Utilization of community work to empower poor families

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:As poverty is becoming a growing concern in South Africa, poor families should not beseen as service recipients but more concern should be directed to their empowerment.Community work is an essential method to utilize for the empowerment of poor familiessince it involves working with people from individual up to community level. TheDepartment of Social Development does not have guidelines based on the utilization ofcommunity work; as a result this method is not utilized to its full potential.The purpose of the study was to formulate guidelines on the utilization of communitywork on the family level. In order to achieve this aim, the objectives of this study, whichmainly focused on describing the socio-economic circumstances of the poor families andthe utilization of community work, were explored.An exploratory study was utilized in order to achieve the stated goal and objectives. Thepopulation for the study consisted of practicing social workers in the Department ofSocial Development. Purposive sample was used. The research methodology was aquantitative design with a data collection instrument being in the form of a questionnaire.To be able to gain insight about the utilization of community work, the questionnaireconsisted of both closed and open-ended questions.Literature review enabled the researcher to compile a questionnaire. The empirical studyfocused on the knowledge and skills of social workers in utilizing community work. Inaddition, data was obtained on the community work process as a main procedure tofollow when implementing community work. Despite the respondents' theoreticalknowledge of community work, it was concluded that community work is utilized at aminimal level. The most utilized social work method by the respondents is casework. Thereason for the lack of community work practice is based on the fact that the Departmentof Social Development does not have guidelines with regards to community work.It was recommended that the Department of Social Development should formulate a newregulation that will oblige the social workers to practice community work. In-servicetraining should be held quarterly. Supervision should be offered regularly. Relevantqualification and extensive social work experience should be considered as a minimumrequirement for managerial positions.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University