Abstract
M.A.
A new welfare policy which introduced the developmental approach in the welfare
system was implemented during 1997 in South Africa. The developmental approach
encourages the introduction of social programs that contribute directly to economic
development in the communities.
Developmental social welfare implies a variety of role players in a system of social
services which focus on social development. Social workers happen to be one of them.
A developmental social welfare policy implies that social work should shift focus of
attention to strategies that would contribute to social development.
The extent of basic development needs in our country demands that social workers
should clearly define their roles and outputs at this point in time so as to address these
needs and outline their distinctive professional contribution in a social welfare system
within socio-economic development.
The focus of this people-driven, people-centred approach is on developing human
capacity and self-reliance within an enabling environment. The community development
process has a major contribution to make in realizing this objective. For community
development to take place, people need to act collectively. People need to be organized
in the community so that they can be able to function as a unit.
Through community development, social workers unleash people's collective potential,
build their capacity and help them to organize themselves around common concerns.
However, social workers need to recognize the role played by economic factors in
development initiatives.
Realizing that the new developmental approach was just been introduced to social
workers, this study seeks to explore and describe the attitude of social workers towards
this paradigm shift.