Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Work. / This study aimed at analyzing the social service programmes of 30 randomly selected 'progressive organisations' in terms of: 1. the nature of services offered 2. their rationale for service delivery 3. the goals of service delivery 4. the values and principles underlying service delivery 5. the strategies and methods used for service delivery 6. the outcome of services as perceived by the progressive organisations. on the basis of the information gathered, it was intended that this study would contribute towards an evolving understanding of the indigenisation process ocourring in social service delivery in South Africa. A qualitative-descriptive research design was used. A total of 103 organisations which met the requirements of a 'progressive organisation' with a 'social service programme' Were identified in the PWV area. From this universe, a 26% sample of 27 organisations was randomly drawn. An administered schedule was utilised in order to gather data from the respondents. Data was prooessed according to the SAS (Statistical Analysis of the Social sciences) programme. It was found that a move towards indigenisation has begun to emerge. This model of welfare has been in direct contrast to the traditional formal welfare system in South Africa Which historically was based on the ideology of apartheid. The major conclusions arising out of this study were that the progressive social service organisations under study were contributing towards the development of authentic social service delivery by: Incorporating social services into their programmes in order to meet the unmet social welfare needs of people, These unmet needs arose as a direct result of an inadequate formal welfare system in South Africa. Playing a major role in fulfilling peoples' unmet soclial welfare needs by offering services which welte traditionally not offered by most welfare organisations in South Africa. Incorporating new methodologies in to their service delivery as part of their commitment to make their services accessible and accountable to consumers. Being acutely conscious of the duality of their political and service objectives and delliberately striving to promote both. This combination of political and service objectives was carried out by including social development principles into service delivery. A general theme encapsulates the recommendations of this study. This refers to incorporating the experiences of the progressive social service movement into: social policy making education and training of social workers and, into furthering the process of authentication and indigenisation of social welfare in South Africa. It is further recommended that the indigenisation experiences of other countries should be studied in order to provide 'useful insights in the planning of a more appropriate model of social welfare in South Africa. / Andrew Chakane 2019

When the new democratic government came into power, much legislation, policies and strategies were transformed, included was the welfare system that was imbalanced, unjust, discriminatory and inappropriate. It was replaced by a developmental approach that is more just, equitable and appropriate system contained in the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997). Social workers were expected to reform their method of intervention. Consequently, this study will focus on the experiences of social workers as changes were brought into the approaches used in service delivery. The goal of the study is to explore and describe social workers’ experiences on the transformation of social welfare from a traditional remedial approach to a developmental approach. The study was conducted using the qualitative research approach. The research study made use of an explorative, descriptive and contextual design. The researcher used purposive and theoretical non-probability sampling methods to draw the sample. Data was collected through semi- structured interviews. The data was analyzed using Tesch’s eight steps in Creswell (1994:155) and was verified against four criteria that Guba in (Krefting, 1991) developed for testing the trustworthiness of a qualitative study. Based on the findings and conclusion of the study, recommendations were made to the management of the department of social development on how to address the challenges facing social workers on the implementation of the developmental approach. The results will be disseminated by means of a written research report.

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

Bibliography: pages 277-302. / The study is a historical analysis of the development of social welfare services in the Transkei from 1968- 1983. The background idea to this study is that over the 20-year period, casual observations reveal that much has been done by way of social work service delivery but very little has been done to scientifically document the developments. The need for scientific investigation and documentation was therefore indicated. The first task was the basic definition and exposition of social welfare and related concepts like social work social policy and social administration. Theories examined included those of some Western writers especially British and American. The understanding of social welfare in the Transkei has been outlined and compared with the current western and Third World approaches. Progressive stages in the development of social welfare services from private bodies to the establishment of a state department of Social Welfare and Pensions have been reviewed. The traditional humanitarian and religious influences in the development of social welfare in the Transkei have been examined and the resultant current trends briefly outlined. Various agencies including state departments, corporations, welfare organisations and other social institutions have been focused in this regard. The training of social workers both in the Transkei, the rest of the Southern African region and overseas as an influential factor in the development of social welfare in the Transkei has been examined. In the summary, a brief review of the study has been given. The need for more intensive study emerged. Major recommendations included the following: 1. Structural : with a view to having the Transkei government not only maintain the existence of the Department of Social Welfare, but to transfer all the relevant functions like counselling and rural development to the relevant department. 2. Academic which includes a review of the academic requirements for grassroots social work practice and university staffing in such a manner that the practitioners and trainers are neither above nor below the standard requirements as recommended in the study. 3. General which include consideration of a pension scheme for labourers and deferred pay for the benefit of families left in the country by migrant labourers.

This research is intended to examine the internal organisational structure of the existing [voluntary welfare] organisations to ascertain what relationship may prove effective between themselves and the [Border Local Welfare] Board. This aim introduced the need to ascertain whether a) the organisations in any town were connected with organisations in other towns or to a central administrative office either in the area of investigation or outside it; or b) the organisations of any town were simply ad hoc units unrelated to any other organisation or similar organisations elsewhere. If the latter were the case then the difficulty of co-ordination and representation on the Board could probably be no better arranged than an ad hoc system as at present. If, however, the former was the predominant pattern, then it would suggest other and more convenient means to the end in view. Fourthly, it was hoped to gain some knowledge of the fund raising methods of welfare organisations, the nature of the people controlling them, the attitudes of managing committees to social work, and what they thought a case work agency should do; and, lastly, some indication of the history of social work as practised by the voluntary agencies in the area of investigation. These latter topics were not intended to form the principal subject matter of the work. They have not been treated fully in the text, but the information gathered has been included in appropriate places throughout.

M.A. (Social Work) / The primary aim of this study is to explore the use of music as an aid in the Social Work profession in South Africa with reference to other disciplines. In order to achieve this aim the following objectives were used: (i) To compare a literature study on the historic development of the use of music as an aid in rendering help; (ii) To investigate the nature and extent of training in the use of music therapy; (iii) To investigate the extent to which music as a tool is utilized by music therapists; and (iv) To suggest ways in which music as a therapeutic tool can be utilized in Social Work.

The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of linking the formal social service delivery system, represented by professional social work services, with the informal system, represented by self-help/mutual aid groups. The developmental research model described by Thomas (1978a, 1978b, 1981, 1985b) was selected as appropriate to the goal of moving beyond the acquisition of knowledge to that of the application of knowledge by practising social workers for the benefit of clients. In the first part of the study the historical and social factors which contributed to the development of the self-help movement in South Africa were explored. The second part of the study focused on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Durban social workers in relation to self-help groups and established the feasibility of the proposed development. A 75,6% response was received from a questionnaire distributed to all qualified social workers in the Durban area. One hundred and sixteen social workers (51%) who indicated that they were willing to participate further in the investigation were then interviewed. Through the questionnaire and the interview, social workers became cognizant of self-help groups, the nature of their services and the range of possible roles and relationships with them. Mutual aid/self-help groups were found to be part of a strong historical and cultural tradition in South Africa. Many groups had developed as a response to the inadequacies of state welfare services. Social development and change functions coexisted with the service and citizen participation attributes of groups established in post-industrial economies. The social workers were found to have generally positive attitudes to self-help groups and to be engaged in a variety of activities in interacting with them. The conclusion demonstrates that the findings have implications: first, for social welfare policy, particularly in relation to the issue of privatisation; secondly, for social work practice, in that the linking of formal and informal services would be feasible and that the need exists for collaborative interaction between the two; thirdly for social work education which needs to combine theory-building with the application of theory in practice. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1989.

M.A. (Social Work) / Stress is a well-known phenomenon in our everyday lives, and has a serious impact on our personal and social functioning. Stress is experienced by almost all individuals, especially in their work-environment, and has a huge impact on their functioning, motivation, performance, colleagues and even clients. Within the Department of Social Development there is a lot of red tape, challenges and situations that create stress for the employees on an ongoing basis. If these situations are not handled and managed correctly and effectively through successful stress management, intervention methods, and also support systems, it can prove detrimental to employees on the level of service delivery. Within the Department of Social Development, social workers are irreplaceable in their roles, as they fulfil the core functions of the Department. They are responsible for the social work services to clients and the public, and also all other duties that go hand in hand in improving their clients’ social functioning. Observations by the researcher in her own work environment (Ekurhuleni region) showed that social workers and other employees are overworked and stressed out, and sick leave is taken regularly for stress-related problems. Some of the current workplace trends have been determined in a pre-study by the author during March/April 2008 (Maré, 2008). The reason for the study was to determine if social workers in the Ekurhuleni Region experience negative stress, and if it is related to their work. The aim was to discover if the source of their stress is work-related, and if they can successfully cope with this work-related stress and deal with it. The researcher is a social worker in the Ekurhuleni Region and has been in the position of having to cope with tremendous work-related stress in conditions which made coping with it difficult. With this study, the researcher wanted to investigate the stress experience of social workers and their way of coping with it, in order to develop guidelines from the results that would assist the social workers in effectively handling their work-related stress. These guidelines should not only improve the functioning of the social workers, but also impact positively on the service delivery of the organisation. Social work is a helping profession in which social workers draws from themselves to be able to assist clients with their problems and stress. This in itself can turn out to be a stressful situation, as social workers ignore their own stress through focusing on the client. The social worker’s own functioning is not as important as the client’s, and therefore the social worker’s needs are forgotten or ignored. The researcher hopes that with this study a positive contribution will be made in understanding the needs of the helper, instead of only focusing on the helpless.

Social Work / (M.A.(Social Work)

Social Work / (M.A.(Social Work)