Lambert Engelbrecht

• Stellenbosch University

This article reports on qualitative research, aimed at acquiring an understanding of what transpires in an individual social work supervision session in South Africa. Findings reveal that supervision sessions are chiefly “open door” and “on the run”, with minimal evidence of critical reflection. A key recommendation stresses that the evolution of s...

Social work has always been associated with the promotion of human relationships, equality and social justice. In consequence, proponents of radical social work advocate for the development of a critical consciousness in all members of civil society, to allow for the perception and exposure of social, economic and political contradictions. This sub...

Social work supervision has over time, been understood to be the spinal column of the social work profession. This assertion comes at the backdrop of an understanding that any unsupervised practice encumbers the practitioner’s clinical development with a ripple effect on the appropriateness and quality of interventions. Over the course of time, som...

While social welfare policy forms a cornerstone of the social work profession, economic policy and its interactions often remain distant and of academic interest only. In this paper the authors argue that understanding how economic policy is impacting upon the profession is important for its day-to-day practice. This has become ever more apparent i...

Social workers have always championed human rights, advocated social justice and have promoted the development of human relationships. Proponents of radical social work specifically promote critical consciousness in social movements, which allows for the perception and exposure of social, economic and political contradictions by means of various fo...

Social workers all over the world have increasingly expressed concerns about the diminishing availability and poor quality of supervision. This has been a consequence of various global neoliberal discourses, resulting in, among other things, a managerial focus on effectiveness and efficiency in supervision. Existing research in social work supervis...

This book is a timely review of scholarship in social work supervision; re-examining the state of knowledge, research and practice; and asking if it is time for a new paradigm for the field. The contributors present a universal paradigm in social work around what we understand social work to be, not only through its practice of supervision but als...

The Life Esidimeni crisis in South Africa is a shocking tragedy in which an estimated 141 mental health patients died after being transferred to some unlicensed non-government organisations (NGOs), as a result of the termination of a government-subsidised contract. The subsequent public arbitration hearings cast blame upon certain individuals, but...

South African welfare policies, like those of many other countries in the world, are influenced by global economic trends directing neoliberal policy implementation. The adoption of neoliberalism in South African government policies has elicited criticism (Holscher & Sewpaul, 2006; Mindry, 2008). Although the literature (Abramovitz, 2012; Spolander...

Changes in the social and economic landscape for NGOs are distinctly recognised in Spain and South Africa as a result of comparable formative and historical social welfare provision. NGOs in both countries are under siege, operating in the line of two fires, namely the global financial crisis, and the implementation and advancement of a neoliberal...

The revised global definition for social work promotes the profession’s commitment to social change and development, social cohesion and the empowerment and liberation of people. By reviewing the implications of this definitional shift and locating this within existing influential social work ontological models, the implications for social work wit...

Ná twintig jaar van demokrasie is Suid-Afrika steeds 'n verdeelde samelewing met grootskaalse armoede en hoë vlakke van kwesbaarheid. Ontwikkeling van alle sektore van die samelewing word deur die Regering as oplossing gesien. Deur middel van die Departement Maatskaplike Ontwikkeling se finansieringsbeleid (Departement van Maatskaplike Ontwikkeling...

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A dilution, and eventual denigration, of the social work profession, such as through the practice of social workers being managed by non-social workers, can increasingly be traced to neoliberal utterances and resultant managerial discourses. Social workers may unwittingly be contributing to the handover of management practices to non-social workers...

Macro-economic policy shapes and structures social welfare policy, services, and their implementation. As a result, the commoditisation of social welfare services and the use of markets as well as private sector management philosophies and tools have colonised and fashioned the design, provision and implementation of social welfare policy and struc...

This article reports research that was undertaken to uncover generalisations pertaining to the migration of South African social workers to the United Kingdom (UK). The intention was to identify challenges for the future contribution of social service providers in South African if local social workers are to be retained in the country. In the South...

The near global implementation of public sector and social welfare reform as a result of neoliberal economic reform has impacted on social work and social inequality. State strategies to reduce social and economic inequality are being challenged and rolled back. This article uses the reflections from a six-country EU-funded social work research col...

This article aims to develop an understanding of the scope of financial literacy education by addressing the question whether the social work profession could contribute to the financial literacy education of vulnerable people. The contribution of social work to financial literacy education could be substantiated, based on the profession's theoreti...

This article reports on research grappling with the question on what social workers, working within a social development paradigm, do to assist households who are caught in a debt trap. A combined qualitative and quantitative exploratory study was conducted with 74 registered social workers rendering services to 10 951 households and representing a...

This paper reports on exploratory research drawing on an historical analysis of social work supervision in South Africa and a qualitative inquiry into supervision practices of supervisors in an NGO environment. The aim was to examine the interplay between the development, current practices and future challenges of social work supervision. The resea...

INTRODUCTION Kadushin (1992:230-231) drew a parallel between the supervision of social workers and making music: is supervision just a random sounding of notes, serving to mask incompetence, or is it tuneful music, conducive to social workers’ best efforts? This analogy may be considered to reflect the emergence of new public management measures as...

This article seeks to reflect on knowledge and experiences gained from an International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES). Challenges and opportunities inherent in the development and management of a large-scale international research project in social work are explored. Through a synthesis of conceptual frameworks a process model for internat...

The growing discourse on neoliberal ideas and the resulting new public management measures have an immense impact on the management and leadership models employed at social welfare organisations all over the world; and call for a critical theory beyond a deficits approach as an interpretative framework. In response, this article propounds a strengt...

The interchangeable and uncritical use of concepts such as coaching, mentoring and consultation without theoretical substantiation may be regarded as a neoliberal tendency, resulting in misinterpretation and detrimental role confusion. This article seeks to address the similarities and/or differences in coaching, mentoring and consultation as super...

The ACVV was the first formal welfare organisation in South Africa, and was officially instituted in 1904. The laudable contribution made by this organisation towards the establishment of sophisticated social welfare services and structures was however eclipsed by the fact that these services were in the main focused on poor whites. It is against t...

Globalized labour mobility has led to questions regarding the degree to which social work education in one country can be applicable to practice in another. This paper examines social work education programmes and practice contexts in South Africa, England and Canada as examples through which to examine this question.

International migration of social workers has had, in recent years, a substantial influence on the political agenda of different countries in the world, and is fraught with challenges. In some countries, recruitment of internationally qualified social workers has even become an important strategy to meet staffing demands and to fill shortages in th...

The global financial crisis: response of social workers to the financial capability of vulnerable households in South Africa The current global financial crisis is regarded as the worst economic slowdown since the Second World War. As social workers have traditionally been primarily concerned with issues relating to social risk, the question arises...

Drawing on research, we contextualize social work and describe the role of supervisors in child welfare settings in South Africa, England and Sweden. Exploratory frameworks and models of supervision illustrate how it has been influenced by principles of New Public Management and the concluding discussion proposes an agenda for change.

The growing discourse on neoliberal ideas and the resulting new public management measures have an immense impact on the management and leadership models employed at social welfare organisations all over the world; and call for a critical theory beyond a deficits approach as an interpretative framework. In response, this article propounds a strengt...

A significant number of people in South Africa who are accommodated within the social welfare system, display a lack of understanding of financial matters and are therefore financially vulnerable. In South Africa, social welfare policy initiatives are directed by the White Paper for Social Welfare and are primarily focussed on the socio-economic ne...

This article reports on an exploratory descriptive study that examined ten social workers’ perceptions of their war on poverty and the challenges in constructing a conceptual framework for the development of a Social Community Education for Economic Literacy Development (SCEELD) programme. It was found that the social workers were knowledgeable abo...

English In South Africa it is essential that the cultural diversity of the social work student population be accommodated in supervision. This is possible if cultural friendliness forms the foundation of support in supervision. Cultural friendliness is a disposition that forms part of the supervisor's identity. French En Afrique du sud, il est esse...

The purpose of this paper is to construct perspectives on community education as a model of community work by unpacking the knowledge of community education that exists in social work, and packaging it in the context of social work's response to contemporary risk issues, in order to identify implications for social work education and practice. This...

Thesis (DPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. Includes bibliographical references.