Doctoral Degrees (Political Science)
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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Political Science) by Author "Chibaya, Nyasha Hillary"
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- ItemVoices of social workers on their perceived roles in social protest actions(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Chibaya, Nyasha Hillary; Engelbrecht, L. K.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Social Work.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: From its infancy and throughout its historical development, social work has always been synonymous with the pursuit of human rights and social justice for the most vulnerable. Human rights and social justice are complex and discursive concepts, however, and their interpretation is seldom uniform. Indeed, historically as at present, contention between problem solving and broader social activism persists in the social work arena. This split is best characterised by those who view social work as technical and apolitical, and those who engage with contextual questions. Radical perspectives in social work, unlike conservatives, suggest that social issues should be viewed together within social, political, economic and historical contexts. Proponents of radical social work endorse the development of a critical consciousness that allows for the perception of social and political contradictions. Critical analysis considers social problems experienced by the poor to be a product of unresponsive structures and discriminatory systems. The Global definition of social work acknowledges this, and mandates social workers to engage in social action to attain social change for the vulnerable. Social workers across the globe have been engaging in collective action to defend welfare states for the vulnerable. In South Africa, despite being dubbed the world’s protest capital, and being host to extreme inequality and poverty amongst the poor majority, similar actions by social workers have been scant, if undertaken at all. This has raised serious questions regarding the perceptions of social workers on their roles in social protest actions within South Africa’s social development context. A qualitative research approach was followed to gain an informed understanding of the opinions of social workers regarding their roles in social protest actions. Descriptive, exploratory and instrumental case study research designs were implemented to elicit invaluable reflections from participants. Snowball and purposive sampling was utilised to recruit 27 participants from four sampling cohorts, who were interviewed via semi-structured online and telephonic interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis was utilised to examine the collected data that is presented under three key themes. Notwithstanding the progress that social work has achieved to date in South Africa, the study highlights the need for more and far reaching social work interventions for the poor majority. Macro interventions aimed at untangling the systemic and structural sources of social problems are key to attain social transformation in South Africa. For authentic engagement in social activism for social change, the relationship between social work and the state needs to be reconsidered. Further, because of the inevitability of conflict in efforts towards change, social work institutions need to provide clear protection and support systems that promote the legal and ethical mandate for social workers to engage in activism for the poor majority’s human rights and social justice. Key conclusions and implications for practice suggest that, in determining an informed course of action and role of social workers in social protest actions, they must critically and continually engage with the contextual realities of the poor and vulnerable, the discursive concepts of human rights and social justice, and social work ethics.