Employee substance abuse in the SAPS : strengthening the collaborative working relationship between first line managers and police social workers by evaluating the Sober Workplace Programme for Managers
Loading...
Authors
Van Rensburg, Maria Magrietha Janse
Issue Date
2018-10
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Employee substance abuse , Collaborative working relationship , Police social worker , First line manager , Workplace social work intervention , Occupational social work , Switching replication quasi-experimental research
Alternative Title
Abstract
An intoxicated police employee can never keep the community safe and secure, as
mandated by law enforcement prescripts. However, limited attention is given to
harmful or hazardous substance abuse or the binge drinking habits of police
employees. Substance abuse being a ‘culture’ in law enforcement agencies and the
maintenance of the blue wall of silence as a protective measure necessitates
scientific research to explore how a collaborative working relationship between the
occupational social worker and especially First Line Managers (FLMs) can
contribute to addressing this phenomenon in a timeous manner.
The researcher applied a quantitative research approach and utilised a switching
replication quasi-experimental design to determine whether the collaborative
working relationship between South African Police Service (SAPS) FLMs and Police
Social Workers (PSWs) can be strengthened to the extent that they effectively and
efficiently deal with the harmful or hazardous substance abuse or binge drinking
habits of SAPS employees by exposing the FLMs to a social work intervention,
namely the Sober Workplace Programme for Managers. The pre-, mid-, and posttest measurements are based on knowledge, attitude, and behaviour constructs to
determine if the two hypotheses formulated were supported. The study, however,
did not indicate that the Sober Workplace Programme for Managers strengthens the
collaborative working relationship between the FLMs and PSWs to address the
harmful or hazardous substance abuse or binge drinking habits of employees in the
workplace. Alternative research and occupational social work strategies are
recommended to establish if and how the Sober Workplace Programme for
Managers can be implemented to strengthen the collaborative working relationship
between the FLMs and PSWs to address the harmful or hazardous substance abuse
or binge drinking habits of employees.