Experiences of social workers rendering services to young people misusing crystal methamphetamine substance in Ekurhuleni Municipality

Abstract

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.