THE SPENDING PATTERNS OF THE OLD-AGE PENSION BY THE FRAIL ELDERLY

A specific old-age home in a semi-urban area of South Africa delivers certain communityoutreach services besides the services to the inmates of the old-age home. A team of registerednurses have been delivering these home-care services since 2002, including physical care, ameal service and a transport service to clinics and hospitals. The profile of the elderly personsliving in this specific community shows that they are mostly women, black and very poor.While rendering services to the aged persons in the community, staff members realised thatespecially the frail aged have very little finances to spend on their own keeping, although theyall receive an old-age pension. This raised the question of possible neglect and financial abuseby their caregivers and other people, which in turn led to this specific research project. Thisarticle reports on an attempt to investigate the housing circumstances and the financial positionof the participants, as well as determining whether they could account for their expenditure, theitems that the pension was spent on, the point of payment of the pension, the accompanyingperson and the manner in which withdrawal of money took place. Furthermore, theinvestigation included whether participants cared for children, topics of interest forgrandparents caring for children, and the physical appearance of participant

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME FOR CHILD-CARERS IN PRIVATE PLACES OF TEMPORARY SAFE-CARE

The article purpose of the article is to report on an empowerment programme for child-carers in private places of temporary safe-care so as to equip them with skills to act in the best interest of the children in their care. The programme was compiled on the basis of a needs assessment with child-care workers and social workers involved in private places of temporary safe-care, as well as a literature study. The programme consisted of nine sessions, including topics such as factors to be considered when dealing with these children, trauma, medical care, behavioural problems, bonding, discipline,  natural parents and self-care of child-carers

THE ROLE OF THE SOCIAL WORKER TO EMPOWER FAMILIES IN A DEEP RURAL COMMUNITY

A research study was conducted at Heuningvlei near Vryburg in the Northern Cape Province ofSouth Africa during 2006. The study was called “Tshwaragano”, meaning togetherness, andwas sponsored by the National Research Foundation. The research focused on health issues andpoverty, and was undertaken to determine their effect on families in rural areas. Seven master’sstudents and two PhD students were involved in the project. The master’s students did a needsassessment with their specific aim in mind and developed guidelines. The PhD students usedthis needs assessment of the first phase to compile their social work group-work programmes toempower the families of Heuningvlei and to enhance their quality of life. This article reports ona section of the research which examined the living conditions and income of the households,and the causes and effects of poverty and unemployment. Aspects such as crime, violence andmarital conflict received attention. Because the strengths approach was used in this study, thestrengths of the families were investigated. Finally, the roles of the social worker to implementpreventive and treatment strategies in the community were discussed

’N ONDERSOEK NA OPLEIDINGSGELEENTHEDE VIR SPESIALISASIE IN FORENSIESE MAATSKAPLIKE WERK

Gedurende die afgelope tien jaar het verskeie spesialiseringsterreine in maatskaplike werkontstaan. Sake is al hoe meer kompleks en maatskaplike werkers word ook in die media in ’nnegatiewe lig gestel. In privaat praktyke het Maatskaplike werkers in die forensiese veld beginoptree

CIRCUMSTANCES OF FOSTER CHILDREN AND THEIR FOSTER PARENTS AFFECTED BY HIV AND AIDS

Problems in families and children really begin when a member in the family becomes infectedwith the HI virus (Smit, 2007:8). According to Stine (2007:261), there does not appear to be animmediate end to either the spread of HIV infection or the devastation caused by AIDS. Africa,with about 10% of the world’s population, now accounts for 90% of all new HIV infections inthe world, while it was predicted that at the end of 2008 about 5.8 million South Africanswould be living with HIV and AIDS (Stine, 2007:285-287). According to the Department ofSocial Development (2003:4), HIV and AIDS are dramatically reshaping the South Africanpopulation structure. The number of orphans as a result of AIDS-related deaths is expected torise (Mason & Linsk, 2002:541). This situation places a heavier burden of care ongrandmothers, female relatives, children and community members (Frohlich, in Abdool Karim& Abdool Karim, 2005:351-354)

THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND NEEDS OF ADOLESCENT ORPHANS IN FOSTER CARE

HIV and AIDS have a major impact on families and on community structures in South Africa. Children are especially affected when they are orphaned. Research was undertaken to identify the circumstances and needs of adolescent orphans affected by HIV and AIDS in foster care. Thirty adolescent orphans from the researcher’s caseload and 85 social workers who work with such cases completed questionnaires. The results indicated that these adolescents have unique circumstances and needs. This information is essential for social workers in order to help these adolescents to obtain the necessary knowledge and skills to enable them to improve their social functioning

DIE PSIGOSOSIALE BEHOEFTES VAN MAATSKAPLIKE WERKERS TYDENS ONDERSOEKE NA SEKSUELE MISBRUIK VAN KINDERS

Social workers are designated by the Children’s Act No.38 of 2005 to investigate alleged cases of sexual abuse of children. During investigations social workers experience intense feelings that could have an emotional impact on them and their role functioning. The researcher adopted a qualitative approach with the interpretive descriptive research design to explore the psychosocial needs of social workers during investigations into child sexual abuse. Eleven participants participated in the study and data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews. It was found that social workers experience unique psychosocial needs which, if not addressed, can lead to negative role functioning

EMOSIONELE REAKSIES VAN DIE MOEDER VAN DIE SEKSUEEL MISBRUIKTE KIND NA BEKENDMAKING VAN SEKSUELE MISBRUIK

Verskeie skrywers, naamlik Vermeulen en Fouché (2006:14) asook Le Roux (2000:36), bevestig dat die werklike statistiek rakende die seksuele misbruik van kinders moeilik bepaalbaar is, aangesien 70% tot 80% van alle gevalle nooit aangemeld word nie. Cawood (2004:1) meld dat een uit elke drie dogters en een uit elke vyf seuns in Suid-Afrika onder die ouderdom van 18 jaar seksueel misbruik word. Vermeulen en Fouché (2006:20) maak die opmerking dat die oorgrote meerderheid gevalle van seksuele misbruik binne die gesin- en familiesisteem voorkom, en dit is deur Marshall en Herman (2000:53) bevestig

PERSEPSIES VAN ONDERWYSERS NÁ HULLE BLOOTSTELLING AAN “UNDERSTANDING THE SCOPE OF CHILD ABUSE”-PROGRAM

Sexual abuse is not being reported adequately. Teachers are in an ideal position to deal with and report sexual abuse, but they are not sufficiently trained in this regard. Therefore it was necessary to evaluate whether training programmes could be effective. The research that informed this article focused on presenting a specific training programme to twenty primary school teachers after which two focus group interviews were conducted. The aim was to explore the participants’ perceptions regarding the programme. The teachers benefitted from the relevant information, they valued the group consolidation, they felt confident about sharing experiences and they were more prepared to act in sexual abuse cases

AANMELDING VAN SEKSUELE MISBRUIK DEUR ADOLESSENTE

As maatskaplike werker in die praktyk, is dit die navorser se ervaring dat kinders wat seksueel misbruik word dit nie aanmeld nie en as gevolg daarvan baie jare lank die slagoffers daarvan bly. Uit die navorser se ervaringsveld wil dit voorkom asof adolessente nie weet hoe hulle te werk moet gaan om die seksuele misbruik aan te meld, of waar hulle die nodige professionele hulp en ondersteuning kan ontvang ni