Since the transitions to democracy in Latin America, women in the region have undergone major changes in their roles in society. From traditionally only present in the home to participating in collective action efforts, and finally participating at increasing numbers in governments, women have made incredible strides in the Latin American region. Latin American countries have successfully advocated for the inclusion of women in government, but few studies in academia focus on determining whether their inclusion has made a difference in government processes or in society. Borrowing from the literature positing that women are behaviorally different from men as well as their identification with motherhood and as wives in their collective action efforts in Latin America, I argue that women have different concerns from men both outside and inside of the public sphere and therefore make a difference in government with regards to policy priorities and government budget allocations. Studying 18 Latin American countries, I find that there is a gender gap in public opinion, which demonstrates that women are more concerned with social welfare matters than men. I also find that female concerns are carried into their behavior once in government as observed by female legislators’ heightened support for social welfare policies. Furthermore, I find that women in legislatures affect government behavior differently from their male counterparts as observed with female legislators’ positive effects on the allocation of the budget towards social welfare areas.

South African welfare policies and social problems dictate social service rendering in South Africa. Social workers are involved in various service delivery interventions of which community development (macro focus) and statutory services (micro focus) are two separate specialised interventions. In social work practice there is a need for both interventions, however, there is no clear guidelines for social workers how to integrate these interventions in practice. The aim of this study was to determine how community development and statutory services as two distinctive social work interventions could be integrated in order to render effective, integrated social services within a developmental approach. A qualitative research approach was utilised for the study and data was gathered by means of four focus group interviews. Respondents for the study included social workers and clients who were involved in both statutory and community development interventions. Research findings indicated that statutory and community development interventions are guided by different processes, time frames, and models of implementation, such as the legislative framework in the case of statutory work as opposed to participatory models in community development. The study concluded that there is not only confusion with regard to the role of social workers, but also a high risk of clients loosing trust in the helping relationship when one social worker simultaneously does community work and render statutory services in the same community. The distinctive nature of statutory services and community development calls for other options for the integration of these two intervention levels. This study proposed three options for social workers and NGOs to integrate statutory services and community development. Based on the research findings and conclusions of the study, the researcher proposed guidelines for (1) the development of an integrated model and (2) a policy framework for the integration of statutory services and community development within a developmental approach and finally recommended that such a designed model and policy framework be implemented and the impact thereof on social service delivery be researched. / Dissertation (MSD (Social Development and Policy))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Social Work / unrestricted

The drastic readjustments brought on by the ending of a love relationship make divorce one of the most stressful events that divorced persons may face. Divorced persons often experience the negative consequences of divorce including, amongst others, an increased level of unhappiness, greater physical and psychological distress, less support systems, lower life satisfaction, elevated risk of suicide, asocial behavioural problems, and a decline in the standard of living. Therefore, expounding on the nature of social work services to divorced persons and determining divorced persons’ needs with regard to social work services were of critical importance in order to develop guidelines that would inform social work practice and social welfare policies. A qualitative research approach was employed, guided by an explorative, descriptive, and contextual research design. A sample of 20 participants, comprising10 divorced persons (males and females) from different ethnic groups and 10 social workers employed at different organisations (including governmental, non- governmental and private practice) in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, was drawn through purposive and snowball sampling. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews and analysed following Tesch’s eight steps (in Creswell 2009:186) framework. Guba’s model (Krefting 1991:215-222) was applied for data verification. Amongst others, the study found that divorced persons experience loneliness, stigma, financial hardships, lack of support, loss of self-esteem and companionship, loss of trust in the opposite sex, anger, regret, suicidal thoughts, rejection, challenges related to children, and post-divorce adjustments. Most of the divorced persons did not know about the social work services available to them. There are social workers employed at different organisations who provide mediation and parenting plan services to divorced persons, but most of them do not deal with cases related to divorced persons. Although there are social workers who believe that the counselling services provided to divorced persons are helpful, most of them were not entirely satisfied and feel that they could do more by involving group work and community work methods of social work practice. Based on the research findings, recommendations pertaining to social work practice, social work training and education, social welfare policy, and further research were put forward. / Social Work / PhD. (Social Work)