Abstract:
Social work, as a profession, is critical for societies as it aims to promote social change and development, as well as social cohesion and the empowerment and liberation of people. Whereas the working conditions of social workers have been the focus of previous research, the topic of social workers’ personal safety challenges and the coping strategies employed during social work service delivery seems to be sparsely researched and documented in indigenous literature. In view of this, I designed a research project aimed at exploring the personal safety challenges that social workers encounter and the coping strategies they employ during social work service delivery from a qualitative research approach with a collective case study design, coupled with an explorative, descriptive, contextual and phenomenological research design, with a view to proffer suggestions for promoting social workers’ personal safety. From the conception of the research project, up until its finalisation which culminated in this research report, I observed the ethical principles of informed consent, anonymity, and confidentiality in the context of the management of information.
I employed semi-structured interviews as a data collection method from a sample of 14 purposively selected social workers in the employ of one government Department and three non-profit organisations in the Tshwane region. Data was analysed using Tesch’s (1990) steps and data verification was done through Gibbs’ (2008) model. I utilised Schlossberg’s (1981) Transition Process Model as the theoretical lens in this study. Based on the findings presented in this research report, it is evident that social workers face various challenges in terms of their personal safety, ranging from being physically attacked and being at the receiving end of aggressive behaviour from distressed, frustrated, and hostile service users, to facing risks to their personal safety in the social work offices and whilst on the road during fieldwork or in the communities they serve. The various coping strategies that social workers employ as way of dealing with the incidents and situations in which their personal safety is compromised include speaking to a supervisor, colleagues, friends, or a therapist; using their personal faith; remaining calm and withdrawing from the unsafe situation; and enlisting the help of the police or ensuring that they are accompanied by colleagues when doing fieldwork. The research findings included the suggestions proffered by the research participants on how to promote the personal safety of social workers and these are directed at employer organisations and social workers themselves. In addition, recommendations are provided which are directed towards social work practice; social work education and training; and continuous professional development. There are also recommendations for areas of further research.
