The rights of child-headed households to care and protection: reflections of role players on social service delivery

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dc.contributor.advisorStrydom, Marianneen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorDiago, Niccoh en_ZA
dc.contributor.otherStellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Social Work.en_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2024-02-06T09:20:16Z
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-26T23:39:35Z
dc.date.available2024-02-06T09:20:16Z
dc.date.available2024-04-26T23:39:35Z
dc.date.issued2024-03
dc.descriptionThesis (DPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2024.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractENGLISH ABSTRACT: Across the world, there are many children who are left behind in child-headed households by their parents due to socio-economic challenges, illness, death, or general neglect. In South Africa, children living in child-headed households not only have to cope with going through life without their caregivers; they are also vulnerable to violence, abuse, crime, and a lack of social services. However, in terms of South African legislation and international treaties, social workers must ensure that child-headed households are cared for and protected. It was established that, in South Africa, there was no general research or research from a social work perspective on the rights of children in child-headed households to care and protection or about social services delivered to such households. This indicated that there was a possible lack of appropriate social services available to children living in child-headed households, which thus formed the topic of this study. In order to highlight the injustice, inequality, and poverty of child-headed households as well as how they are marginalised or excluded in society, the human rights-based perspective was applied in this study. This approach also served as a guide in the implementation of remedial strategies. To identify the possible services that should be rendered to child-headed households, based on the identified circumstances, the ecological systems perspective was further utilised. With this study a qualitative research approach was applied as it was an exploratory and a descriptive study within a purposive sample selection of seventeen social workers and five social worker supervisors in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Eastern Cape and one designated person of the provincial Department of Social Development. The primary research instrument utilised in this study and that was based on themes emerging from literature, was the semistructured interview schedule. Ten themes were derived from the participant interviews by way of thematic analysis. These themes were then further divided into subthemes and categories. The study revealed that children living in child-headed households were exposed to emotional difficulties and traumatic situations due to the loss of their parents, sexual abuse, and them having to assume adult responsibilities. It became clear that these children needed emotional support and nurturing households as well as counselling services. It was brought to light that other services, such as appointing adult caregivers and rendering family counselling services were difficult to deliver to these children due to social workers’ high caseloads and lack of resources such as vehicles. It was also found that these children received minimal support from extended families and as a result they were socially burdened and would engage in underage drinking and smoking, drop out of school, and in the case of girls, were vulnerable to early teenage pregnancy. It was revealed that, as these children were exposed to poverty and food deprivation and lived in inadequate shelters they needed sufficient income, sustainable food packages and adequate shelter. It was further found that child-headed households could not be regarded as a protective measure, as this form of household did not consider the best interests of these children because many of their rights were being infringed upon. This was exacerbated due to social workers who found it increasingly difficult to deliver social services to child-headed households as these social workers were exposed to multiple challenges, such as high caseloads, staff shortages, transportation shortages and limited funding. It is recommended that sufficient funding be provided to designated child welfare non-profit organisations and that more social workers should be employed to ensure that effective social services are delivered to children living in child-headed households. Finally, due to the grave and difficult circumstances that children of child-headed households are exposed to, there seems to be a need to revise and adapt the current legislation and consider children living in child-headed households to be children in need of care and protection in line with section 150(1) of the Children’s Act of South Africa.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractAFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dwarsoor die wêreld is daar talle kinders in huishoudings met ’n minderjarige aan die hoof waar ouers weens sosio-ekonomiese uitdagings, siekte, dood, of algemene verwaarlosing nie meer teenwoordig is nie. In Suid-Afrika moet kinders in huishoudings met ’n minderjarige aan die hoof, nie net hulle lewens aanpak sonder versorgers nie, hulle moet ook geweld, mishandeling, misdaad, en ’n tekort aan maatskaplike dienste hanteer. Kragtens Suid-Afrikaanse wetgewing en internasionale verdrae, moet maatskaplike werkers verseker dat huishoudings met minderjariges aan die hoof, versorg en beskerm word. Daar is vasgestel dat, in Suid-Afrika, daar geen algemene navorsing of navorsing vanuit die perspektief van maatskaplike werkers oor die regte van kinders in huishoudings met ’n minderjarige aan die hoof bestaan nie. Dit het daarop gedui dat daar ’n moontlike tekort is aan die beskikbaarheid van toepaslike maatskaplike dienste vir kinders wat in huishoudings met ’n minderjarige aan die hoof daarvan woon. Die beskikbaarheid van maatskaplike dienste aan hierdie huishoudings is dus die onderwerp van hierdie studie. Ten einde die onregverdigheid, ongelykheid, en armoede van huishoudings met ’n minderjarige aan die hoof, asook tot in watter mate hulle gemarginaliseerd of uitgesluit word deur die samelewing, uit te lig, is die menseregte-gebaseerde benadering in hierdie studie toegepas. Hierdie benadering het ook as gids gedien in die toepassing van remediërende strategieë. Gegrond op die omstandighede van huishoudings met ’n minderjarige aan die hoof is sekere dienste wat gelewer moet word aan die hand van die ekologiese sisteemperspektief geïdentifiseer. Aangesien die studie verkennend en beskrywend van aard was is ’n kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering toegepas binne ’n doelgerigte steekproef van sewentien maatskaplike werkers en vyf maatskaplike werker toesighouers in Limpopo, Mpumalanga en die Oos-Kaap en een aangewese persoon van die provinsiale Departement van Maatskaplike Ontwikkeling. Die primêre navorsingsinstrument wat in die studie aangewend is, is die semi-gestruktureerde onderhoudsskedule, welke skedule op die temas van die literatuurstudie gegrond is. Tien temas is vanuit die deelnemers se onderhoude afgelei by wyse van ’n tematiese analise. Hierdie temas is verder in subtemas en kategorieë verdeel. Die studie het aangedui dat kinders wat in huishoudings met ‘n minderjarige aan die hoof gewoon het, blootgestel is aan emosionele probleme en traumatiese situasies weens die verlies van hulle ouers, weens seksuele misbruik, en omdat hulle volwasse verantwoordelikhede moes aanvaar. Daar is voorts vasgestel dat hierdie kinders emosionele ondersteuning en koesterende huishoudings sowel as beradingsdienste benodig. Dit is uitgelig dat die lewering van dienste aan hierdie kinders deur maatskaplike werkers, soos die aanstel van volwasse versorgers en gesinsberading, bemoeilik is weens maatskaplike werkers se hoë gevalleladings en ’n tekort aan hulpbronne, soos voertuie. Daar is voorts bevind dat hierdie kinders die minimum ondersteuning van hul uitgebreide families ontvang, en dat hulle gevolglik swaar dra aan maatskaplike laste wat tot gevolg het dat hulle hul sou wend tot drank en sigarette, skool sou verlaat, en in die geval van meisies, kwesbaar was vir tienerswangerskappe. Daar is onthul dat, aangesien hierdie kinders aan armoede en voedseltekort blootgestel is en in onvoldoende blyplekke gewoon het, hulle voldoende inkomste en blyplekke en volhoubare kospakkies benodig. Daar is voorts gevind dat huishoudings met ’n minderjarige aan die hoof nie beskou kan word as ’n beskermingsmaatreël nie aangesien hierdie tipe huishoudings (met ’n minderjarige aan die hoof) nie die beste belange van die kinders bevorder nie, juis omdat daar op soveel van die kinders se regte inbreuk gemaak word. Hierdie situasie word vererger weens maatskaplike werkers se toenemende onvermoë om maatskaplike dienste aan huishoudings met ’n minderjarige aan die hoof te lewer omdat maatskaplike werkers verskeie uitdagings moet hanteer, soos hoë gevalleladings, tekort aan personeel, tekort aan voertuie en beperkte fondse. Dit word aanbeveel dat voldoende befondsing aan aangewese nie-winsnemende kinderwelsyns-organisasies verskaf word en dat meer maatskaplike werkers aangestel moet word om effektiewe maatskaplike dienste aan kinders van huishoudings met ’n minderjarige aan die hoof te lewer. Ten slotte, weens die ernstige en moeilike omstandighede waaraan kinders van huishoudings met ’n minderjarige aan die hoof blootgestel word, moet die moontlike hersiening en aanpassing van huidige wetgewing en beleide ernstig oorweeg word, asook dat kinders van huishoudings met ’n minderjarige aan die hoof as kinders wat versorging en beskerming nodig het kragtens artikel 150(1) van die Kinderwet van Suid-Afrika bestempel moet word.af_ZA
dc.description.versionDoctoralen_ZA
dc.format.extentxviii, 275 pages
dc.identifier.urihttps://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/130604
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherStellenbosch : Stellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.rights.holderStellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshYouth-headed households -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshChildren's rights -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshChild caregivers -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshLegal assistance to children -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshChild psychologyen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshChildren -- Services for -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.nameUCTD
dc.title The rights of child-headed households to care and protection: reflections of role players on social service deliveryen_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
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