Thesis (Ph.D. (Social work)) -- University of Limpopo, 2018 / The aim of this study as borne by the topic, was to ascertain the supervision expectations of social workers in Vhembe District of Limpopo Province. The unit of the study were social workers employed by the Vhembe District Department of Social Development (Vhembe DSD or DSD) only. The study excluded social workers who were employed by the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) or in any other capacity outside of the DSD. The data collection consisted of two phases; that is, firstly, a survey questionnaire which was administered to two hundred and five (N=205) social workers. The second phase consisted of structured interviews with ten (10) social work supervisors, and ten (10) supervisees. The structured interviews were meant to strengthen the quantitative data from the survey. The DSD‟s planning documents such as the Strategic Plan 2015-2020, the Annual Performance Plan 2016/2017 (APP) the Vhembe DSD Operational Plan 2016/2017(OPS Plan) and other documents were also studied to explain the themes that arose from the structured interviews. The document study provided a third stream of data collection. Large quantitative data was collected from the two hundred and five (N=205) social workers who voluntarily accepted to participate in the first part of study. The survey data collection covered the 9 sections on the questionnaire to determine the needs, these are; A. Demographics, B. Supervision Infrastructure, C. Purpose of Supervision, D. Process of Supervision, E. Types, Styles and Models of Supervision, F. Supervision Outcomes, G. Self-Evaluation, H. Readiness when first entered the work environment, I. Additional comments.The quantitative findings showed that the experience of supervision was not uniform among Vhembe District social workers in terms of their baseline supervision experiences and expectations. Apart from the supervision experiences being uneven, they also deviated considerably from the prescribed supervision norms in South Africa. Both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the data have shown that supervision was not taking place as prescribed in the Norms and Standards (2011) and the Supervision Framework (2012), or it was not taking place at all in Vhembe District. The practice of supervision had diminished because the scope of practice of social work within the DSD has been reduced or downscaled. There was a tendency to shift the focus of social work services towards management of services rather than the provision of services to clients. Such management was mainly seen in the planning and reporting of services rendered where the emphasis was on the numerical targets rather than on the impact or quality of social work services rendered. The limitation of scope for social work and supervision practice resulted because the managerial focus tended to undermine professional focus and values of social work.The reduction of scope for social work and supervision was mainly due to structural misalignment between the vision, mission and the programme and budget structure of the DSD, both at the Head Office and in Vhembe District. The programmes that were meant to support and sustain professional matters, such as supervision and training; were either non-existent, not funded, or not funded at the correct levels or they lacked the human resources to drive them.The management focus also led to fewer supervisors being appointed. At the time of commencement of the data collection (ie., August 2016), there were only thirteen (N=13) substantively appointed supervisors to a population of more than three hundred social workers in Vhembe DSD. The poor supply and utilisation of supervisors was also caused by the DSD‟s failure to implement Resolution 1 of 2009 of the Health and Social Development Bargaining Council which regulate career paths for social workers in terms of the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD). The non-compliance with Resolution 1 of 2009 was also compounded by the failure of the DSD to provide work tools for the social workers. These are work tools such as vehicles to conduct home visits, computers and printers to prepare the reports and telephones to manage the daily operations of the work. The lack of work tools leads to low work output, and poor service rendering to the clients. Recommendations were made in terms of the short-term „low hanging fruits‟ actions that the DSD could immediately address, and other more medium-term changes to the organisational structure that can be linked to the DSD‟s planning cycle. The short term recommendations included the conducting of audit to establish the outstanding OSD implementations and the grade promotions of the social workers into senior posts to ready them for supervisory posts, among others. The more medium-term structural recommendations consisted mainly of a proposed supervision model for Vhembe DSD to address the gaps identified in the findings. / Health and Welfare SETA

Thesis (MA(Social Work))-University of Pretoria, 2007. / Abstract in English. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 398-418). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 398-418). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-02

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / We have investigated whether or not the behaviors of individuals who are differentially ranked along a consistency dimension within a profession are parallel to the behavior of similar categories in the population as a whole. We also examined the utility of the status inconsistency variable for the prediction of selected role behaviors of those within the social work profession. The three indices selected on which individuals were ranked on a high-low continuum were education, ethnicity and job position. The social work literature revealed that these three measures were related to differences in prestige and esteem within the profession. The population studied included all social workers who were charter members of the Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of the professional association - The National Association of Social Workers - who were (1) members of specialty sections or subdivisions of the chapter, and (2) who were employed in nonhospital settings. Data were gathered by means of mailed questionnaires. Seventy-six per cent of the population replied, and these respondents are shown to be representative of the entire group. Comparable scales for each of the three vertical hierarchies, education, job position and ethnicity, were established. The relative position of respondents in the several hierarchies were compared. On the basis of the information, the sample was divided into the two subgroups of consistents and inconsistents. We predicted that within the profession the inconsistents would be subjected to more stresses and strains than the consistents, and would more often deviate from the norms of the overall profession. The analysis reveals statistically significant differences between the major groups of consistents and inconsistents for two of the three categories of hypotheses. These were (a) those hypotheses patterned after Lenski 's findings in his pionee·ring study of status consistency and (b) those hypotheses dealing with satisfaction within the profession. We did not find significant differences between the two subgroups for a third group of hypotheses (c), those dealing with strength of identification with the profession. Our findings confirm Lenski 1s results in showing the utility of status inconsistency as an explanatory variable for political behavior and for voluntary association patterns. Compared with consistents, inconsistents are more politically liberal, participate less often in voluntary associations and, when they do participate in such associations, more often express 11nonsociable" reasons for membership. We also demonstrate that status inconsistency is one explanation as to why the traditional view of professions as a relatively homogeneous community is not always tenable. Inconsistents appear to derive less satisfaction from the practice of social work, to be less inclined to view social work as a terminal occupation and to have more unhappy experiences within the profession. Further analysis and significance tests concerning the three components of the status consistency index, education, job, and ethnicity were made. Overall the subvariable analysis did not invalidate the explanatory power of the composite concept of inconsistency. / 2031-01-01

Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- The Institute for Clinical Social Work, 1993. / A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Institute of Clinical Social Work in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.