Abstract
This research study was aimed at exploring and describing the views and experiences of social work supervisors concerning the practice of social work supervision at the Department of Social Development, Mahikeng Service Point. The main objectives of the study were: to elicit the views and experiences of social work supervisors on the practice of social work supervision in Mahikeng Service Point; to explore and describe the extent to which participants prioritise social work supervision; to elicit views of social work supervisors on the impact of social work supervision (or lack thereof) on facets of the agency including the service users, the attainment of the agency mandate, the supervisor and the supervisee and to make recommendations to social service agencies regarding the practice of social work supervision.
The research question that guided the study was as follows: What are the views and experiences of social work supervisors regarding the practice of social work supervision at the Department of Social Development, Mahikeng Service Point?
The study employed a qualitative research approach and a qualitative descriptive research design. A total of ten social work supervisors participated in the study. The researcher utilized semi-structured interviews as the data collection method. The researcher adopted Braun and Clarke’s (2012) thematic analysis as a method to process data gathered from the participants.
The research findings indicated that the social work supervisors experience various challenges that prevent them from practising supervision as per the requirements in the supervision framework. High caseload, lack of training and support, and limited understanding of the functions of social work supervision are among other problems encountered by the social work supervisors at the Department of Social Development, Mahikeng Service Point. Recommendations are provided to ensure that the practice of supervision at the Department of Social Development, Mahikeng Service Point is improved for the benefit of the service users and to achieve the agency mandate.