The implementation of the white paper for social welfare in the NGO sector
- Patel, Leila, Hochfeld, Tessa, Graham, Lauren, Selipsky, Lisa
- Authors: Patel, Leila , Hochfeld, Tessa , Graham, Lauren , Selipsky, Lisa
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Non-governmental organisations , Social welfare - South Africa
- Type: Report
- Identifier: uj:6608 , ISSN 978-0-86970-664-0 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8272
- Description: South Africa adopted a developmental approach to social welfare in line with the United Nations World Declaration on Social Development in 1995 (United Nations 1996). This African experiment with developmental social welfare is an ambitious one given the country’s complex social, cultural, economic and political history, which has shaped the character of the welfare system. The welfare model inherited from the past was inequitable, discriminatory and relied on inappropriate and unsustainable methods of service delivery. It was ineffective in addressing mass poverty and in meeting the basic needs of the majority of the population (Patel, 2005). Social policy was modelled on Western European institutional or ‘welfare state’ policies for whites and a residual system for Blacks. A new national social welfare consensus was forged in the mid-1990s and the social development perspective to social welfare was adopted and implemented. The new policies brought together the positive strands of social welfare theory and practice locally and globally which were integrated with country specific conditions to produce a South African policy that is unique. The White Paper for Social Welfare set the developmental welfare policy framework and informed the redesign of the system (Department of Welfare and Population Development, 1997). Since the adoption and implementation of the new welfare paradigm, significant changes have been noted in the policy and legislative domain (Patel and Selipsky, forthcoming), in the ending of racial discrimination in access to services and benefits, and in the creation of an integrated social welfare system. Two key programmes, namely social security and welfare services, are mandated by the policy. The social grants system has been widely acclaimed as the country’s most effective poverty reduction programme in comparison with slower progress in the transformation of welfare services from a remedial and social treatment approach to a developmental one. Despite these positive developments, institutional challenges in the administration of social development continue to hamper effective service delivery. The gap between policy goals and aspirations and the actual achievement of tangible changes in the quality of the lives of the majority of South Africans remains a significant challenge. Rising unemployment, food prices and poverty coupled with the escalation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and increasing levels of violence, crime and xenophobia place additional demands on welfare organisations to deliver services. The human development situation of the population as a whole is also impacted by the global economic and national down turn in the economy and by how current political changes in the society are managed.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Patel, Leila , Hochfeld, Tessa , Graham, Lauren , Selipsky, Lisa
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Non-governmental organisations , Social welfare - South Africa
- Type: Report
- Identifier: uj:6608 , ISSN 978-0-86970-664-0 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8272
- Description: South Africa adopted a developmental approach to social welfare in line with the United Nations World Declaration on Social Development in 1995 (United Nations 1996). This African experiment with developmental social welfare is an ambitious one given the country’s complex social, cultural, economic and political history, which has shaped the character of the welfare system. The welfare model inherited from the past was inequitable, discriminatory and relied on inappropriate and unsustainable methods of service delivery. It was ineffective in addressing mass poverty and in meeting the basic needs of the majority of the population (Patel, 2005). Social policy was modelled on Western European institutional or ‘welfare state’ policies for whites and a residual system for Blacks. A new national social welfare consensus was forged in the mid-1990s and the social development perspective to social welfare was adopted and implemented. The new policies brought together the positive strands of social welfare theory and practice locally and globally which were integrated with country specific conditions to produce a South African policy that is unique. The White Paper for Social Welfare set the developmental welfare policy framework and informed the redesign of the system (Department of Welfare and Population Development, 1997). Since the adoption and implementation of the new welfare paradigm, significant changes have been noted in the policy and legislative domain (Patel and Selipsky, forthcoming), in the ending of racial discrimination in access to services and benefits, and in the creation of an integrated social welfare system. Two key programmes, namely social security and welfare services, are mandated by the policy. The social grants system has been widely acclaimed as the country’s most effective poverty reduction programme in comparison with slower progress in the transformation of welfare services from a remedial and social treatment approach to a developmental one. Despite these positive developments, institutional challenges in the administration of social development continue to hamper effective service delivery. The gap between policy goals and aspirations and the actual achievement of tangible changes in the quality of the lives of the majority of South Africans remains a significant challenge. Rising unemployment, food prices and poverty coupled with the escalation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and increasing levels of violence, crime and xenophobia place additional demands on welfare organisations to deliver services. The human development situation of the population as a whole is also impacted by the global economic and national down turn in the economy and by how current political changes in the society are managed.
- Full Text:
Understanding poverty and disability in Johannesburg
- Graham, Lauren, Selipsky, Lisa, Moodley, Jacqueline, Maina, Jennifer, Rowland, William
- Authors: Graham, Lauren , Selipsky, Lisa , Moodley, Jacqueline , Maina, Jennifer , Rowland, William
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Poverty , People with disabilities
- Type: Report
- Identifier: uj:6609 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8276
- Description: It is often difficult to ascertain how many people are living with a disability in South Africa, primarily due to a lack of awareness about certain types of disabilities (particularly learning disabilities); stigma that is sometimes associated with disability, and the fine line that exists between chronic illness and disability, particularly in relation to the disability grant in South Africa. In addition, as Schneider, Dasappa, Khan and Khan, (2009: 246) point out, “large differences in disability statistics are currently observed internationally due to a lack of consistency in what is being measured as ‘disability’.” Nevertheless estimates suggest that globally between 10% and 12% of the population is currently living with a disability.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Graham, Lauren , Selipsky, Lisa , Moodley, Jacqueline , Maina, Jennifer , Rowland, William
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Poverty , People with disabilities
- Type: Report
- Identifier: uj:6609 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8276
- Description: It is often difficult to ascertain how many people are living with a disability in South Africa, primarily due to a lack of awareness about certain types of disabilities (particularly learning disabilities); stigma that is sometimes associated with disability, and the fine line that exists between chronic illness and disability, particularly in relation to the disability grant in South Africa. In addition, as Schneider, Dasappa, Khan and Khan, (2009: 246) point out, “large differences in disability statistics are currently observed internationally due to a lack of consistency in what is being measured as ‘disability’.” Nevertheless estimates suggest that globally between 10% and 12% of the population is currently living with a disability.
- Full Text:
Understanding risk in the everyday identity-work of young people on the East Rand
- Authors: Graham, Lauren
- Date: 2013-04-10
- Subjects: Risk-taking (Psychology) , Identity (Psychology) in adolescence , Risk perception - Social aspects , Gender identity - Social aspects
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:7434 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8292
- Description: D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology) , Inquiry that seeks to understand young people’s engagement in risk behaviours is numerous. Concern for and interest in young people has stimulated a wide range of debates about what makes young people do the things they do. Despite the plethora of research in this area there are still gaps in our knowledge, primarily because much of the research has sought to understand young people by looking at their decision making from the outside. This study departs from what has gone before by applying a youth development approach to understanding youth risk. In order to do so it sought to delve into the worlds and lives of a few young people living in an informal settlement in Gauteng, South Africa. The key question that the study poses pertains to how young people understand and negotiate risk as an aspect of their everyday identity-work. It is thus important to note that youth in this study is not understood simply as a particular age range or a phase that exists between childhood and adulthood. Rather it is understood as a life stage that carries with it particular experiences, needs and processes. In particular for the purposes of this study identity-work is understood to be an intensive process during the life stage of youth that involves drawing on culturally and socially available labels (McCall, 2003), definitions and markers of identity and testing them in their social networks in a process of reflexivity towards developing a self-identity (Giddens, 1991). In order to generate a deep understanding of the lives and worlds of young people, this study employed a critical ethnographic design, combining the usual methods of ethnography such as observation and interviews, with innovative methods that sought to challenge commonly held perceptions of research that young people might have had, and to encourage them to participate in the research. The study found that risk is understood in multiple ways. Young people understand and internalise the risk prevention messaging that is often targeted at them but they also have other perceptions of risk that ‘experts’ tend to overlook. Most important of these were their perceptions of risk that were influenced by their socio-economic surroundings – risks that were foremost in their lives because of their day-to-day struggles to manage them. The study also demonstrates the ways in which risk is negotiated as a feature of identity-work in three ways – in identity-work that has to do with masculinity and femininity, in identity-work pertaining to who one is within a family, and in identity work that involves their roles in the community. One of the main recommendations arising from this research is the need for integrated interventions that combine the prevention models that are currently employed, with locally specific interventions aimed at enhancing the protection and preparedness of young people in order to reduce their vulnerability. By conceptualising young people and the phase of ‘youth’ differently, and applying a youth development approach to understanding youth risk, it is hoped that an innovative way of considering how young people make decisions regarding risk has been opened for future consideration in research.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Graham, Lauren
- Date: 2013-04-10
- Subjects: Risk-taking (Psychology) , Identity (Psychology) in adolescence , Risk perception - Social aspects , Gender identity - Social aspects
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:7434 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8292
- Description: D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology) , Inquiry that seeks to understand young people’s engagement in risk behaviours is numerous. Concern for and interest in young people has stimulated a wide range of debates about what makes young people do the things they do. Despite the plethora of research in this area there are still gaps in our knowledge, primarily because much of the research has sought to understand young people by looking at their decision making from the outside. This study departs from what has gone before by applying a youth development approach to understanding youth risk. In order to do so it sought to delve into the worlds and lives of a few young people living in an informal settlement in Gauteng, South Africa. The key question that the study poses pertains to how young people understand and negotiate risk as an aspect of their everyday identity-work. It is thus important to note that youth in this study is not understood simply as a particular age range or a phase that exists between childhood and adulthood. Rather it is understood as a life stage that carries with it particular experiences, needs and processes. In particular for the purposes of this study identity-work is understood to be an intensive process during the life stage of youth that involves drawing on culturally and socially available labels (McCall, 2003), definitions and markers of identity and testing them in their social networks in a process of reflexivity towards developing a self-identity (Giddens, 1991). In order to generate a deep understanding of the lives and worlds of young people, this study employed a critical ethnographic design, combining the usual methods of ethnography such as observation and interviews, with innovative methods that sought to challenge commonly held perceptions of research that young people might have had, and to encourage them to participate in the research. The study found that risk is understood in multiple ways. Young people understand and internalise the risk prevention messaging that is often targeted at them but they also have other perceptions of risk that ‘experts’ tend to overlook. Most important of these were their perceptions of risk that were influenced by their socio-economic surroundings – risks that were foremost in their lives because of their day-to-day struggles to manage them. The study also demonstrates the ways in which risk is negotiated as a feature of identity-work in three ways – in identity-work that has to do with masculinity and femininity, in identity-work pertaining to who one is within a family, and in identity work that involves their roles in the community. One of the main recommendations arising from this research is the need for integrated interventions that combine the prevention models that are currently employed, with locally specific interventions aimed at enhancing the protection and preparedness of young people in order to reduce their vulnerability. By conceptualising young people and the phase of ‘youth’ differently, and applying a youth development approach to understanding youth risk, it is hoped that an innovative way of considering how young people make decisions regarding risk has been opened for future consideration in research.
- Full Text:
Youth unemployment in South Africa: Understanding the challenge and working on solutions
- Graham, Lauren, Mlatsheni, Cecil
- Authors: Graham, Lauren , Mlatsheni, Cecil
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Book Chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/92487 , uj:20234 , Citation: Graham, L. & Mlatsheni, C. 2016. Youth unemployment in South Africa: Understanding the challenge and working on solutions.
- Description: Abstract: Please refer to full text to view abstract
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Graham, Lauren , Mlatsheni, Cecil
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Book Chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/92487 , uj:20234 , Citation: Graham, L. & Mlatsheni, C. 2016. Youth unemployment in South Africa: Understanding the challenge and working on solutions.
- Description: Abstract: Please refer to full text to view abstract
- Full Text: false
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