M.A. / Nonprofit organisations are facing a crisis of survival. The changing face of funding through the implementation of financial reform measures on government funding, new expectations from donors, decline in regular private donations and new forms of competition have all contributed to the financial constraints facing the Organisation under study. In addition, the emphasis on transforming services to embrace the developmental, strengths based approach, as well as the growing demand for services from the users themselves have called for the Organisation to reposition itself if it wants to not only survive but to succeed as well. This study focused on the Boksburg Child Welfare Society and was based on a need to develop an intervention tool that will enable the Organisation to address these changes in a creative and innovative manner. Thomas (in Grinne1,1981:591) calls for a new methodology, one where new energies can be directed to the changing tasks and methods of Social Work. Within a changing environment, a strategy in nonprofit marketing is the tool that will provide organisations with the impetus to not only work creatively but to think differently…

The study of resiliency theory allows for an examination of successful processes people have relied on to overcome difficult situations. In this study, former youth in care who have demonstrated resilience through educational success as defined by enrollment in post-secondary educational programs, were interviewed to gain an understanding of the factors that contributed to their resilience. Nine former youth in care participated in this study. Analysis of the transcripts from the conversations resulted in several factors that the participants identified as promoting resilience. These included supportive relationships, self advocacy, externalization of perceived negative attitudes, a high value placed on education, and access to community support through Amandas Gift, a bursary program available to former youth in care.

The study of resiliency theory allows for an examination of successful processes people have relied on to overcome difficult situations. In this study, former youth in care who have demonstrated resilience through educational success as defined by enrollment in post-secondary educational programs, were interviewed to gain an understanding of the factors that contributed to their resilience. Nine former youth in care participated in this study. Analysis of the transcripts from the conversations resulted in several factors that the participants identified as promoting resilience. These included supportive relationships, self advocacy, externalization of perceived negative attitudes, a high value placed on education, and access to community support through Amandas Gift, a bursary program available to former youth in care.

M.A. (Sociology) / South Africa's child protection system is widely reported to be in disarray, delivering deficient and fragmented services, which facilitate the occurrence of 'secondary abuse, compounded by the lack of information on the prevailing scenario in the country. This research study formed part of a national development project, aimed at investigating and improving the delivery of integrated child protection services. The study focused on the current levels of service delivery and the need for services integration in a multi-disciplinary, intersectoral system. Employing a multi-methodology Intervention Research strategy, the conceptual framework for the investigation was based on an open systems perspective. The research findings, generated by a national situation analysis of provincial and sectoral service providers, confirmed the interrelated prevalence of both inefficient service delivery levels and the urgent need for the integration of services. The results facilitated the drafting of provincial strategies, aimed at the improvement of service delivery and the inductive construction of a generic provincial model, while a national conference of service providers generated a proposed national integration strategy, based on a process model. The research has not only contributed towards the integration of child protection services, but also to the current transformation of the child protection system in South Africa.

M.A. / South Africa has thousands of destitute children without families to care for them. The bulk of such children are, at this time, born to impoverished and destitute African women. Many such children have been abandoned. In the years to come we must in addition expect a huge influx of children whose parents have died from or become incapacitated by Aids. These children will also need families to care for them. Adoption is an effective way of creating permanent homes for these children. However, there is currently a dearth of prospective African adopters in the Gauteng Province. Numerous assumptions have been put forward to explain this problemsituation. Some people think that it may be related to traditional norms of the African culture which emphasize the importance of blood ties when it comes to family building. In traditional African culture it was inconceivable that blood ties could be extinguished, or that someone totally strange, let alone someone from a different clan, could parent your child. The majority of modern, western adoptions, involve the legal adoption of children who are not related in any way to the people adopting them. An adoption order vests the parental rights and duties in the adopters and is irrevocable. The adoption order extinguishes natural parental rights with respect to any other person vis-a'-vis the child. Mother cause for concern, is the fact that when African adopters legally adopt children, the majority tend to very secretative about the whole affair. They usually do not acknowledge the adopted child's biological origins because they wish to protect the child and themselves from a negative response by the general community. It is important to tell children they are adopted because children have a right to the truth about themselves. Enduring relationships are built on honesty, not deception. When there has been secrecy in a family about adoption, everyone suffers. The community has a responsibility to provide support and resources to families formed by adoption. Recognizing that support from the community for an adoption service will not be forthcoming unless the community is positively oriented towards such a service, this study seeks to explore and describe the contemporary attitudes of an African community towards the concept of modern, western adoption. The Soweto community is the largest African community in South African. In order to explore the attitudes of people in this community towards the concept of modern, western adoption, a descriptive survey has been conducted. A sample of 163 people was drawn from the Vista University and the Soweto Home for the Aged. A selfadministered questionnaire was used as the method for data collection. Although generalizations to the greater African population cannot be made because a non-probability sampling method was used in this study, findings indicate that the majority of community members in Soweto probably have a positive attitude towards the concept of modern, western adoption. It is hoped that this attitude will have a directive influence on their future behaviour. There must thus be an ongoing effort to expand adoption opportunities for African children in need of permanent homes and members of the community must be directly involved in these efforts.