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Doctoral Degrees (Social work)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/6455

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Social work) by Author "Bernstein, Andrea Joan."

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    An experimental study of the effectiveness of group therapeutic techniques in improving black-white relations among university students.
    (1990) Naidoo, Lohirajh Ravindra.; Welch, Gary John.; Bernstein, Andrea Joan.
    The need for an effective group programme to improve Black-White relations on desegregated university campuses in South Africa was identified as the focal area of concern of this study. A particularly urgent need to address the issue of Black-White relations in the University of Natal was shown to exist in view of its rapidly increasing multiracial student composition relative to other South African university campuses. Local and international literature was reviewed to provide guidelines for the construction and evaluation of appropriate programmes that reflected the dominant approaches that characterise group therapeutic strategies of improving intergroup relations. A significant absence of rigorous scientific evaluation of intervention strategies was noted. Two longitudinal, biracial group programmes were selected for evaluation viz. Group Programme A and Group Programme B. Programme A was reflective of a confrontational approach and Programme B was reflective of a non-confrontational approach. The programmes were based on the assumptions of humanistic psychotherapy, social psychological and sociological theories of prejudice formation and racism, and social learning theory. The project utilised an experimental before and after control group design. Forty five Black and 45 White students were randomly selected from a pool of first-year university students who fulfilled designated selection criteria. Fifteen Black and 15 White students were randomly assigned to Groups A, B and C. Groups A and B were subjected to Programmes A and B respectively while Group C was used as the control group. Four evaluation measures were used pretest and posttest viz. the Philosophy of Human Nature Scale, Heimler Scale of Social Functioning, Racial Discomfort Questionnaire and a Behavioural Interaction Change assessment. All four research hypotheses adopted were confirmed by the data analysis. The study highlighted the effectiveness of Group Programme A in improving Black-White relations. It was demonstrated that contact per se was not sufficient to improve race relations among university students. The central importance of developing insight into barriers in interracial communication was emphasised. While both Black and White students benefitted significantly from their participation in the Group Programmes, Black students derived fewer benefits than White students. Several recommendations were made for the utilisation of the research findings in university and wider communities. Further research possibilities arising from the present study were explored.
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    Self-help groups in the South African context : a developmental perspective.
    (1989) Bernstein, Andrea Joan.; Welch, Gary John.
    The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of linking the formal social service delivery system, represented by professional social work services, with the informal system, represented by self-help/mutual aid groups. The developmental research model described by Thomas (1978a, 1978b, 1981, 1985b) was selected as appropriate to the goal of moving beyond the acquisition of knowledge to that of the application of knowledge by practising social workers for the benefit of clients. In the first part of the study the historical and social factors which contributed to the development of the self-help movement in South Africa were explored. The second part of the study focused on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Durban social workers in relation to self-help groups and established the feasibility of the proposed development. A 75,6% response was received from a questionnaire distributed to all qualified social workers in the Durban area. One hundred and sixteen social workers (51%) who indicated that they were willing to participate further in the investigation were then interviewed. Through the questionnaire and the interview, social workers became cognizant of self-help groups, the nature of their services and the range of possible roles and relationships with them. Mutual aid/self-help groups were found to be part of a strong historical and cultural tradition in South Africa. Many groups had developed as a response to the inadequacies of state welfare services. Social development and change functions coexisted with the service and citizen participation attributes of groups established in post-industrial economies. The social workers were found to have generally positive attitudes to self-help groups and to be engaged in a variety of activities in interacting with them. The conclusion demonstrates that the findings have implications: first, for social welfare policy, particularly in relation to the issue of privatisation; secondly, for social work practice, in that the linking of formal and informal services would be feasible and that the need exists for collaborative interaction between the two; thirdly for social work education which needs to combine theory-building with the application of theory in practice.