https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/14515 2026-09-22T10:30:39Z 2026-09-22T10:30:39Z Makhubo, Zanele Patricia https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/33051 2026-09-14T09:37:30Z 2026-05-01T00:00:00Z

Experiences of social workers rendering services to young people misusing crystal methamphetamine substance in Ekurhuleni Municipality Makhubo, Zanele Patricia The misuse of crystal meth substance by young people is an alarming problem globally. This problem does not only affect the young people as misusers but also their families since they directly interact with them and their communities at large. Social workers are therefore the essential service providers responsible for assisting young people and their families to tackle this substance dependency problem. The study aimed at exploring the experiences of social workers rendering services to young people misusing crystal meth. Therefore, a qualitative research approach was employed to explore, describe and contextualise the unique experiences of social workers experiences in the substance field. Purposive sampling was used to select 14 social workers who render services to young people misusing crystal meth at the four service points of the Gauteng Department of Social Development Ekurhuleni Municipality. Face-to-face individual semi structured interviews were used to collect data using the interview guide. In order to gather a thorough understanding and verify data on the experiences of social workers, Tech (1990)’s steps of qualitative data analyses were applied. Guba’s (1981) model was also used to ensure credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability of the study. The ethical principles used in the study included the informed consent, confidentiality and anonymity, beneficence and debriefing of participants. The findings of the study revealed that social workers are experiencing challenges in their intervention with young people misusing crystal meth. This study will contribute by adding to the body of the existing literature on the experiences of social workers rendering services to young people misusing crystal meth and the recommendations are aimed for improving service delivery in social work practice and for future research.

2026-05-01T00:00:00Z Ngoveni, Sydney https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32796 2026-08-28T10:10:44Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

The experiences and challenges of families living with persons who attempted suicide: guidelines for social work practice Ngoveni, Sydney This study sought to explore the experiences and challenges faced by families living with persons who have attempted suicide. This study was conducted against the backdrop of lack of services dedicated to families living with persons who have attempted suicide despite them grappling with diverse emotional challenges. The study was conducted in the Tshwane District Municipality in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The Family Systems Theory, Resilience Theory and Strengths-Based Perspective were used as theoretical lenses. The interpretive paradigm was utilised which informed the adoption of the qualitative approach. The phenomenological and descriptive research designs were also adopted. Purposive sampling technique was utilised to select social workers and families. A sample of five families and ten social workers was selected. Data were collected through family interviews and semi-structured interviews. The Thematic Content Analysis was employed to analyse the data. Financial problems, broken family relationships, childhood traumas, failure to cope with newly diagnosed chronic disease, gender-based violence, substance and alcohol abuse were perceived to be the causes of attempted suicide. Anger and frustration, shock and disbelief, fear and uncertainty, isolation and stigma, as well as an opportunity to learn about mental health formed part of the experiences of these families. Psychological destabilisation, impact on communication patterns and lack of support from social workers emerged as challenges faced by these families. Support groups and seeking divine help from churches and traditional healers were used as coping strategies. Social workers identified the need to include services for families of patients who attempted suicide and shift from focusing on the patients alone. The study concludes that the attempted suicide discourse requires a holistic approach in terms of interventions that consider the needs for suicide attempters and their families. The study findings were used to develop social work intervention guidelines for families living with persons who have attempted suicide. The guidelines emphasise the importance of social work professional development on attempted suicide as a way of equipping them with knowledge to enable them to provide a meaningful service to the affected people. For future research, it is recommended that broader studies be conducted, utilising research methods that allow larger samples so that the iv experiences and challenges of families can be documented at a larger scale across South Africa.; Ndzavisiso lowu wu ringetile ku lavisisa mintokoto ni mintlhontlho leyi mindyangu leyi tshamaka ni vanhu lava va ringeteke ku tidlaya yi hlanganaka na yona. Ndzavisiso lowu wu endliwe eMugangeni wa Tshwane eXifundzheni xa Gauteng eAfrika Dzonga. Ndzavisiso lowu wu tirhisile Family Systems Theory, Resilience Theory na Strengths-Based Perspective tanihi tihlolo ta kona. Ku tirhisiwe endlelo ro hlamusela leri endleke leswaku ku tirhisiwa endlelo ra nkoka. Ku tlhele ku amukeriwa endlelo ra ndzavisiso wa swilo leswi endlekaka ni ndlela leyi swi hlamuseriwaka ha yona. Ku hlawuriwe vatirhi va nhlayiso wa vanhu ni mindyangu hi ku tirhisa endlelo ro hlawula hi xikongomelo. Ku hlawuriwe mindyangu ya ntlhanu ni vatirhi va khume va nhlayiso wa vanhu. Vuxokoxoko byi hlengeletiwe hi ku vulavurisana ni mindyangu ni hi ku vulavurisana ni vanhu lava nga ni ntokoto. Nkambisiso wa Tinhloko-mhaka wu tirhisiwile ku kambisisa rungula leri. Nkambisiso wa Vuxokoxoko bya Nhloko-mhaka wu tirhisiwile ku kambela vuxokoxoko Swiphiqo swa timali, ku hahluka ka vuxaka bya ndyangu, ku vaviseka ka le vuhlangini, ku tsandzeka ku langutana ni vuvabyi lebyi nga tshungulekiki hi ku olova, madzolonga ya rimbewu, ku tirhisa swidzidzirisi hi ndlela yo biha ni ku nwa byalwa ku tlula mpimo, a swi tekiwa swi ri swona leswi vangaka ku ringeta ku tidlaya. Ku hlundzuka ni ku pfilunganyeka, ku hlamala ni ku nga kholwi, ku chava ni ku nga tiyiseki, ku tihambanisa ni vanhu van'wana ni ku va ni tingana, swin'we ni ku kuma nkarhi wo dyondza hita rihanyo ra mianakanyo, a ku ri swin'wana swa swilo leswi humeleleke mindyangu leyi. Ku pfilunganyeka emiehleketweni, ku khumbeka ka ndlela leyi va vulavurisanaka ha yona ni ku pfumaleka ka nseketelo wa vatirhi va nhlayiso wa vanhu swi tikombile swi ri swiphiqo leswi mindyangu leyi yi langutaneke na swona. Mintlawa ya nseketelo ni ku lava mpfuno wa Xikwembu etikerekeni ni le ka vatshunguri va ndhavuko swi tirhisiwe tanihi tindlela to langutana ni xiyimo lexi. Vatirhi va nhlayiso wa vanhu va vone swi fanerile ku katsa ni ku pfuna mindyangu ya vavabyi lava ringeteke ku tidlaya ni ku tshika ku khathalela vavabyi ntsena. Leswi kumiweke eka ndzavisiso lowu swi tirhisiwe ku endla swiletelo swa ku pfuna vanhu lava nga tshama va ringeta ku tidlaya. Swiletelo leswi swi tiyisisa nkoka wa ku hluvukisiwa ka ntirho wa vanhu eka ku ringeta ku tidlaya tanihi ndlela yo va nyika vutivi lebyi nga ta va endla va kota ku pfuna vanhu lava khumbekeke. Eka ndzavisiso lowu nga ta endliwa nkarhi lowu taka, ku bumabumeriwa vi leswaku ku endliwa tidyondzo to tala, ku tirhisiwa tindlela to endla ndzavisiso leti nga ta pfumelela tisampuli letikulu leswaku mintokoto ni mintlhontlho ya mindyangu swi ta tsariwa hi mpimo lowukulu eAfrika Dzonga hinkwayo.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Mbhele, Noluthando Proude https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32714 2026-08-06T07:01:04Z 0026-03-01T00:00:00Z

The perceptions and attitudes of Social Workers regarding their own mental health in Pretoria, South Africa Mbhele, Noluthando Proude Health care workers, including social workers, are exposed to high risk of mental health issues, increased anxiety, and depression symptoms due to the high caseload, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalisation associated with their work. This is because public hospitals in South Africa serve a large proportion of the population, often with constraint resources. Consequently, this qualitative study explored the perceptions and attitudes of Social Workers regarding their own mental health in Pretoria, South Africa. Descriptive, exploratory, and contextual research designs were thus adopted. A sample of social workers employed in Gauteng Department of Health, working in Pretoria, was selected using purposive sampling technique. Data was collected from participants by means of face-to-face semi-structured interviews with research questions embedded in an interview guide. The data collected was analysed using thematic analysis Throughout the study the researcher adhered to ethical obligations such as informed content, confidentiality, anonymity, privacy, management of information, avoidance of harm and beneficent. The study contributes to new knowledge by bridging a literature gap identified in the scarcity of documented perceptions and attitudes of social workers regarding their own mental health. The study also identified that participants have difficulty in working with individual (colleagues) with mental illness as they feel they are unpredictable, aggressive and unable to control their emotions. The social workers are convinced that trauma debriefing sessions, team building, supervision, self-care should be promoted in the workplace to enhance mental health. Based on the findings, recommendations were made for social work practice, policy review and future research to improve the mental health of social workers in the hospital settings.

0026-03-01T00:00:00Z Bulela, Ntlahla https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32627 2026-06-30T09:12:16Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Community perspectives on sex offenders' reintegration into the community Bulela, Ntlahla Sexual offences are one of the major criminal offences that affect communities globally. They affect not only the victims’ families but also the community at large. After serving a prison sentence, sex offenders are reintegrated back into the same communities from which they came. Government encourages communities to give offenders a second chance and to provide the support they need. The aim of this study was to explore the community perspectives on sex offenders’ reintegration into the community. The theoretical framework used in this study was the ecological systems approach. In employing the qualitative research approach an interpretivism paradigm was used. This encompassed explorative, descriptive and contextual designs to explore, describe and contextualise the community perspectives on sex offenders’ reintegration into the community. The research population consisted of community members based in Mamelodi Township, Pretoria. The sample of participants was selected in utilising purposive sampling. Semi structured interviews, guided by an interview guide with open-ended questions, were used to collect the data. The data were analysed using Tesch’s steps. The verification of data was conducted using Guba and Lincoln’s model and the four aspects of trustworthiness identified by them were applied. In conducting the research, the researcher adhered to the ethical considerations outlined by the University. The study adds to existing discussions on community perspectives regarding sex offender reintegration within the South African context. The findings revealed that community views on the reintegration of sex offenders are mixed, emotional, fearful, and stigmatised. Although some recognised that offenders deserve rehabilitation and second chances, concerns were raised about community safety, lack of information, and insufficient support for successful reintegration. The study also revealed that social workers play a critical role in mediating between offenders, victims, and communities by providing education, psychosocial support, and community meetings, highlighting the importance of enhancing community-based interventions and collaborative reintegration efforts.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z