IMPLEMENTING ABCD TOOLS AND PROCESSES IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL WORK STUDENT PRACTICE

Natalie Mansvelt

doi:10.15270/54-1-619

Abstract

Social workers tend to be apprehensive about macro-level work and community development, despite community development being a key strategy in developmental social welfare. All student social workers in South Africa are required to develop knowledge, skills and field practice experience in community development. This article explores the application of asset-based community-driven development (ABCD) in the context of field education. The learning diaries of second-year social work students were analysed in order to gain an understanding of students’ views and experiences of ABCD. The findings reveal that students respond positively to ABCD and start to appreciate the value of community development.

Highlights

Community development as an approach is well aligned to the purpose and principles of developmental social welfare (White Paper for Social Welfare, 1997) and has been taught at South African universities since the 1990s, when the developmental social welfare paradigm was first introduced
More than ten years later Weiss, Gal and Cnaan (2004) studied the preferences of social work students in Israel and the United States of America, and the results indicated that students least preferred working with vulnerable groups such as the unemployed
Community development as a macro-level strategy is aligned to developmental social welfare, social workers in general are reluctant to work on the macro level

Summary

Introduction

Community development as an approach is well aligned to the purpose and principles of developmental social welfare (White Paper for Social Welfare, 1997) and has been taught at South African universities since the 1990s, when the developmental social welfare paradigm was first introduced. Because of students’ time-bound and temporary involvement, the process is often experienced as overwhelming and demotivating for them It was these challenges that prompted one university to explore other approaches that could be taught to students in working developmentally with communities. The standards are underpinned by the developmental social welfare paradigm that was adopted for South Africa in the White Paper for Social Welfare (Department of Social Development, 1997). According to this paradigm, individuals, groups, families and communities must be empowered to actively participate in their own development (Department of Social Development, 2013;13). When institutions of higher education embark on training of social work students, the developmental social welfare paradigm must form the foundation of all teaching and learning activities

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion