Practice supervisors' views on workplace risks for child protection social workers in Gauteng, South Africa. A qualitative description.

Autor/inn/en	Crofford, Elmien; Oosthuysen, Chanté; Fouché, Ansie
Titel	Practice supervisors' views on workplace risks for child protection social workers in Gauteng, South Africa. A qualitative description.
Quelle	In: European journal of social work, 28 (2025) 6, S. 1346-1360 PDF als Volltext Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Beigaben	Literaturangaben; Tabellen; Anmerkungen
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; gedruckt; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1369-1457; 1468-2664
DOI	10.1080/13691457.2025.2482119
Schlagwörter	Kinderschutz; Empirische Untersuchung; Qualitative Forschung; Arbeitsbedingungen; Soziale Arbeit; Risikofaktor; Führungskraft; Südafrika
Abstract	Child protection social workers (CPSWs) views on workplace risks and the adverse outcomes of this practice setting are well documented in the literature. However, little is known about the views of practice supervisors. Given the significance of supervisors in CPSWs' professional functioning, we conducted a qualitative descriptive study in Gauteng, South Africa, to augment the existing knowledge about workplace risks for South African CPSWs from the perspective of supervisors. We conducted semi-structured interviews with eight supervisors and performed qualitative content analysis. Bronfenbrenner's socioecological model was applied to the findings, comprising the following dimensions: intrapersonal: misaligned motivations, an inadequate skill set, and the personal make-up of CPSWs; interpersonal: dangerous working environments, client and community profile, and a lack of support; institutional: inherently distressing work, unmanageable workloads, low salaries, and restricted funding and resources; community: being disregarded and disrespected by other professionals and unreliable role players; and policy level: political interference, amendments to childcare legislation, and administrative demands from the government. Participants' views substantiate existing literature with some nuanced expansions and more examples on how South African universities are partly responsible for CPSWs' inadequate skill set, as well as more details on how political interference amplifies CPSWs' stress.
Erfasst von	Deutsches Zentralinstitut für soziale Fragen, Berlin
Update	2026/3