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Researchers facilitated a participatory action learning action research process with second year Social Sciences students at a University in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. This paper focusses on the facilitation of a participatory action learning action research process and the contribution of this to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning of the researchers. A social constructivist theoretical framework was employed. The significance of this research is that it adds to the understanding and implementation of participatory action learning action research, the evolving perception of participation as well as ownership within a participatory action learning action research process within the relatively less studied context of sub-Saharan African and South Africa more specifically. This paper demonstrates how utilising participatory action learning action research contributed to the researchers own "lifelong learning", particularly with regard to scholarship and collaborations in the process of knowledge production. The researchers' critical reflections and learning throughout this process could be of assistance to other researchers who are interested in embarking upon similar participatory research projects in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Social workers employed in Child Protection Organisations (CPOs) are frequently confronted with child sexual abuse cases. This paper aims to determine the challenges faced by social workers employed by CPOs when dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse. A qualitative study was done using focus group discussions with 71 social workers as participants. The social developmental welfare approach and legislative mandates were used to analyse the research problem of challenges that social workers experience when dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse allegations. The findings indicate that existing South African policies, conventions and legislation do not always complement each other, but rather create challenges and uncertainties amongst social workers in this field. This, together with insufficient resources for service delivery, often leads to re-victimisation of the child who has been sexually abused. This paper concludes with recommendations based on the social developmental principles that suggest integrated and collaborative partnerships to ensure effective responses to child sexual abuse cases. Secondly, it urges universities to relook their curricula to ensure sufficient training for undergraduate social worker students takes place to deal with sexual abuse allegations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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]