Maatskaplikewerkhulpverlening aan gesinne in egskeidingsituasies

[摘要] English: Divorce is a serious problem phenomenon that is increasing in our society, whilstnumeruous households in our community are affected by it. Insufficient information isavailable with regard to the type and extent of social work services that should berendered to families in divorce situations. The focus is essentially on specific areas suchas the legal aspects attached to divorce. There is no uniformity in social work servicesthat are rendered to families in divorce situations. The danger therefore might be thatthe family members should struggle on their own through the trauma of their divorcesituations. This issues therefore forms the motivation for the study.The focus was, during the literature study, on the theoretical foundation of socialconstructionism which was used as the conceptual framework for the study. Theliterature overview focuses further on the narrative approach which results from thesocial constructionism and has been utilized as a strategy during the study. Theliterature study also focused on the three most prominent divorce models described inthe literature as well as the most important services and resources which are availableto families in divorce situations. An overview was given about the meaning and realityconstructions which the different family members attached to their divorce situations.The literature overview was completed with a discussion of the participatory actionresearch which was used as research method during the empirical study.The literature study was supplemented with an empirical study according to a qualitativeinvestigation. Participatory action research was utilized as the method of research. Adultwhite males and �?females who were in the process of divorce, or either already beendivorced, as well as a limit number of some of the children of the participants wereinvolved in the research. Individual interviews, groupdiscussions and a workshop wereutilized to establish the needs and existing reality constructions of the participants.Groupdiscussions were done mostly on weekly basis and took approximately ninetyminutes per discussion. During the interaction processes and the action phase of theparticipatory action research, the narrative approach was utilized as strategy. The participants got the opportunity to define their problem dominated themes and toexternalized it by means of the utilization of the narrative approach. Unique outcomeswere identified gradually in the participants stories which were then again utilized as thebasis in the developing of new narratives. The new story includes specific outcomesand planning, focussed on the needs and problems identified by the participants. As theparticipants put into effect their actions and planning they succeeded in completing thetasks which were identified as relevant to cope with their divorce situation. The processof interaction which took place throughout the research lead to a continuous processthrough which participants changed and/or transformed their existing realityconstructions concerning their divorce situation. This resulted in behavioural change ofthe participants. The 'definitional ceremonies confirmed the new stories which werefacilitated through witnesses. 'Remembering conversations provided the opportunity toparticipants to arrange persons and resources in such a way that those who support thenew narratives becomes more prominent in their lives. During the 'taking it backpractices the contributions of participants to the life of the researcher wereacknowledged. The life of the researcher therefore was described more richly.In accordance with participatory action research, participants were recruited throughoutthe project and become part of the project for the divorced (or persons in the process ofa divorce) within the church community where the research was conducted. Theprocess of participatory action research became entangled with the process of socialwork service delivery to individuals and families in divorce situations in such a way thatthe research became a sustainable modus operandi towards such individuals. Thesocial worker could gradually take less responsibility for the process.The narrative approach seems to be an ideal stategy to implement participatory actionreseach and eventually, as in this research project, to render social work services tofamilies in divorce situations. As the process unfolds the participants were able tosuccessfully complete the tasks that are necessary to adjust to their divorce situation.

[发布机构] University of the Free State