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This paper illustrates the practical implementation of intervention research when adapting a family assessment tool between countries. Developing countries such as South Africa are emphasising the indigenisation of practices to ensure applicable theories and practices when addressing unique societal contexts or challenges. New social work technology can be developed using the process of intervention research. This paper analyses the application of intervention research using the social constructionism paradigm in addressing the research problem of how a family assessment tool can be transferred from one country to another, with the main focus being on feedback and the application of this method by the researchers. Forty‐six social workers were trained in the use of the assessment tool, and feedback on the adaptation of the tool was gathered during focus group discussions on various occasions. Results indicate the importance of contextualising the tool within the context of specific countries to ensure relevancy and applicability, especially among different racial and cultural groups, as well as to ensure that the relevant stakeholders are consulted in the development of new technology. Intervention research ensures a rigorous research process to adapt existing technology to a local context. 'This paper illustrates the practical implementation of intervention research when adapting a family assessment tool between countries' Key Practitioner Messages: Intervention research is an appropriate approach in adapting tools from one context to another.Focus group discussion enhances the ability of practitioners to jointly construct practice realities.The applicability of assessment tools is enhanced by widely consulting with practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous cultural as well as institutional social work practices often contribute towards the perpetuation and creation of inequalities. This article explores the experiences of South African foster care adolescents regarding participatory decision-making and the role of indigenous culture and social work practices. The theoretical framework adopted in this article is the developmental social welfare approach augmented by selected elements of the systems theory. A phenomenological study was conducted, and a major finding concluded that the cultural value system of foster adolescents, the institutional social work practices and the developmental approach are in conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the experiences of adolescents in foster care placement with specific reference to participatory decision making in an indigenous African cultural context in South Africa. The emphasis is on the voices of foster adolescents in an indigenous African cultural context and their experiences of inequality when communicating and expressing opinions. The theoretical framework adopted was Interactional Communication Theory in which individuals interact through the use of symbols to co-create and interpret meaning. This theory incorporates some elements of systems theory with the emphasis on the interrelatedness quality as integral to the communication processes. A qualitative exploratory research study was done with 29 adolescents in foster care. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 adolescent participants and as well as enriching the data with two focus groups consisting of eight adolescents in each group. Findings indicate a lack of openness of the foster care system in terms of the communication approach, international covenants and legislation that was used. The approach used was not based on interactional practices and perpetuated inequalities amongst adolescents. Also, the socio-cultural context of the foster family played a major inhibiting and determining role for adolescents regarding the level of free and open communication in their placement pertaining to decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the experiences of caregivers in the Eastern Cape Province regarding the alleviation of child poverty, and presents a case for the expansion of monetary support to effectively address the multi-dimensional focus of child poverty in South Africa. The Social Development Approach (SDA) 1 1 Social Development Approach (SDA) addresses the “implementation of policies and programmes to meet needs, promote rights, manage social problems and facilitate maximization of opportunities to achieve social well-being and the promotion of human empowerment and social inclusion” ( Patel, 2005 ). was used together with the Child Focused Multi-dimensional Model (CFMDM) 2 2 Child Focused Multi-dimensional Model (CFMDM) is a model that is ‘child focused’ and is relevant to the child's life. It considers the different domains of deprivation, good access to quality services and, at its core, contains the absolute component that is complemented by the relative dimension which is based on the child's ability to participate fully in society and most importantly considers the applicability for different age groups. to explore the research problem. A phenomenological research design was followed by conducting semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion with 20 participants who were purposively drawn from four urban and rural areas in the Eastern Cape. The findings concur with the view that the Child Support Grant (CSG) 3 3 Child Support Grant (CSG) is a non-contributory cash transfer programme paid to caregivers with children under the age of 18 years who meet the minimum requirements of the South African Social Security Agency (2016a, 2016b) . monetary support should be increased to better accommodate the multi-dimensional child poverty needs of the CSG recipients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]