M.A. / Social, political and economical changes in modern society, as well as the growing need for aid and assistance, have resulted in the questioning of the work procedures within the social services of the Dutch Reformed Church. This has motivated the researcher to do research on the productivity and effectiveness of the Christelik-maatskaplike raad (CMR) as a branch of the "Sinodale Kommissie vir die Diens van Barmhartigheid" of Northern Transvaal. The investigation was undertaken by identifying a strategic productivity model in the literature and applying that model to the CMR of Pretoria. A qualitative, as well as a quantitative approach has been used and the study can be described as exploratory/descriptive. The literature ·study indicated that not only physical but also human factors influence the productivity within the organisation. A description was given of the physical set-up of the organisation and of the attempts that have been made to improve productivity. It was found that a large number of these factors do indeed play a role in the organisation. The findings showed that social workers are aware of the necessary changes that must occur to create a better productivity function. Recommendations were made concerning the changes of the work procedure of the CMR, in order to improve the quality of the services rendered and to eliminate the factors that have had a detrimental influence on the productivity of the organisation.

M.A. / A new welfare policy which introduced the developmental approach in the welfare system was implemented during 1997 in South Africa. The developmental approach encourages the introduction of social programs that contribute directly to economic development in the communities. Developmental social welfare implies a variety of role players in a system of social services which focus on social development. Social workers happen to be one of them. A developmental social welfare policy implies that social work should shift focus of attention to strategies that would contribute to social development. The extent of basic development needs in our country demands that social workers should clearly define their roles and outputs at this point in time so as to address these needs and outline their distinctive professional contribution in a social welfare system within socio-economic development. The focus of this people-driven, people-centred approach is on developing human capacity and self-reliance within an enabling environment. The community development process has a major contribution to make in realizing this objective. For community development to take place, people need to act collectively. People need to be organized in the community so that they can be able to function as a unit. Through community development, social workers unleash people's collective potential, build their capacity and help them to organize themselves around common concerns. However, social workers need to recognize the role played by economic factors in development initiatives. Realizing that the new developmental approach was just been introduced to social workers, this study seeks to explore and describe the attitude of social workers towards this paradigm shift.

M.A. / The aim of this study was to compare the effect of violence on the rendering of social work services in severely strife-torn areas with its effect in moderately strife-torn areas. The social workers in the Gauteng Department of Welfare and Population Development were divided into two groups according to the area in which they render services. 2. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES OF VIOLENCE AND SOCIAL WORK A broad theoretical outline followed which consisted of the definition of violence, the rendering of social work services and crime. Furthermore attention was given to theories of violence and different types of violence. Then a description of violence in South Africa was given, followed by a layout of the many factors contributing to violence in South Africa. This section concluded with a description of violence in the rendering of social work services nationally and internationally. RESEARCH DESIGN The research concentrated on a comparative study which was undertaken between social workers rendering services in severely strife-torn areas and those rendering services in moderately strife-torn areas with regard to the effect violence had upon them in the rendering of services to clients. RESEARCH RESULTS Six types of hypotheses were postulated beforehand and these were then compared with information that was received from respondents from the two identified areas. The results may be summarised briefly as follows: Social workers in both strife-torn areas were prevented from visiting clients; they were prevented from going to work; their vehicles were hijacked; their vehicles were stoned often; they were abducted; they had to run away or hide; their service offices were damaged; they were late for work; their service offices had to close at times; there were times they felt that their families were in danger; they didn't want to visit clients living in certain areas; violence caused them to postpone dealing with other social problems; their relationships with their clients were strained; their clients were prevented from keeping appointments; their clients were mildly injured (no hospitalisation); their clients were seriously injured or killed; the social workers had to take leave as a result of violence; some of them possess licensed firearms (11 out of 81 social workers); they can testify to incidents where people were killed or seriously injured; they felt negative about the effect violence had on their rendering of social work services; and they were positive about the proposed ways to handle violent situations. In addition, when comparing these two areas, clients known to social workers in severely strife-torn areas can testify to more incidents where they witnessed people being killed or seriously injured, than those in moderately strife-torn areas; clients themselves were also injured more in the former than in the latter areas; and the social workers in the former areas felt that their families were in greater danger than those of their counterparts in moderately strife-torn areas. But the other variables was found not to be statistically significant. 5. RECOMENDATIONS The respondents' reaction to the proposed ways to handle violent situations led to the prioritisation of the following fourteen ways in descending order of importance: two-way radios or cellular telephones in vehicles; replacement of "G" by "T" registration of vehicles; verbal telephone codes to request assistance; in-service training in order to handle violent situations; awareness of high-risk procedures, for example the removing of a child; reporting and recording incidents of violence; retreating and getting away if possible; obtaining discreet police assistance; using conventional alarm systems; the proximity of a "stand-by" person; paired home-visits; pre-arranged interview interruptions; carrying a service firearm; and supervised office interviews. The above-mentioned ways of handling violent situations were then included in four main categories to form part of a safety strategy for this specific organisation.