A Process Model of Social Development Supervision in Social Work

Abstract: Supervision practice in social work is understood as the mainstay of the profession. However, various studies have pointed to the inadequacies of supervision to facilitate quality service provision. The collected data reflects a general misalignment between the approach to supervision practice and social work practice approaches as one inadequacy leading to the failure of supervision practice. Although there are numerous supervision models in the profession, some of which are aligned to certain practice approaches, none is directly identifiable with the social development approach, which should be at the core of a social work orientation in South Africa. Thus, in this article I provide a process model of supervision in social work that aims to establish a dialectical relationship between supervision and social development practice approach. The model is an output of a qualitative study with principles of a phenomenological design. In the study I employed a Research and Design approach to conduct individual interviews and focus group with social workers and social work supervisors, and their comments suggested the need for a social development approach to supervision

Reproductive health issues emanating from the Children’s Act No. 38 of 2005 as amended in 2008: A pilot study of the rights of parents versus rights of children

The study took as its point of departure the Children’s Act No, 38 of 2005 implemented in 2010, which aims to promote the preservation and strengthening of families and to give effect to the rights of children as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. When the Act was introduced certain segments of society applauded the government for its efforts to promote the rights of children, while others condemned the government’s approach towards parents’ rights in relation to reproductive health issues affecting their children. The primary aim of the research project was to explore the views of a group of parents in Johannesburg Metro Region 11 regarding reproductive health care as embedded in the Children’s Act. A small-scale, descriptive, cross-sectional pilot research design was employed which involved individual interviews with 35 participants. The main findings that emerged from the study were that participants did not participate in the process leading up to the promulgation of the Act and consequently had little knowledge about the Act or its objectives. The fact that participants did not support certain clauses on reproductive health care and were of the opinion that their rights as parents were being violated has implications for amendment of the Act

Waste management through life cycle assessment of products

The rapid growth of a population in a country can contribute to high production of waste. Municipal waste and industrial waste can bring unhealthy and unpleasant environment or even diseases to human beings if the wastes are not managed properly. With increasing concerns over waste and the need for 'greener' products, it is necessary to carry out Life Cycle Assessments of products and this will help manufacturers take the first steps towards greener designs by assessing their product's carbon output. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a process to evaluate the environmental burdens associated with a product, process or activity by identifying and quantifying energy and materials used and wastes released to the environment, and to assess the impact of those energy and material used and released to the environment. The aim of the study was to use a life cycle assessment approach to determine which waste disposal options that will substantially reduce the environmental burdens posed by the Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottle. Several important observations can be made. 1)Recycling of the PET bottle waste can significantly reduce the energy requiredacross the life cycle because the high energy inputs needed to process the requisite virgin materials greatly exceeds the energy needs of the recycling process steps. 2)Greenhouse gases can be reduced by opting for recycling instead of landfilling andincineration. 3)Quantity of waste emissions released from different disposal options was identified. 4)Recycling is the environmentally preferable disposal method for the PET bottle. Industry can use the tools and data in this study to evaluate the health, environmental, and energy implications of the PET bottle. LCA intends to aid decision-makers in this respect, provided that the scientific underpinning is available. Strategic incentives for product development and life cycle management can then be developed

Views of parents in the Johannesburg Metro (Region 11) regarding reproductive health issues emanating from the Children's Act No 38 of 2005 as amended in 2008.

The study took as its point of departure the Children’s Act No 38 of 2005 that emanated from the Bill of Rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996). This Act has as its primary aims, to promote the preservation and strengthening of families and to give effect to the rights of children as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, including: protection of children from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation and the fact that the best interest of a child are of paramount importance in every matter concerning children. It was anticipated that the areas of the Children’s Act with its emphasis on the rights of children would empower them in relation to their protection and development in that particular context. When the Act was introduced, it evoked mixed reactions with certain segments of society applauding the government for its efforts, and others condemning the government’s approach towards reproductive health issues affecting children. The primary aim of the research project was to explore the views of a group of parents in the Johannesburg Metro Region 11 regarding reproductive health care as embedded in the Children’s Act. The study took the form of a small-scale, mixed methods, descriptive, cross-sectional survey research design as it sought to elicit participants’ views on those specific clauses in the Act. In addressing the aims and objectives of the study, interview schedules were administered to 35 participants on an individual, face-to-face basis. Participants were adults drawn from Johannesburg Metro Region 11 and the data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis. The main findings that emerged from the study were that, participants did not participate in the process leading up to the promulgation of the Children’s Act No 38 of 2005. Consequently, participants had little knowledge about the Act and did not have any knowledge about its objectives. The fact that participants did not support certain clauses has implications for amendment of the Act with reference to the clauses on reproductive health care

Beyond the Marrakesh VIP Treaty: Typology of copyright access-enabling provisions for persons with disabilities

This paper builds upon the evidence drawn from a scoping study on access to copyright works by persons with disabilities. It identifies and discusses specific access‐enabling technologies for persons with aural, cognitive, physical, and visual disabilities and how they are affected by the exercise of exclusive rights. It shows how, and the extent to which states\u27 ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (Marrakesh Treaty) has enabled the making of accessible format of copyright works for persons with disabilities. To this end, the paper examines patterns and trends of accessible format enabling provisions in the copyright laws of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) member states

Beyond the Marrakesh VIP Treaty: Typology of copyright access-enabling provisions for persons with disabilities

This paper builds upon the evidence drawn from a scoping study on access to copyright works by persons with disabilities. It identifies and discusses specific access‐enabling technologies for persons with aural, cognitive, physical, and visual disabilities and how they are affected by the exercise of exclusive rights. It shows how, and the extent to which states\u27 ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (Marrakesh Treaty) has enabled the making of accessible format of copyright works for persons with disabilities. To this end, the paper examines patterns and trends of accessible format enabling provisions in the copyright laws of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) member states

Effect of landcover/land-use changes on water availability in and around Ruti Dam in Nyazvidzi catchment, Zimbabwe

The aim of this study was to quantify the upstream land-use and landcover changes and assess their effect on Ruti Dam levels and water availability in Nyazvidzi catchment. Remote-sensing techniques, hydrologic modelling and statistical inference were applied. Spatial landcover dynamics were derived from Landsat satellite data for the years 1984, 1990, 1993, 1996, 2003, 2008, and 2013 using the maximum likelihood classification technique. Results showed that forests and shrubs decreased by 36% between 1984 and 2013 whilst cultivated areas increased by 13% over the same period. The HEC-HMS rainfall-runoff model was used to simulate steamflow for the Nyazvidzi catchment, Zimbabwe. For the calibration period (2000–2001), a satisfactory Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) model peformance of 0.71 and relative volume error (RVE) of 10% were obtained. Model validation (1995—1997) gave a NSE of 0.61 and RVE of 12%. We applied the Mann-Kendall trend test to assess for monotonic trends in runoff over the study period and the results showed that there were significant decreases in observed runoff at Station E140 (monthly time scale) and at Stations E62 and E140 (seasonal time scale). Results showed that the wet season (Nov–Feb) had higher mean water balance values with an excess runoff of 8.12 mm/month. The dry season (April— Sept) had lower mean water balance values, with the lowest at 0.04 mm/month. Strong positive relationships (r2) between dam levels and land-use changes were obtained as follows: bare (0.95), cultivation (0.76) and forests (0.98). The relationship between runoff generated and land-use changes was found to be relatively weaker (0.54 for forests, 0.51 for bare and 0.14 for cultivation). Findings of this study underscore the relevance of applying hydrological models, remote sensing and statistical inference in quantifying and detecting environmental changes, as well as how they affect the availability and the quality of water resources in space and time

The Effect of Black Tax on Employee Engagement: The Mediating Role of Idiocentrism-Allocentrism-A Case of Pharmaceutical Industry in Zimbabwe

Employees in the Pharmaceutical industry are coming late to work and knocking off early. These actions unveiled by the employees are likely to incur economic costs on the employer, occasioned by low employee productivity. Owners of production have expressed concern over the general low staff morale in the pharmaceutical sector. While most studies have concentrated on internal job-related factors as drivers of employee engagement, this study seeks to assess employee engagement as being influenced by black tax, an external factor. The main aim of the research was to establish the influence of black tax on employee engagement, being mediated by idiocentrism-allocentrism, particularly focussing on the pharmaceutical manufacturing and retailing industry in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The study employed the philosophical approach of pragmatism to guide the whole research. The researcher adopted a multi-stage sampling technique supported by the census technique to pick participants from the population. Closed and open-ended questionnaires were used to collect data from qualified pharmacists who are working in both the manufacturing and retailing industry in Bulawayo. Statistical Package for Social Sciences v23 (Process v3.5 by Andrew F. Hayes) was used to test the hypothesized relationship among variables. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results suggest that black tax directly influence employee engagement in the presence of a mediator (idiocentrism-allocentrism). Furthermore, the results indicate that the indirect coefficient was partially significant, which means that idiocentrism-allocentrism has a partial influence on employee engagement. The researchers recommend that management should ensure that employees are motivated all the time. They should implement an open-door policy so that employees can share their issues that affect their engagement level at work

Production, purification and characterization of celullase-free xylanase from Aspergillus terreus UL 4209

Aspergillus terreus, UL 4209 strain, isolated from the soil in South Africa was used to produce an extracellular cellulase-free xylanase in shake flask cultures containing oat spelt and/or birchwoodxylans. Maximum xylanase activity (35 U/ml) was observed after 96 h at 35ºC and pH 6 in 1% oat spelt xylan. The xylanase was purified to homogeneity by gel filtration on Sephacryl S-200. This enzyme wasfound to be a single subunit protein of 22 kDa showing optimal activity at 35ºC and pH 6. The enzyme retained 95% activity at 35 - 40ºC after 4 h incubation at pH 6 and at 50ºC the half-life was 5.8 h. Theapparent Km and Vmax values were 3.57 mg/ml and 55.5 mol/min per mg protein, respectively. MALDITOF and LC mass spectroscopy gave 8 peptide ions whose sequence alignments showed that thexylanase produced by this strain has homology with those of other Aspergillus strains such as A. terreus and A. versicolor. These observations showed that our strain produced a low molecular weight,acidophilic, and thermostable xylanase that may be considered for processes operated at moderate temperatures and pH such as preparation of baked cereal food, clarification of fruit juices andsaccharification of agro-residues

Field performance of spider plant (Cleome gynandra l) under different agronomic practices

Field experiments were carried out at Kaguvi Vocational Training Centre located in theMidlands province of Zimbabwe, to determine the effect of planting date and fertilizertypes in enhancing the productivity of spider plant, an indigenous leafy vegetable. Theexperimental design was a split- plot arranged in a randomized complete block design(RCBD) with three blocks. The planting date was the main plot with three levels(15/10/12, 30/01/13 and 15/02/13) and the fertilizer treatments as the subplots withseven levels including a control (no fertilizer applied), 20 t/ha cattle manure, 30 t/hacattle manure, 5 t/ha poultry manure, 10 t/ha poultry manure, 300 kg/ha Compound D +100 kg/ha ammonium nitrate and 300 kg/ha Compound D + 150 kg/ha ammoniumnitrate). Growth parameters, vitamin A and C, crude protein, iron content, fresh and dryyield were significantly (p<0.05) increased by use of organic and inorganic fertilizersacross all planting dates compared to the control where no fertilizers were added. TheOctober 2012 planting date, combined with high rates of organic and inorganicfertilizers had the best response with regards to the variables measured, including theduration of the harvest period which was nine weeks, compared to the January andFebruary planting dates where harvesting was for six weeks. The inorganic fertilizersprovided readily available nutrients for uptake by the plants while the long productionperiod for the October 2012 planting date enabled the organic manures (cattle andpoultry manure) adequate time to release the nutrients for uptake, compared to theJanuary 2013 and February 2013 planting dates. It can be concluded that there is meritin staggering the planting dates while using organic and inorganic fertilizers as thepractice results in an extended harvest period. High rates of both inorganic and organicfertilizers are recommended for the different planting dates as follows; 30 t/ha cattlemanure, 10 t/ha poultry manure, 300 kg/ha Compound D + 100 kg/ha ammoniumnitrate and 300 kg/ha Compound D + 150 kg/ha ammonium nitrate.Key words: Indigenous vegetable, spider plant, planting dates, fertilizers, nutrient