Browsing by Author "Nyembezi, Sinazo"
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- ItemPerceptions of social workers on their role to advocate for social justice of sexual minorities(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03) Nyembezi, Sinazo; Zimba, Zibonele France; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Social Work.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Despite the fact that South Africa is regarded as progressive in terms of its legislation regarding sexual minorities, these minorities still face serious challenges and injustice on a daily basis. As the principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work, social workers play a crucial role in addressing the challenges faced by sexual minorities, and in advocating for these minorities’ social justice. Yet, little is known about the specific roles that social workers play in advocating for social justice of sexual minorities in practice. Therefore, the study intended to gain an understanding of social workers’ perceptions on their role to advocate for social justice of sexual minorities in the Western Cape. In this study, the term “sexual minority” refers to anyone who is attracted to or sexually active with persons of the same sex; whose gender identity differs in some way from their biological sex; or who otherwise selfidentifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. The study notes that advocacy can be used as a platform for social workers to link their practice with the profession’s aim of achieving social justice. Therefore, advocacy theory was used as a theoretical base for this study. Interviews were used to collect qualitative data from 16 social workers who had provided services to sexual minorities in practice. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of the empirical investigation show that social workers perceive their role in advocating for social justice of sexual minorities to include being an advocate, an educator and a broker. It is concluded that social workers lack theoretical knowledge of the roles they can play, using advocacy theory, to advocate for the social justice of sexual minorities. Therefore, it is recommended that social work practitioners need to stay up to date about current literature on advocacy.