White Paper For Social Welfare Research Articles

Social workers' historical and contemporary understanding of the social development approach

Colonialism and apartheid influenced South African social welfare policies. After South Africa gained political freedom in 1994, democratic social welfare laws like the White Paper for Social Welfare were implemented (1997). Despite democratic social development initiatives, poverty, unemployment, and inequality marginalise most South Africans. Eurocentrism dominates social work practice and education with significant proposals for higher education decolonisation and indigenisation. Participatory action learning action research approach was used for this study (PALAR). PALAR uses critical, transformational, and democratic research methods to build a social work practice approach for African social systems in South Africa. For this research, an Afrocentric social work practice model was co-constructed for South Africa by black social workers who were purposefully and conveniently selected. The objective was to understand social workers' historical and present conceptualisations of the social development approach. Preliminary findings imply that social development does not address structural inequalities in South Africa, such as race and the land question. For example, after a decade of its adoption, the approach has not significantly addressed large-scale poverty and unemployment. Social development in practice is welfarist, disempowering, not community-based, and insensitive to African culture. Social development services are not adequately integrated. Social development in South Africa towards social welfare is a miscarriage; lacks relevance and appropriateness outside the Euro-North American axis and remains Eurocentric in all aspects. The social development approach does not represent the African values system and nor relatable to the African social systems. South African social work needs to be reimagined. Indigenous knowledge systems need to take precedence to realise relevance of social work practice approaches in South Africa. An Afrocentric turn to social work practice for South Africa's relevance is a viable answer. How to cite this article using ASWNet style Ntloko, N. A. J. (2023). Social workers' historical and contemporary understanding of the social development approach. People centred – The Journal of Development Administration (JDA), 8(2), 48. Social Work and Development Student Conference (SWDSC), 16 June 2023. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jda.v8i2.6 Conference Abstract Social Work and Development Student Conference (SWDSC) Held on 16 June 2023, Day of the African Child (DAC) Organised by Africa Social Work and Development Network (ASWDN) Conference Organising Committee: Danzel Rademan, University of the Free State, South Africa (Chairperson); Atuhairwe Collins, Student, Master of Social Work, Makerere University, Uganda (ViceChairperson); Never Winnie James Sebit, South Sudan; Bachelor in Social Work, RCSS, India (Secretary); Tatenda Sukulao, Bachelor of Social Work, Midlands State University, Zimbabwe (Vice-Secretary); Norman T. Manyika, Student, Bachelor of Social Work, University of Zimbabwe (Committee member) and Takudzwa Banda, Bachelor of Social Work, University of Zimbabwe (Committee member). Visit journal website: https://jda.africasocialwork.net

Reflecting on the Human Rights of Older Persons in South Africa

This paper reflects on the human rights of older persons in South Africa and considers the manner in which they are violated, despite the country having a progressive Constitution that enshrines such rights. It interrogates this paradox while taking into account South Africa’s rights-based approach to service provision. In regard to older persons, South Africa’s social welfare policy, which is spelt out in the White Paper for Social Welfare (Government Gazette 386, No. 18166, 1997), guides the provision of welfare services to these citizens, from a rights-based perspective. However, there seems to be a disjuncture between what is professed in the country’s Constitution and social welfare policy, and what is actually happening in the daily lives of older persons. Hence, the paper critically analyzes this contradiction.

THE EIGHT HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY SOCIAL WORKERS: A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

Much has changed in the 10 years since the publication of the White Paper for Social Welfare in February 1997. The boundaries of knowledge and expertise on the delivery of developmental social work services have been expanded and the general field of social development has been subjected to intense analysis and continual reconceptualisation. Perhaps the time has come for the social work fraternity to start asking what has been learnt in the past decade. It is especially pertinent to know which factors determine success and failure in developmental social work in general and community work in particular and what makes some community social workers so effective while others fail. The latter half of this question prompted a research project in which Stephen R. Covey’s (1989) basic approach in determining “The 7 habits of highly effective people” was used to ascertain the equivalent habits of highly effective community social workers. The procedure that was followed and the results that were achieved will be covered in this article

CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES: A PRIMARY INTERVENTION FOR CONTINUOUS TRAUMATIC STRESS IN SOUTH AFRICA: A CASE STUDY

Many mainstream conceptual models guiding post-trauma intervention have been developed, andare utilised in accordance with theoretical and professional orientation. In many of these modelsthe response to trauma has come to be postulated as an internal phenomenon. Conceptually, thestress response has been separated from its original source in the external environment, and hasbeen located in the individual (Hobfoll, 1998; Monnier & Hobfoll, 2000). Medical or pathologybasedresponses to trauma often highlight deficiencies in the traumatised individual, who istreated by the “expert” psychiatrist or psychologist, based on the needs the specialist identifies. InSouth Africa, an exception is the social work profession, where a developmental approach hasbeen applied to South African policy and intervention since 1997 when the White Paper forSocial Welfare was formulated (Ministry for Welfare and Population Development, 1997).

INTERPRETING USERS’ EXPERIENCES OF SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE WESTERN CAPE USING A NORMATIVE FRAMEWORK

The South African government recognises its role in delivering services for addressing povertyand does so through social security and social development programmes based in differentservice delivery organisations (White Paper for Social Welfare, 1997). The importance ofascertaining the views of social service users is becoming more prevalent in human servicedelivery and has been established particularly in the fields of mental health and disability and inthe new social movements (Beresford & Croft, 2004). For example, in the United Kingdomservice users are increasingly participating in the education, training and assessment of socialwork students, in research and in wider decision making, such as participation in social policydevelopment (Beresford, Page & Stevens, 1994; Cornwall & Gaventa, 2001a; Hanley, 2005;Joans & Gaventa, 2002; Levin, 2004). Over the past two decades new legislation has made theparticipation of service users a requirement in the planning and development of services;however, it has been found that exclusionary structures within organisations, institutionalpractices and professional attitudes affect the extent to which change can by achieved by serviceusers (Carr, 2007).

THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC REALITIES OF THE SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

When a tertiary institution such as the University of South Africa (Unisa) agrees to offer training for a profession such as social work, it accepts the responsibility of educating students according to the minimum standards of the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree as registered at the South African National Qualification Framework (NQF). These requirements include a body of knowledge, required practical skills and the values and ethics of the profession. Social work is a profession which focuses on people and their socio-economic context. It is regulated by its professional Council, the South African Council for Social Service Professions (SACSSP), which expects the training institutions to deliver a certain quality of professional who can work together with troubled and marginalised people, facilitate processes with groups and communities in order to meet their basic needs, and improve their livelihoods, based on the principles of respect for people, social justice and equality. The training of social workers in South Africa is also largely determined by the South African context and the policies that guide the type of service delivery, e.g. the South African Constitution, Bill of Rights (Act 108 of 1996) and the developmental approach to welfare, i.e. the White Paper for Social Welfare (RSA, 1997). According to Van Delft (2002), the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997) and the Financing Policy (1999) changed the face of social welfare in South Africa from a residual model to a developmental model. Within the South African context, the focus of service delivery is aimed at the poor and unemployed, those with HIV/Aids, those that have been affected by crime and violence, pregnant teenagers, malnutrition, low levels of literacy and education, abuse and neglect, poor housing and public health, women and children, people with disabilities and the aged.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FAMILY PRESERVATION SERVICES: PERSPECTIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS AT NGOs

According to the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997), one of the goals of child and familywelfare services in social work is to maintain and strengthen the functioning of high-riskfamilies in order to enhance their physical, social and emotional development. Familypreservation is a strategy to empower families to enhance the optimal development of childrenand to prevent the statutory removal of children from their families. To avoid this removal thefocus of social workers, when rendering family preservation services, must first be onprevention services, then on early intervention services and last on statutory services in order toimplement a developmental social service policy (Department of Social Development, 2006:20,Ministry for Welfare and Population Development, 1997:62).

FACILITATING INTEGRATED SERVICE DELIVERY VIA NETWORKING FORUMS: LESSONS FROM A CASE STUDY

At the dawn of democracy in South Africa in 1994 the government inherited a welfare system that was fragmented because of apartheid institutional arrangements. Collaboration between different government departments and organisations within civil society was almost non-existent. A silo culture was prevalent as a result of haphazard service delivery efforts, which led to ineffective and inefficient service delivery. Given the disjointed nature of service delivery within social welfare as well as other sectors of the economy, urgent measures were needed to ensure that the population benefits from well-coordinated and holistic service delivery efforts (White Paper for Social Welfare, 1997). It is in this context that the notion of integrated service delivery (ISD) became a national buzzword. There was political pressure for government departments as well as organisations within civil society to ensure that integration of services was promoted at all costs. As a part response to this call, the Department of Social Development (DSD) introduced the idea of networking forums. Several government departments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) participate in these networking forums. Monthly meetings are held where stakeholders from different NGOs and government departments discuss and formulate coordinated responses to service delivery within particular geographical areas of operation. Thus, through these monthly meetings a platform for networking between NGOs, the DSD and other government departments is created which allows sharing of information and initiation of coordinated efforts in serving the communities within their demarcated radius of operation. This article examines how these networking forums pioneered by the DSD have been instrumental in enhancing integrated service delivery.

COMMUNITY BASED FAMILY SUPPORT SERVICES FOR FAMILIES AT-RISK: SERVICES RENDERED BY CHILD AND FAMILY WELFARE ORGANISATIONS

In accordance with South African policy documents and legislation (Department of Social Development, 2004; Children’s Act 38 of 2005, Section 2(a)White Paper for Social Welfare, 1997) social work service delivery to families where child abuse and neglect occur, must be focused mainly on family preservation through rendering preventative and early intervention services thereby preventing statutory services. Preventative services are, as directed by the ISDM (Department of Social Development, 2006), the primary level of service delivery, by linking families to resources which can limit risky behaviour and to implement a developmental welfare policy. Strong focus is placed on the development of resources in communities to support families and to build capacity, before family crises could develop (Department of Social Development, 2006). Within this context the purpose of this article is to investigate the support (prevention) services available to at-risk families at family welfare organisations to prevent the removal of children and to enhance family preservation.

TOWARDS THE RECONCEPTUALISATION OF SOCIAL WELFARE IN SOUTH AFRICA: AN ANALYSIS OF RECENT POLICY TRENDS

INTRODUCTION Nearly 20 years have elapsed since the heady days of South Africa’s first democratic elections and the publication of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), the document that was intended to chart the country’s future development (ANC, 1994:1). It was soon followed by the White Paper for Social Welfare, which would help “realise the relevant objectives” of the RDP through the use of developmental social welfare (MWPD, 1997:5,68). Developmental social work would constitute the profession’s specific contribution to the developmental approach and, ultimately, to practice (Patel, 2005:206-210).

An Integrated Developmental Model for Poverty Reduction in South Africa: An NGO's Perspective

For most of its 17 years of democracy, South Africa fight against poverty has been fragmented and uncoordinated. South Africa adopted a developmental social welfare policy in the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997). The SAVF (South African Women's Federation), a welfare sector NGO, has designed an integrated development model for social work to address poverty holistically. The model's 6 pillars are discussed, with reference to their application in the Thuthukani project. Conclusions will be based on a discussion of the value of the SAVF model in demonstrating its relevance as an antipoverty strategy within a developmental social welfare approach.

Getting it Right and Wrong: An Overview of a Decade of Post-Apartheid Social Welfare

This article reviews the progress made and discusses the challenges for social welfare and social work in a post-apartheid society since the adoption of the White Paper for Social Welfare a decade ago. Much has been achieved in setting a developmental welfare policy agenda. An expansive social security system is contributing to a reduction in poverty and inequality and enhanced human capacity with direct human development benefits for beneficiaries and their households. However, less progress has been realised in the repositioning of social welfare services and social work practice from a remedial to a developmental approach. The South African experience highlights the lessons learnt from the renewal of social welfare and social work in keeping with developmental thinking.

The constitutionality of the right to social security in South Africa: the case of South African women

This paper contributes to the current debate on the constitutionality of South African's poor to social security through the examination of the relevant constitutional provisions, the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997), Social Assistance Act (1992), and the Taylor Committee Report (2002). The paper argues that although there are provisions within these legal frameworks, there are also phrases which reiterate the progressive implementation of these provisions. The government is therefore using them as a defense mechanism against the introduction of the basic income grant. The paper concludes that the recommendation of the Taylor Committee Report (2002) should be adhered to if poverty is to be reduced in South Africa as well as the full respect of the rights of the poor as enshrined in the constitution and other legal frameworks.African Journal of Cross-Cultural psychology and sport facilitation (AJCPSF) Vol. 9 2007: pp. 12-25

South African Social Welfare Policy: An Analysis Using the Ethic of Care

New policies have been developed in South Africa since the demise of apartheid. This article examines one of these policy documents - the White Paper for Social Welfare - using the lens of a feminist political ethic of care. The ethic of care is used to trace the normative framework of this policy document and to make judgements about how adequately issues of care, welfare and citizenship are dealt with. Policy texts display authoritative ways of talking about care and contain a range of gendered assumptions in the way that they represent social practices of care. The article proposes that the White Paper for Social Welfare inserts care principally into a familialist framework. This framework does not address current South African social problems in an adequate manner, nor does it correspond with social justice principles that are endorsed in the White Paper. The contribution that the ethic of care can make in solving the problems that are identified in the analysis of the White Paper for Social Welfare is elaborated on. It is proposed that care should be positioned in notions of citizenship rather than family or community. In this way, the responsibility for care would be deprivatized and made a common concern, centrally placed in human life.