Social welfare services offered at shelters to female victims of domestic violence
Date
2008-12
Authors
Van Zyl, Ann-Marie
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
An exploratory and descriptive research design was selected together with a
combination of both a quantitative and qualitative research approach to obtain the
necessary information, insight and knowledge regarding the social welfare services
offered to female victims of domestic violence in shelters. The motivation for this
investigation stemmed from the lack of information on social welfare services offered
to these female victims. The researcher became aware of this lack of information due
to the fact that only limited studies and investigations had been done into the social
welfare services offered to female victims of domestic violence within South Africa.
The goal of this study is therefore to gain a better understanding of the social welfare
services offered to female victims of domestic violence in shelters in order to provide
recommendations to social service practitioners for the improvement of social welfare
services in such circumstances.
The literature study firstly focused on the theories, conceptualisation and dimensions
of domestic violence in order to gain an understanding and knowledge base of the
theories that describe domestic violence, concepts that provide an understanding of
the phenomenon of domestic violence as well the dimensions of domestic violence.
Furthermore, the literature study focuses on the policies, legislations and the
government’s commitment to address domestic violence in South Africa. The primary
focus of the literature study was to investigate the social welfare services that are
offered to female victims of domestic violence in shelters.
The researcher contacted the Department of Social Development of the Western
Cape in order to identify the shelter organisations that offer social welfare services to
female victims of domestic violence and finally a purposive sampling was done of ten
shelters in the Western Cape Metropole area which offer social welfare services to
female victims of domestic violence. A qualitative and quantitative investigation was
performed by means of conducting semi-structured interviews with the aid of an
interview guide. The results of the investigation mainly confirmed the findings of the literature study
that domestic violence is an inherent part of the life in South Africa, also that
domestic violence has a variety of causes and consequences and that social welfare
services offered to female victims of domestic violence are an important part of the
process of empowerment in shelters.
The recommendations were aimed at services in shelters and professional persons
involved in the rehabilitation and empowerment of abused women during their
accommodation in the shelters. The recommendations also included further research
to explore the impact of these social welfare services on female residents, and to
address the areas where social welfare services fall short in order to provide insight
into the development of other social welfare services that are needed by female
residents when entering a shelter.
Description
Thesis (M Social Work (Social Work))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.
Keywords
Social services, Domestic violence, Women abuse, Shelters, Theses -- Social work, Dissertations -- Social work