South Africa is currently facing a severe shortage of trained and competent social
workers. Case loads have reached proportions of such magnitude that social workers in
the field are battling to meet the needs of the people they serve, while still maintaining
high ethical and professional standards. The impact of HIV/AIDS on the field of social
work has currently redirected a major part of the focus of the profession on meeting the
needs of child-headed households, to find and train foster parents for these children and
generally to assist the poorest of the poor to access various grants applicable to their
circumstances.
This redirection appears also to have changed the emphasis regarding social work
training requirements. Whereas in the past the newly qualified social worker was able to
acquire additional skills in the workplace, under the guidance of experienced social
workers, today it would seem that the demands of the work place are such that the social
worker needs to take on significant responsibilities on entering the field. At the same
time the Department of Social Services in South Africa is encouraging universities to
increase the intake of social work students, in an attempt to meet this rising need for
personnel trained to meet the current requirements of the clients of social work services.
This exploratory research will focus on the applicability of UNISA (University of South
Africa) social work training to these current requirements of social work by tapping into
three different frames of reference:
1) The experiences and perceptions of the final year social work student in their
placement setting, and particularly on whether they have felt their UNISA training
equipped them for the work they are required to do.
2) The way the UNISA student is perceived by the practice setting personnel
(contact person), and whether they meet the requirements of the field setting.
3) Input from the UNISA appointed supervisors responsible for the final year social
work students' professional development in the field.The person-centred approach and the developmental approach have been briefly
discussed in relation to social work in South Africa in the literature review and form the
backdrop to this research, guiding the researcher in the exploration of the perceptions of
the three different types of respondents. Post-modern theory is also at the root of the
researcher's attempt to find fit between the different perceptions and the implications for
social work training at a distance learning institute in South Africa today. / Social Work / M. A. (Mental Health)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/1997 |
| Date | 30 June 2008 |
| Creators | Lawlor, Gwynneth Mary |
| Contributors | Van Delft, W.F. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (various pagings) |
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