Ph.D. (Social Work) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree Master of Social Work in the Faculty of Arts in the Department of Social Work at the University Of Zululand, South Africa, 2012. / Schools in South Africa have many young learners in the education system whose problematic behaviour have been left unattended, and thus resulting in learners having emotional turmoil. According to the researchers observation Youth between the ages of 13-19 spend 75% of their time in the classroom area and because of this, one can assume that it is where their good or bad learnt behaviour or adapted behaviour manifests itself. What social workers must appreciate is that children come to school with vastly different needs and values. Therefore, social workers should focus their intervention on helping children to become aware of and to learn to exert some degree of control over those change processes that are already at work in their lives. The goal of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of social work services on the behaviour modification of learners. For this study, the researcher utilised the quantitative approach. The respondents included were twenty five educators as respondents to the research, representing five high schools in Esikhaleni. The key findings indicated in the study are that there is an under-utilisation of social workers at schools by the Department of Education. The findings of the study also indicated that mainly practicing social workers perform the task of school social workers, hence this limits access to social work services for troubled learners. The recommendations of this study are that Social Workers need to be placed on school premises as an immediate response measure, so that these two departments can work cooperatively. Social workers need to outline their plan of action and involve the educator in the modification process. Social workers should market themselves in their communities and should link up with other department so as to create a liaison partnership, such as schools and professional within those departments, eg educators, School Governing Body (SGB), and School Management Team (SMT).

Disertaciniame darbe analizuojamas socialinio darbo paslaugų privatizavimas, remiantis veikėjo ir neo-institucionalizmo teorijomis bei jų sanglauda. Disertaciniame darbe siekiama atskleisti socialinio darbo paslaugų privatizavimo ištakas ir sampratą, veiksnius ir pasekmes bei socialinio darbo paslaugų plėtros perspektyvas privatizavimo kontekste Lietuvoje. Lietuvoje socialinio darbo paslaugų privatizavimas nėra pakankamai ištyrinėtas, kadangi socialinio darbo paslaugų sistema Lietuvoje buvo pradėta kurti tik nuo 1990 m. Tačiau atskiruose tyrimuose analizuojami klausimai, susiję su socialinio darbo paslaugų privatizavimu. Dėl vykstančių pokyčių socialinio darbo paslaugų srityje, finansavimo ir teikimo sistemų pertvarkymo, stinga informacijos apie besikeičiančias socialinio darbo paslaugas. Manoma, svarbu yra ištirti, kaip tai atsiliepia socialinio darbo klientui. Disertacijos tikslas – atskleisti socialinio darbo paslaugų privatizavimo raišką Lietuvos socialinio darbo paslaugų praktikoje. Siekiant darbo tikslo, aptariami ir analizuojami socialinio darbo paslaugų privatizavimo ištakos ir samprata, veiksniai ir pasekmės, socialinio darbo paslaugų plėtros perspektyvos Lietuvoje. / In the dissertation the privatization of social work services was analysed using actor and new-institutionalism theories. The purpose of the dissertation is to detect the origins and conception, factors and results, as well as development of the social work services in the context of privatization in Lithuania. There is still a study gap of the privatization of social work services in Lithuania, as the development of the system of social work services in Lithuania has been started only since 1990. Though there are some researches which analyse some aspects of the privatization of social work services in Lithuania. The significance and purpose of the dissertation is to fill this lack and to analyse systemically the privatization of social work services as well as its’ factors in Lithuania. Dissertation objective is to analyse the privatization of social work services in social work services practise in Lithuania: to detect the origins and conception, the factors, the results and the development perspectives of the privatization of social work services in Lithuania.

Disertaciniame darbe analizuojamas socialinio darbo paslaugų privatizavimas, remiantis veikėjo ir neo-institucionalizmo teorijomis bei jų sanglauda. Disertaciniame darbe siekiama atskleisti socialinio darbo paslaugų privatizavimo ištakas ir sampratą, veiksnius ir pasekmes bei socialinio darbo paslaugų plėtros perspektyvas privatizavimo kontekste Lietuvoje. Lietuvoje socialinio darbo paslaugų privatizavimas nėra pakankamai ištyrinėtas, kadangi socialinio darbo paslaugų sistema Lietuvoje buvo pradėta kurti tik nuo 1990 m. Tačiau atskiruose tyrimuose analizuojami klausimai, susiję su socialinio darbo paslaugų privatizavimu. Dėl vykstančių pokyčių socialinio darbo paslaugų srityje, finansavimo ir teikimo sistemų pertvarkymo, stinga informacijos apie besikeičiančias socialinio darbo paslaugas. Manoma, svarbu yra ištirti, kaip tai atsiliepia socialinio darbo klientui. Disertacijos tikslas – atskleisti socialinio darbo paslaugų privatizavimo raišką Lietuvos socialinio darbo paslaugų praktikoje. Siekiant darbo tikslo, aptariami ir analizuojami socialinio darbo paslaugų privatizavimo ištakos ir samprata, veiksniai ir pasekmės, socialinio darbo paslaugų plėtros perspektyvos Lietuvoje. / Liubov Kotova THE PRIVATIZATION OF SOCIAL WORK SERVICES Annotation of Doctoral Dissertation In the dissertation the privatization of social work services was analysed using actor and new-institutionalism theories. The purpose of the dissertation is to detect the origins and conception, factors and results, as well as development of the social work services in the context of privatization in Lithuania. There is still a study gap of the privatization of social work services in Lithuania, as the development of the system of social work services in Lithuania has been started only since 1990. Though there are some researches which analyse some aspects of the privatization of social work services in Lithuania. The significance and purpose of the dissertation is to fill this lack and to analyse systemically the privatization of social work services as well as its’ factors in Lithuania. Dissertation objective is to analyse the privatization of social work services in social work services practise in Lithuania: to detect the origins and conception, the factors, the results and the development perspectives of the privatization of social work services in Lithuania.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / Currently, in South Africa, more than half of its children find themselves living in households and communities without adequate child welfare facilities. These conditions render them vulnerable as they have no control over their life circumstances. This has emerged as a growing concern, and a problem. This thesis attempts to enhance our understanding of some important interventions and support structures available to these children, families and communities. The study is vital as post-1996 the South African government has made strides in ensuring that through the 1996 Constitution, the Child Act of 2005 and the White Paper for Social Welfare, 1997 and other progressive social policies there is the gradual improvement of child welfare in the country. These legislations are a social policy to address the needs of children post-1996 to ensure social justice and equity in the country. Despite these efforts, implementation challenges are rife.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T14:42:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Selma Regina Marques.pdf: 1457124 bytes, checksum: a7a8cd9be207b56dfab2e887c125c454 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-09-26 / The conception of social work as a citizen’s right is recent considering its public policy status conquered since Federal Constitution of 1988. As a result of that, social work has its own field limited by Social Work National Policy -“PNAS/2004”, from which we point out the services of social basic protection. With these foundations, this study has as objective to analyze the quality of the service provided for the user population of the social work services devoted to child and to teenager from 7 to 17 years old, in the small municipalities of Ivaiporã micro-region, in Paraná State. We limited as universe the mentioned services and as subjects the coordinators of social work services, the user families and one representative member of Social Work State Council – “CEAS”. The methodologycal procedures used in the investigation were: the bibliography research, the documental study, the form, the semi-structured interview and the participating observation. The exposition of the results was organized in three chapters. The first, entitled “The Social Work in the Context of Brazilian Social Protection System”, recovers the trajectory of social work policy. The second chapter, nominated “The Configuration of Social Work Policy in Micro-Region of Ivaiporã-Paraná”, explains the context of the space where the services of social basic protection to child and teenagers from 7 to 17 years old become concrete. The third chapter, “The Quality of Social Work Services in the Micro-Region of Ivaiporã – Concepts and Reality”, treats the category quality and the specificity of the services. In this chapter, we organized the dada and the statements in four axes: users’ relation with the social work services, social workers, planning and assessment and the intersection actions. We finished the work with a reflection about the quality parameters, making possible an analysis of contribution of the services in relation to the emancipation of the assisted families. / A concepção da assistência social como direito do cidadão é recente tendo em vista seu status de política pública conquistado a partir da Constituição Federal de 1988. Decorrente de tal mudança, a assistência social tem seu campo próprio demarcado a partir da Política Nacional de Assistência Social - PNAS/2004, da qual destacamos os serviços socioassistenciais de proteção social básica. Com tais fundamentos, este estudo tem como objetivo analisar a qualidade dos serviços socioassistenciais destinados à criança e ao adolescente de 7 a 17 anos, nos municípios de pequeno porte da microrregião de Ivaiporã no Estado do Paraná. Delimitamos como universo os serviços citados e como sujeitos os coordenadores dos serviços socioassistenciais, as famílias usuárias e um membro representativo do Conselho Estadual de Assistência Social - CEAS. Os procedimentos metodológicos utilizados na investigação foram: a pesquisa bibliográfica, o estudo documental, o formulário, a entrevista semi-estruturada e a observação participante. A exposição dos resultados foi organizada em três capítulos. O primeiro, intitulado “A Assistência Social no Contexto do Sistema de Proteção Social Brasileiro”, resgata a trajetória da política de assistência social. O segundo capítulo, denominado “A Configuração da Política de Assistência Social na Microrregião de Ivaiporã-Paraná”, contextualiza o espaço em que se efetivam os serviços socioassistenciais de proteção social básica à criança e ao adolescente de 7 a 17 anos. O terceiro capítulo, “A Qualidade dos Serviços Socioassistenciais na Microrregião de Ivaiporã-Conceitos e Realidade”, aborda a categoria qualidade e a especificidade dos serviços. Neste capítulo, organizamos os dados e depoimentos em quatro eixos: relação dos usuários com os serviços socioassistenciais, trabalhadores da assistência social, planejamento e avaliação e as ações intersetoriais. Finalizamos o trabalho com uma reflexão sobre parâmetros de qualidade, possibilitando uma análise da contribuição dos serviços em relação à emancipação das famílias atendidas.

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

Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / This study examines the effect of asset management on social work services delivery in the Department of Social Development (DSD), Capricorn District. The aim of the study was to explore factors that lead to the mismanagement of assets in the department. For social workers to deliver services or to operate, the Department of Social Development (DSD) as the employer must ensure that infrastructure (office space and facilities), information management and technology equipment must be provided to social welfare practitioners (employees). For their effective functioning, certain basic infrastructure and equipment are needed by social welfare service practitioners, particularly social workers who are legally obliged to provide services in a particular manner. The problem of lack of resources has been also observed and that service providers who are social workers end up using their own resources in an attempt to provide service delivery and administration of their duties as social workers. The objectives of this study were to examine the state of asset management in the department; to assess the effect of asset management on service delivery; and to propose strategies that may enable the department to deal with emerging issues. The study was guided by questions such as the following: What is the current state of asset management as it relates to service delivery? How does asset management affect service delivery? What strategies may enable the department to deal with emerging issues? The study adopted the qualitative research approach to collect primary data through face-to-face semi-structured interviews. It further used thematic content analysis to analyse data. Through the use of this approach, it was noted that asset problems have a negative impact on social work service delivery. From the data collected, the study revealed that there are numerous problems that social workers come across in the process of providing services and mainly because of lack of adequate assets. These problems affect service delivery negatively, and include lack of transport; insufficient office space; and lack of furniture, computers, printers and landline or cellular phones. Social work services cannot be properly, effectively and efficiently provided without adequate asset management. The study recommends that the DSD should provide social workers with assets in order to render better service. It is important for one to know that social work services and asset management are two related entities.

This study sought to explore and describe the recollections of young adults who were exposed to domestic violence within the family structure during childhood, so as to develop an understanding of the systems and structures needed to develop effective services to child victims of domestic violence. It is envisaged that services to these children could aid as an important preventative strategy, in that newly acquired behaviour and thinking patterns could assist them to defer from engaging in violent relationships, thereby, breaking the cycle of violence. The research study was conducted by means of a qualitative research approach and made use of the phenomenological, contextual, explorative and descriptive research designs. The purposive sampling technique was used and semi-structured interviews were employed to obtain the data. Tesch’s (cited in Creswell, 2009:186) proposed eight steps for data analysis were employed. Data verification focused on credibility/authenticity, transformability, dependability and conformability. It is envisaged that the findings and conclusions of this study could inform the planning of services to children exposed to domestic violence. / Social Work / M.A. (S.S.)

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