Abstract
Supervision is a broad concept that is used within various professions, including the social work profession. Social work supervision is seen as the backbone of the profession and a critical phenomenon to be reflected on. Social workers are seen as essential role players within the welfare sector in delivering developmental interventions within the Department of Social Development. However, multiple studies have reflected shortfalls in supervision that contribute to poor service delivery. Although these studies have discussed different supervision approaches, there is limited information on studies conducted on the social development approach.
This study sought to explore the extent to which social work supervision facilitates the adoption of the social development practice approach at the Department of Social Development in Mpumalanga, Gert Sibande District. The study adopted a qualitative research approach, a case study design, and one-on-one semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data.
In addition, the explorative and descriptive research designs were also employed for this study. The explorative design was used to gain insights for future investigation of a research problem area (Rubin & Babbie, 2010), while the descriptive research presented a picture of the specific details of a situation (Babbie, 2013; Kumar, 2011). The sample was selected based on the qualifying participants’ availability, and for that reason, four social work supervisors and two social work supervisees were recruited. To ensure less subjectivity, the researcher conducted the study in other satelight offices within the Gert Sibande District.
The researcher adopted Braun and Clarke’s (2013) thematic analysis method to process data collected from participants. The study's findings reflected the recommendations related to the extent to which social work supervision facilitated the adoption of the social development practice approach at the Department of Social Development in Mpumalanga, Gert Sibande District, as there is minimal adoption of the social development approach in supervision.
The major themes that emerged from the research are, components of supervision and significance of supervision, participants' understanding of the social development approach, the practice of social work professionals regarding the social development approach, different theoretical approaches guiding supervision, and supervision in alignment with the principles of the social development approach[p, and enhancing the social development approach through supervision.
Key concepts: social work supervisor, social work supervisee, social work supervision and social development approach.