Doctoral Degrees (Social Work)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Social Work) by browse.metadata.advisor "Slabbert, Ilze"

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    Experiences of adults with acquired physical disabilities of social work support in a South African context
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12) Muller-Kluits, Noreth; Slabbert, Ilze; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Social Work.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Almost every person will experience a form of impairment or disability at some point in their lives. Different types of impairment could occur at any given moment. In a New York University Hospital study with persons who acquired paraplegia, a four-stage process similar to the stages of grief identified by Kübler-Ross was identified for person with disabilities coming to terms with their disability, these being shock, denial, anger and depression. This correlation could assist in understanding the adjustments persons who acquire a disability later in life must make as they ‘grieve’ the life prior to the disability onset. It is further argued that the social worker’s task is to help people with disabilities through these adjustment phases. Taking this into account, the research question for this study was identified after a reviewing of previous research done on similar topics. The COVID-19 pandemic also influenced the research design and approach. Accordingly, this study stemmed from the research question: What are the experiences of adults with acquired physical disabilities with regards to social work support (especially in assisting them after they acquired the physical disability)? A combination of descriptive and exploratory research was implemented to answer this research question. The research study made use of a qualitative approach with some quantitative elements in terms of the identifying particulars of participants. Qualitative research is seen as a valuable social work approach. It is helpful in researching social problems and vulnerable populations. Further it allows for the social work profession to learn from those they serve. Both of these aspects were true for this study as the qualitative research was done in part with a vulnerable service user group (adults with an acquired physical disability) regarding their experiences of social work services. This information derived from the perspectives of these participants can be utilised to plan future social work services to this group. Within this research approach both deductive and inductive reasoning were used. The literature review in this research study took place over three chapters aligned with the first three objectives of the study. During the literature review similar studies were explored and discussed, although, there were no studies available with the same researchable variables as this study. Despite this limitation, the literature review provided valuable insight on similar topics. Due to the impact and restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the three methods that were decided on for this research study, once it was restructured to be done remotely, included cell phone calls, WhatsApp or Zoom. The research project took place with two Cohorts. The first Cohort included nineteen adults with acquired physical disabilities and the second five social workers who had experience working with persons with disabilities. While most participants were identified through purposive sampling some were included through snowball sampling. One participant from Cohort One also shared a story they had written on acquiring a disability which they offered to be used for the study. Another participant from Cohort Two did both a questionnaire interview (through e-mail) and an interview by means of Zoom. This essentially provided 26 sources with 24 participants. From the literature review and the empirical data collected six themes were developed. These themes include: biological experiences of adults with an acquired physical disability according to the biopsychosocial and ICF model, psychological experiences of adults with an acquired disability, support services used by adults with an acquired disability according to the ecological perspective, support needs of adults with an acquired disability according to the ecological perspective, cultural experiences of adults with an acquired disability within their community as well as social work support services to persons with acquired physical disabilities aligned with policies in South Africa. The themes were further divided into sub-themes and categories. The study provided conclusions and recommendations in the last chapter based on the findings of the empirical study. It was found that the participating organisation, provided services aligned with policies and the roles of the social worker. An overall bottom-up approach was suggested in service delivery and planning to adults with an acquired physical disability in terms of social work services. A few limitations to the study were discussed and recommendations for future studies made.
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    Intimate partner violence in Zimbabwe: Views of service providers contributing factors and implications for social work practice
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Matsika, Abel Blessing; Slabbert, Ilze; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Social Work.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major global challenge, and in Africa, IPV is particularly prevalent in sub-Saharan countries. IPV knows no cultural, ethnic, geographic, religious, social, or economic boundaries and is furthermore usually perpetrated by male partners who misuse their power. In Zimbabwe, despite progressive legislation to reduce violence against women, the number of IPV cases is growing. There are several factors that could contribute to IPV on a micro-, meso-, and macro-level. These factors need to be taken into consideration when social work and other related services are rendered to abused women. It is against this background that the study was conducted. The goal of the study was to gain an understanding of the views of service providers on factors contributing to intimate partner violence in Zimbabwe, and to explore the implications for social work intervention. In order to achieve this goal, five objectives were formulated and a qualitative study with an explorative and descriptive nature was conducted. The ecological perspective was chosen as a theoretical framework for this study. Ethical clearance was obtained before the researcher collected data in Hopley, a poverty-stricken area, 20 km outside of Harare. COVID-19 regulations were adhered to whilst the data were collected. Three cohorts were utilised during data collection. The first cohort was made up of key informants who were representatives of Government and NGOs or individuals who were implementing programmes to curb IPV in the research area. The fourteen key informants who took part in the study had to complete a semi-structured questionnaire that was emailed to them. The second cohort consisted of community popular opinion leaders who were active in the research area with the aim to empower women and who would report any abusive or discriminatory acts against women. In this cohort two face-to-face focus group discussions were conducted with 23 participants. The third cohort involved seven community popular opinion leaders (who were not part of the focus group discussions) with whom telephonic interviews were conducted. Thus, in total, 44 participants took part in this study. he data were analysed into six themes, namely understanding of IPV, types of IPV common in the study area, factors that contributed to IPV on a micro-level, factors that contributed to IPV on a meso-level, factors that contributed to IPV on a macro-level, and intervention strategies. These themes were further ordered into relevant sub- themes and categories. The data were also verified by making use of triangulation, member checks, and reflexivity. The main findings of the study indicate that there are several factors on a micro-, meso- and macro-level that contribute to IPV. It was also found that the intervention strategies to reduce IPV in the study area remained problematic due to the lack of resources and social work service rendering. Finally, it was concluded that social workers have a major role to play in the provision of services to victims and perpetrators of IPV on a primary, secondary, and tertiary level. The recommendations focus on the crucial role that social workers should play in rendering services in the IPV field and in other areas that concentrate on the empowerment of women, and specifically in vulnerable areas such as Hopley.
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    Social work services provided to children with physical disabilities in Lesotho: An ecological perspective
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Monne, Retselisitsoe; Slabbert, Ilze; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Social Work.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Children with physical disabilities fall under one of the most vulnerable population groups in the world. They face numerous challenges that prevent them from living normal lives and attaining opportunities to improve their quality of life. Social work services have been known to help them improve their wellbeing and to attain improved livelihoods. These are backed up by relevant policies which, if implemented, can improve the lives of children with disabilities. Social work services can be provided to children with physical disabilities at different ecological levels, namely the micro, meso and macro levels. The study was aimed at gaining an understanding of social work services provided to children with physical disabilities in Lesotho. To this end, the ecological perspective and some disability models were used as theoretical frameworks. The study used a qualitative research approach with some quantitative elements, as well as a combination of descriptive and explorative research designs to achieve the set research questions. Purposive sampling was used to select participants for data collection. Data were collected using telephonic and WhatsApp interviews due to the Covid-19 guidelines, which prevented face to face meetings. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 22 participants. Two focus group discussions were also conducted. The goal of the focus groups was to clarify any aspects of the data that were collected during the interviews, as well as to determine possible solutions. Each focus group consisted of five participants who had also formed part of the semi-structured interviews. The first focus group discussion was with social workers from NGOs and the second with social workers from the public sector. The focus group discussions were conducted via WhatsApp. Data were collected from social workers who have experience in providing social work services to children with physical disabilities in Lesotho. It was collected from 9 districts of Lesotho, which are Qacha’s Nek, Quthing, Mohale’s Hoek, Mafeteng, Maseru, Leribe, Botha-Bothe, Thaba Tseka and Mokhotlong. Empirical data were analysed through content analysis.
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    Uitdagings van maatskaplike werkers wat dienste lewer aan volwassenes met metamfetamienafhanklikheid in een landelike gebied
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Krige, Hannelie; Slabbert, Ilze; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Social Work.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Methamphetamine dependency has a detrimental effect in rural areas on a micro- meso- and macro level and poses health and social challenges. Social workers in rural areas are confronted with the complexity of methamphetamine dependency daily and have to render services in the midst of challenges that result in a continuous staff turnover in the programme. This study aimed to explore and describe the challenges of social workers who render services to adults with a methamphetamine dependency in one rural area. A qualitative research approach with some quantitative elements was followed in this study. All data were gathered online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The data were obtained through semi-structured interviews as well as two focus groups with twenty social workers as participants. The empirical findings were analysed to answer the research questions. Six themes with relevant sub-themes and categories were identified, namely the effect of methamphetamine dependency; the causes of methamphetamine dependency; the nature of service rendering to adults with a methamphetamine dependency; the challenges of social work in the methamphetamine dependency field and possible solutions for social work service rendering to adults with a methamphetamine dependency. This study found that methamphetamine dependency has devastating consequences for the adult on a micro level, dysfunctional families on a meso level and communities submersed in chaotic circumstances on a macro level. From the ecological perspective it was found that if individual and environmental factors, the physical and spiritual well- being as well as the social functioning have an adverse influence on an individual and the person-in-environment: fit will be imbalanced. This could be a risk for methamphetamine dependency. Such an imbalance that often leads to methamphetamine dependency increases the pressure on social work service delivery. It was further found that social work service delivery is insufficient in the rural areas, as the demand is higher than the services that are offered. Underlying to poor social work service delivery is that services are not developmental in nature and that cooperation and coordination of services are lacking. Furthermore, neoliberal implications are reflected in the poor social work service delivery, increasing chaotic work circumstances as well as challenging the social work profession. These findings further indicate the increased workloads of social workers, resulting in more pressure and burnout. Again, the important role of social work supervision as well as the function of training and support were highlighted that can act as a buffer against burnout, especially in a complex field such as methamphetamine dependency. The study thus found that it is not only the individual, the family and the community who are affected by methamphetamine dependency, but social workers who render services in this field also experience the negative impact on a micro-, meso- and macro level. The social workers’ knowledge and skills are challenged on a micro level. On a meso level, social workers experience inadequate working environments and on a macro level, the global business principles influence the social work profession, preventing an effective implementation of the developmental approach. Furthermore, rendering services in the methamphetamine dependency field adds to social workers’ feelings of burnout that results in inadequate social work services. There is also only a small portion of the rural areas that require services in this field that are reached, as the demand is bigger than the available social work services. This study has indicated how methamphetamine dependency challenges the social work profession as well as social workers’ professionalism. The overall conclusion is the necessity and relevancy of effective social work supervision and continuous professional development to help develop social workers’ professionalism to establish effective social work services in this challenging field of methamphetamine dependency.