visibility of postsecular social work engages with political economy in the interests of social welfare and social justice. Resultantly the new visibility of postsecular social work affirms faith and reason as integral to public religion which is indicative of a new politics of social work that develops postsecular, post-liberal and postneoliberal perspectives through the reconfiguration of Christian socialism.

A death in research exacerbates the lack of knowledge and information in respect of the needs and life view of the aged. Two studies were conducted in this population group with specific reference to the 'once-off interview'. Information was gathered using interview schedules focusing on therapeutic skills of social workers working within the system which cares for the aged. Results of a pilot study and an expanded study were compared in order to establish the inter-relationship between the. needs of the elderly, their elemental experiences in line with Bloom's theory (1984), and the role of the social worker. Findings revealed that the majority of "discontinuances" after the first interview were because the needs of the elderly clients had in fact been met. The need for day care services, transport and the expansion of the 'home help' facility was highlighted to enable the elderly to retain their independence in the community / Social Science / M.A. (Social Science: Mental Health)

This study examined social workers' perceptions of the use of interpreters in child welfare services. Specifically, this study focused on monolingual (English) speaking social workers and their perceptions of the use of interpreters in child welfare services.

The purpose of the research is to explore social workers' listening skills pertaining to listening as communication skill during an experimental social work interview. The research methodology comprised unique application of a social work interview. A sample of five participating social workers was invited to listen to a video recording of a social work interview requesting them to identify information presented by the client through observation and listening by applying a set of predetermined theoretical conversation elements. The participation and involvement of participating social workers during the listening experiment was video recorded for subsequent evaluation. The conclusion reached from research findings indicates that the unique approach adopted by participating social workers' achieved mixed results towards hypothetic assistance offered to the experimental client. The researcher recommends that social workers be developed and trained in the art of maintaining effective listening skills during social work interviews to improve assistance to clients. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Work)

Text in Afrikaans / In die studie word die ontwikkelingspad van 'n Newtoniaanse benadering na 'n ekosistemiese benadering in die denke van die navorser en lewering van pleegsorgdienste deur die maatskaplike werker/navorser, beskryf. In die beskrywing is gefokus op drie beginsels elk van die Newtoniaanse - en die ekosistemiese benaderings. Die gekose beginsels is met 'n gevallestudie geillustreer. Aan die ha d van die beginsels van die ekosistemiese benadering word 'n konsepsuele raamwerk gebied waardeur die outonomie van mense en sisteme in stand gehou en gebruik kan word. Volgens tweede orde kubernetika, is die studie die konstruksie van die navorser. Pleegsorg is 'n komplekse alternatiewe versorgingsposisie vir 'n kind en die lewering van begeleidingsdienste stel besondere eise aan die professionele persone betrokke. Hierdie studie suggereer dat pleegsorgdienste wat aan die hand van die ekosistemiese benadering gelewer word, 'n konstruksie van gedeelde verantwoordelikheid tussen al die betrokke partye voorstel. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Science: Mental Health)

The purpose of the research is to explore social workers' listening skills pertaining to listening as communication skill during an experimental social work interview. The research methodology comprised unique application of a social work interview. A sample of five participating social workers was invited to listen to a video recording of a social work interview requesting them to identify information presented by the client through observation and listening by applying a set of predetermined theoretical conversation elements. The participation and involvement of participating social workers during the listening experiment was video recorded for subsequent evaluation. The conclusion reached from research findings indicates that the unique approach adopted by participating social workers' achieved mixed results towards hypothetic assistance offered to the experimental client. The researcher recommends that social workers be developed and trained in the art of maintaining effective listening skills during social work interviews to improve assistance to clients. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Work)

Text in Afrikaans / In die studie word die ontwikkelingspad van 'n Newtoniaanse benadering na 'n ekosistemiese benadering in die denke van die navorser en lewering van pleegsorgdienste deur die maatskaplike werker/navorser, beskryf. In die beskrywing is gefokus op drie beginsels elk van die Newtoniaanse - en die ekosistemiese benaderings. Die gekose beginsels is met 'n gevallestudie geillustreer. Aan die ha d van die beginsels van die ekosistemiese benadering word 'n konsepsuele raamwerk gebied waardeur die outonomie van mense en sisteme in stand gehou en gebruik kan word. Volgens tweede orde kubernetika, is die studie die konstruksie van die navorser. Pleegsorg is 'n komplekse alternatiewe versorgingsposisie vir 'n kind en die lewering van begeleidingsdienste stel besondere eise aan die professionele persone betrokke. Hierdie studie suggereer dat pleegsorgdienste wat aan die hand van die ekosistemiese benadering gelewer word, 'n konstruksie van gedeelde verantwoordelikheid tussen al die betrokke partye voorstel. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Science: Mental Health)