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- Description:
- This paper describes the development of a training programme for people with no formal training in community work. A programme which would equip them for work in troubled townships and 'homelands' in South Africa. An attempt was made to develop a programme particularly relevant to the needs of South Africa, with emphasis on personal growth and participation, and on a problem posing and problem management approach. Details of some of the actual techniques and strategies used are given, with explanations of the underlying assumptions made by the training designers. The paper ends with a summary of the learning gained from the experience of developing the training programme.
- Date Issued:
- 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Journal of Social Development in Africa
- Description:
- The development of social work in Zimbabwe is closely tied to the country's colonial history, its orientation reflecting a wholesale transfer from the British experience. Social work in Zimbabwe developed as a response to urban social ills such as crime, prostitution and destitution. The philosophy of the colonial policy makers was that such social ills, if unattended, would undermine order and stability. Social work was, therefore, seen primarily as an instrument of social control, and never seriously addressed itself to the root causes of social problems. Since Zimbabwean Independence there has been a gradual shift towards developmental social work aimed at promoting social change. The Ministry of Community and Cooperative Development and a cross section of Non Government Organisations (NGOs) are involved in empowering rural communities and building their capacity for self reliance. However, the Department of Social Welfare, a major setting for social work practice in Zimbabwe, continues to be basically curative in orientation.
- Date Issued:
- 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Journal of Social Development in Africa
- Description:
- This article considers some of the factors involved in the modification of social work education and practice to suit the setting of a society in transition. The author describes a research project undertaken with students at the Hong Kong School of Social Work, with the purpose of designing a relevant skills training course suited to their actual work needs and requirements. The result indicates that student social workers are likely to opt for an eclectic model, constructed principally from Western theory, but drawing from the concrete reality of their own situations. The demands of time annd pragmatic considerations, as well as conservative attitudes, are likely to mean that uniquely 'indigenous' models are not developed. However the outcome most probably will be a workable amalgam of learned theory adjusted to suit practical realities encountered in the field.
- Date Issued:
- 1987-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Journal of Social Development in Africa
- Description:
- A critical challenge now facing social development education in Africa is the urgent need to specify, in concrete terms, the content of social development, to isolate the basic ingredients of the roles and tasks of social development practitioners, to determine the knowledge, skills and behaviour requirements of those roles and tasks, to design and produce the necessary teaching materials, and to arrange relevant field learning experiences.
- Date Issued:
- 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Journal of Social Development in Africa