Development of social work education in southern and east Africa : research report.
- Hochfeld, Tessa, Selipsky, Lisa, Mupedziswa, Rodreck, Chitereka, Christopher
- Authors: Hochfeld, Tessa , Selipsky, Lisa , Mupedziswa, Rodreck , Chitereka, Christopher
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Social work education , Social policy , Social development
- Type: Report
- Identifier: uj:6610 , ISSN 978-0-86970-669-5 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8277
- Description: It is widely accepted that a social development paradigm is both appropriate and necessary for the African context, and social development has significantly influenced social work theory, policy and practice on the continent (Cox and Pawar, 2005, Patel, 2005a, Gray and Fook, 2004). However, it is not always clear exactly what is being referred to with this term. What is also unknown is how much of this debate has positively influenced the training of new social workers across the region. Further, no data exists on how the social development approach is actually being used by the individual schools of social work in the region. In fact, very little is known about social work education in Africa at all. This research project therefore aimed to contribute to knowledge development in this field in Southern and East Africa through primary empirical research.
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- Authors: Hochfeld, Tessa , Selipsky, Lisa , Mupedziswa, Rodreck , Chitereka, Christopher
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Social work education , Social policy , Social development
- Type: Report
- Identifier: uj:6610 , ISSN 978-0-86970-669-5 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8277
- Description: It is widely accepted that a social development paradigm is both appropriate and necessary for the African context, and social development has significantly influenced social work theory, policy and practice on the continent (Cox and Pawar, 2005, Patel, 2005a, Gray and Fook, 2004). However, it is not always clear exactly what is being referred to with this term. What is also unknown is how much of this debate has positively influenced the training of new social workers across the region. Further, no data exists on how the social development approach is actually being used by the individual schools of social work in the region. In fact, very little is known about social work education in Africa at all. This research project therefore aimed to contribute to knowledge development in this field in Southern and East Africa through primary empirical research.
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It buys food but does it change gender relations? Child support grants in Soweto, South Africa
- Patel, Leila, Hochfeld, Tessa
- Authors: Patel, Leila , Hochfeld, Tessa
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Gender and social protection , Gender relations , Social policies , Child support grants , Social protection programmes
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:5836 , ISSN 1364-9221 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7866
- Description: A gender lens was applied in an empirical study to assess the dynamics and policy implications of one of South Africa's largest social protection programmes, the Child Support Grant (CSG). The findings are based on a household survey conducted in an urban community in Soweto, South Africa. They suggest that the grant supports women's ability to control and allocate resources, and that this has a positive impact on household food security. While the CSG eases women's burden of care and responsibility for household and child survival, women remain largely responsible for caring and looking after families. This prevails despite increased opportunities for women in society and some small shifts in gender relations in urban areas. Social protection policies such as the CSG do not on their own transform gender relations. To ensure that they contribute to gender transformation, they need to work in concert with other public policies that are specifically designed to support changes toward gender equality.
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- Authors: Patel, Leila , Hochfeld, Tessa
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Gender and social protection , Gender relations , Social policies , Child support grants , Social protection programmes
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:5836 , ISSN 1364-9221 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7866
- Description: A gender lens was applied in an empirical study to assess the dynamics and policy implications of one of South Africa's largest social protection programmes, the Child Support Grant (CSG). The findings are based on a household survey conducted in an urban community in Soweto, South Africa. They suggest that the grant supports women's ability to control and allocate resources, and that this has a positive impact on household food security. While the CSG eases women's burden of care and responsibility for household and child survival, women remain largely responsible for caring and looking after families. This prevails despite increased opportunities for women in society and some small shifts in gender relations in urban areas. Social protection policies such as the CSG do not on their own transform gender relations. To ensure that they contribute to gender transformation, they need to work in concert with other public policies that are specifically designed to support changes toward gender equality.
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The Gender dynamics and impact of the Child Support Grant in Doornkop, Soweto
- Patel, Leila, Hochfeld, Tessa, Moodley, Jacqueline, Mutwali, Reem
- Authors: Patel, Leila , Hochfeld, Tessa , Moodley, Jacqueline , Mutwali, Reem
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Child Support Grant , Gender empowerment , Doornkop (Soweto, Gauteng) , Social grants
- Type: Report
- Identifier: uj:6605 , ISSN 978-0-86970-719-7 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8268
- Description: Since the introduction of the Child Support Grant (CSG) in 1998, the majority of the beneficiaries are now women. The grant reaches 10.7 million children which makes up approximately 55 percent of the total number of children in South Africa. The CSG is internationally recognised to be an innovative intervention to reduce poverty and promote child well-being. The aim of the study was to assess the gendered impact of the CSG in Doornkop, Soweto, which is a poor urban community. A survey of 343 households was conducted which was systematically sampled. The findings may be generalised to other poor urban areas with high uptake levels of the CSG. This report contains the findings and conclusions of the study which are briefly summarised below. A total of 81.9 percent of the households surveyed received one or more CSGs with an average of 2.2 CSGs per household. CSG beneficiaries were mainly younger women between 16 and 40 years (62 percent), who have a secondary education (55.6 percent), and are likely to be unmarried (48 percent) and the head of their households (52 percent). The grant is well targeted at poor households and particularly the very poorest. The CSG is the only regular source of income in these households complemented by other diverse sources of income such as pensions and disability grants (33.5 percent), small business activities (24.1 percent), casual work (23.7 percent), and limited material and in-kind support from family and external agencies (17.4 percent). Some households receive private maintenance from the fathers of the children (24.5 percent) who are not living with them although many fathers do not pay maintenance (60.8 percent). Only 12.5 percent of CSG beneficiaries were employed. High unemployment among CSG beneficiaries is closely associated with high overall female unemployment nationally and the huge domestic and care responsibilities of women with young children.
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- Authors: Patel, Leila , Hochfeld, Tessa , Moodley, Jacqueline , Mutwali, Reem
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Child Support Grant , Gender empowerment , Doornkop (Soweto, Gauteng) , Social grants
- Type: Report
- Identifier: uj:6605 , ISSN 978-0-86970-719-7 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8268
- Description: Since the introduction of the Child Support Grant (CSG) in 1998, the majority of the beneficiaries are now women. The grant reaches 10.7 million children which makes up approximately 55 percent of the total number of children in South Africa. The CSG is internationally recognised to be an innovative intervention to reduce poverty and promote child well-being. The aim of the study was to assess the gendered impact of the CSG in Doornkop, Soweto, which is a poor urban community. A survey of 343 households was conducted which was systematically sampled. The findings may be generalised to other poor urban areas with high uptake levels of the CSG. This report contains the findings and conclusions of the study which are briefly summarised below. A total of 81.9 percent of the households surveyed received one or more CSGs with an average of 2.2 CSGs per household. CSG beneficiaries were mainly younger women between 16 and 40 years (62 percent), who have a secondary education (55.6 percent), and are likely to be unmarried (48 percent) and the head of their households (52 percent). The grant is well targeted at poor households and particularly the very poorest. The CSG is the only regular source of income in these households complemented by other diverse sources of income such as pensions and disability grants (33.5 percent), small business activities (24.1 percent), casual work (23.7 percent), and limited material and in-kind support from family and external agencies (17.4 percent). Some households receive private maintenance from the fathers of the children (24.5 percent) who are not living with them although many fathers do not pay maintenance (60.8 percent). Only 12.5 percent of CSG beneficiaries were employed. High unemployment among CSG beneficiaries is closely associated with high overall female unemployment nationally and the huge domestic and care responsibilities of women with young children.
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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.
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- 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.
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‘That Child Support Grant gives me powers’ – exploring social and relational aspects of cash transfers in South Africa in times of livelihood change
- Granlund, Stephan, Hochfeld, Tessa
- Authors: Granlund, Stephan , Hochfeld, Tessa
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/436522 , uj:37868 , Stefan Granlund & Tessa Hochfeld (2020) ‘That Child Support Grant Gives Me Powers’ – Exploring Social and Relational Aspects of Cash Transfers in South Africa in Times of Livelihood Change, The Journal of Development Studies, 56:6, 1230-1244, DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2019.1650170
- Description: Abstract: , This article builds on existing literature on the material effects of cash transfers. It explores people’s own perceptions of the role of unconditional cash transfers in building, maintaining, and transforming social relations in a small village in rural South Africa. Much of the literature studying the impacts of cash transfers in the global South relies on quantitative measures. Thus, there is a paucity of micro-level qualitative research on beneficiaries’ own perspectives on the social impacts of cash transfers. To this end, we explored whether the Child Support Grant, a small cash transfer given to impoverished caregivers of children, changed individual and intra-household relationships, as well as community solidarity in this village. We argue that South Africa’s cash transfers have largely had positive social transformative effects on individuals, in relation to a sense of dignity, autonomy and increased decision-making powers for primary caregivers, usually mothers or grandmothers. Positive effects were also perceived in relation to these households and communities, although some contested effects and limitations were also found. These findings are of interest in the ongoing broader debates around the effects of cash transfers globally as well as regionally in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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- Authors: Granlund, Stephan , Hochfeld, Tessa
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/436522 , uj:37868 , Stefan Granlund & Tessa Hochfeld (2020) ‘That Child Support Grant Gives Me Powers’ – Exploring Social and Relational Aspects of Cash Transfers in South Africa in Times of Livelihood Change, The Journal of Development Studies, 56:6, 1230-1244, DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2019.1650170
- Description: Abstract: , This article builds on existing literature on the material effects of cash transfers. It explores people’s own perceptions of the role of unconditional cash transfers in building, maintaining, and transforming social relations in a small village in rural South Africa. Much of the literature studying the impacts of cash transfers in the global South relies on quantitative measures. Thus, there is a paucity of micro-level qualitative research on beneficiaries’ own perspectives on the social impacts of cash transfers. To this end, we explored whether the Child Support Grant, a small cash transfer given to impoverished caregivers of children, changed individual and intra-household relationships, as well as community solidarity in this village. We argue that South Africa’s cash transfers have largely had positive social transformative effects on individuals, in relation to a sense of dignity, autonomy and increased decision-making powers for primary caregivers, usually mothers or grandmothers. Positive effects were also perceived in relation to these households and communities, although some contested effects and limitations were also found. These findings are of interest in the ongoing broader debates around the effects of cash transfers globally as well as regionally in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Full Text:
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