Service user involvement in social work education : a juxtaposition of practices in England and South Africa
Date
2010-07
Authors
Engelbrecht, Lambert K.
Pullen-Sansfacon, Annie
Spolander, Gary
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Unisa Press
Abstract
Service user involvement in all aspects of social work education is increasing
rapidly in a number of countries worldwide and undergirds principles of
social development, a rights-based approach and citizen participation, which
are peculiar to social work in South Africa. However, the involvement of
service users beyond students' field work, practised as a mandatory
requirement in countries such as England, is not common in South African
social work education. With the aim to promote local debate on this
contemporary global topic, this article embarks on a literature informed
juxtaposition of contexts and practices in England and South Africa in order
to examine the potential applicability of service user involvement in South
African social work education. It is concluded in this article that although the
involvement of service users has the potential to bring “real life” into social
work education, the involvement of service users without extensive debate
and reflection would be ill-considered in the South African context.
Description
Please cite as follows:
Engelbrecht, L. K. 2010. Service user involvement in social work education : a juxtaposition of practices in England and South Africa. The Social Work Practitioner-Researcher, 22(2):154-170.
The original publication is available at http://www.uj.ac.za/EN/Faculties/humanities/departments/socialwork/TheSocialWorkPractionerResearcherJournal/Pages/Journal.aspx
Engelbrecht, L. K. 2010. Service user involvement in social work education : a juxtaposition of practices in England and South Africa. The Social Work Practitioner-Researcher, 22(2):154-170.
The original publication is available at http://www.uj.ac.za/EN/Faculties/humanities/departments/socialwork/TheSocialWorkPractionerResearcherJournal/Pages/Journal.aspx
Keywords
Social work education -- South Africa, Social work education -- England
Citation
Engelbrecht, L. K. 2010. Service user involvement in social work education : a juxtaposition of practices in England and South Africa. The Social Work Practitioner-Researcher, 22(2):154-170.