Social Development and Social Work

Social Development and Social Work
Author: Alice K. Butterfield
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2013-11-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317966821

Africa has a long experience with reducing poverty and vulnerability. In the contemporary period, social development and social work are at the forefront of dealing with abject poverty and some of the world’s most difficult problems. This book highlights the contemporary African experience in addressing poverty and meeting the needs of vulnerable groups. Two decades ago, James Midgley challenged social workers and others involved in international work to learn from their colleagues in developing countries. This challenge has brought scholars from the North-South together through collaborative research, program development, and technical assistance and training. Social Development and Social Work highlights development-oriented work in Africa in areas such as juvenile offender programs, asset-based community development, women and HIV/AIDS, trafficked women, and children affected by war. It includes models of indigenous welfare and integrated development through collaborative and interdisciplinary efforts by universities, government and non-governmental organizations. This book brings African scholarship in social development and social work to the attention of academics, students and practitioners worldwide, so they too can learn from it. It was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Community Practice.

The Handbook of Social Work and Social Development in Africa

The Handbook of Social Work and Social Development in Africa
Author: Mel Gray
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 446
Release: 2016-10-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317029380

All recent books on international social work mention Africa only briefly and few engage with the broader field of development studies. This book focuses solely on the unique African context engaging with issues relating to social work and development more broadly thus enabling a deeper examination and more complex and nuanced picture to emerge. Unlike most academic works, this book highlights multiple practitioner voices, with authors or co-authors that have recently been or are currently practising social workers. As an edited book, it draws from both academic research as well as lived practice experience, supported by strong theoretical positioning and guidance in introductory chapters, drawing on African literature, wherever possible. Looking at case-studies from Lesotho, Botswana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Namibia, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Zambia and Tanzania and covering established areas of practice such as child protection; working with older people; working with people with disabilities; mental health; and mainstream services targeting women as well as emerging areas of developmental social work practice, such as humanitarian assistance in post-conflict situations; work with immigrants and refugees; and the training of community-based workers, this book takes a future-oriented perspective that aims to move beyond well-worn critiques to envision constructive and sustainable futures for social work and social development in Africa from a critical perspective.

Social Protection in Southern Africa

Social Protection in Southern Africa
Author: Leila Patel
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351548433

A new generation of innovative social protection strategies is emerging in southern Africa. Although cash transfers are most prevalent, some country strategies include combinations of interventions such as food, livelihood inputs and support, asset building, public works and social services. The strategies vary in their commitment to social rights, their institutional and funding arrangements, the reach, scope and design of the programmes, and the behavioural conditions attached to grant access. The proliferation of national social protection in the Global South has been widely supported by governments, international agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).This book offers researchers and policymakers much to think about when considering the rapid growth of social protection in southern Africa, the challenges this presents and the opportunities it offers for social development and economic growth. Hence, the book is a contribution to scholarship and policy debate on how to solve intractable social development problems in Africa and elsewhere.This book was originally published as a special issue of Development Southern Africa.