ABSTRACT
This book addresses a recurrent gap in social work literature by examining Ubuntu as an Indigenous African philosophy that informs social work beyond the largely residual and individualistic conceptualisation of social work that currently prevails in many contexts. Owing to the lack of social work theories, models and generally, literature that is locally and contextually relevant, most social work lecturers based in African context, struggle to access learning materials and texts that centre local indigenous voices and worldviews.
It is within this context that the ubuntu philosophy has gained traction. There is increasing consensus that Ubuntu as an African philosophy and way of life, has the potential to be used as a decolonising framework for social work education and practice. Theorising from Ubuntu can influence and be the foundation for African social work theory and knowledge, social work values and ethics, social work research and policy, and Ubuntu informing different fields of social work practice like social work with older people, children and young people, ubuntu and poverty alleviation, ubuntu and the environment, among others.
Drawing together social workers engaged in education, research, policy, practice, to theorise Ubuntu and its tenets, philosophies, and values, this book shows how it can be a foundation for a decolonised, more relevant social work education and practice in African contexts.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|38 pages
Theoretical Perspectives − Ubuntu and Decolonising Social Work
part II|49 pages
Ubuntu and Decolonising Social Work Ethics and Fieldwork
chapter 5|17 pages
Ubuntu principles
chapter 6|17 pages
Decolonising social work fieldwork education in Africa
part III|74 pages
Ubuntu and Social Work with Families
chapter 8|14 pages
Collective child-rearing in Igboland as a panacea to juvenile delinquency
chapter 11|13 pages
Philosophies guiding the model of care for older adults in traditional Igbo society
part IV|65 pages
Ubuntu and Environmental Social Work
chapter 14|15 pages
Enhancing environmental conditions of slum settlement dwellers in Africa
chapter 15|11 pages
Ubuntu and social work in emergencies
part V|60 pages
Ubuntu and Other Fields of Practice
chapter 16|15 pages
Ubuntu-informed approaches to address Conflict-Related Sexual Violence
chapter 19|15 pages
“Agbajo owo la fin soya ajeji owo kan ko gbe eru de ori”
part VI|37 pages
Looking Ahead