Doctoral Degrees (Social Work)
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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Social Work) by Author "Khosa, Priscalia"
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- ItemImplementation of the supervision framework for the social work profession in South Africa by a designated child protection organisation(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-04) Khosa, Priscalia; Engelbrecht, Lambert Karel; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Social WorkENGLISH ABSTRACT: Supervision plays a significant role in social work because social work practice depends largely upon the organisation’s administrative structure, which includes supervisors to continue training new social workers and provide ongoing professional guidance. Despite the predominance of supervision within the social work profession, and the weight placed upon its role and function by policymakers, practitioners, and organisation managers alike, it remains an under-researched area of enquiry when it comes to evidence-informed supervision policies. In South Africa, the Supervision Framework for the Social Work Profession seeks to conceptualise, contextualise, and provide norms and standards that guide the execution of supervision in the country. However, since its inception in 2012, no study has been conducted on how the Supervision Framework is implemented in various organisations. Hence, the aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the stories of social workers in a designated child protection organisation regarding the implementation of the Supervision Framework. Given the knowledge gap and limited voices of social workers, a constructionist theoretical approach guided this study to explore the perspectives and stories of social workers and their supervisors on how the Supervision Framework is implemented in their organisation. This study employed a qualitative research approach. A case study research design that was exploratory and descriptive in nature was adopted in this study. Semi-structured telephonic interviews were conducted with 28 participants employed in a designated child protection organisation in the Western Cape of South Africa. Twenty social workers and 8 supervisors within the organisation were selected through purposive non-probability sampling. Data were analysed through thematic content analysis using ATLAS.ti qualitative data analysis software for coding and management of data. The findings of the study indicate that the case study of the child protection organisation may be regarded as a best practice example of the implementation of the Supervision Framework based on the linear stories of supervisors and frontline social workers. However, what is novel about this study is that it brings together previous findings, theory, policy, and legislation about the implementation of the Supervision Framework in a child protection organisation by further analysing the subtext stories of participants in line with the constructionist approach. Thus, although the organisation under study has thrived in developing a supervision policy and implementing the policy in line with the stipulations of the Supervision Framework, there remains challenges related to the dominance of the administrative function of supervision within the organisation and, in some instances, lack of emotional support. The key recommendation based on the study’s findings is that clinical supervision can be salvaged by introducing innovative ways of conducting supervision, such as peer supervision, to develop a community of supervision practice; by adopting an external supervision model to place the primary focus of supervision on clinical dimensions instead of administrative tasks; and by investigating the potential of online supervision in promoting the accessibility of supervisors.