ABSTRACT

All recent books on international social work mention Africa only briefly and few engage with the broader field of development studies. This book focuses solely on the unique African context engaging with issues relating to social work and development more broadly thus enabling a deeper examination and more complex and nuanced picture to emerge. Unlike most academic works, this book highlights multiple practitioner voices, with authors or co-authors that have recently been or are currently practising social workers. As an edited book, it draws from both academic research as well as lived practice experience, supported by strong theoretical positioning and guidance in introductory chapters, drawing on African literature, wherever possible. Looking at case-studies from Lesotho, Botswana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Namibia, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Zambia and Tanzania and covering established areas of practice such as child protection; working with older people; working with people with disabilities; mental health; and mainstream services targeting women as well as emerging areas of developmental social work practice, such as humanitarian assistance in post-conflict situations; work with immigrants and refugees; and the training of community-based workers, this book takes a future-oriented perspective that aims to move beyond well-worn critiques to envision constructive and sustainable futures for social work and social development in Africa from a critical perspective.

chapter |12 pages

Introduction

part |2 pages

Part 1 Setting the scene

part |2 pages

Part 2 Established areas of practice

chapter 3|10 pages

Social work practice in Lesotho’s Ministry of Social Development

ByJotham Dhemba, Masealimo Marumo

chapter 4|13 pages

Social work and social protection in Ghana

ByRose Korang-Okrah, Alice Boateng, Augustina Naami, Akosua Obuo Addo

chapter 5|12 pages

Social protection and social work practice in Zambia

ByFred Moonga

chapter 6|12 pages

Social work practice with children in Botswana: issues, challenges, and future prospects

ByPelonomi M. Letshwiti-Macheng, Rodreck Mupedziswa

chapter 7|12 pages

Social work practice in child and family welfare in Ghana

ByKwabena Frimpong-Manso, Anastasia Kpei Mawudoku

chapter 9|12 pages

Decolonising childcare practice in rural Zimbabwe: embracing local cultures

ByEdmos Mtetwa, Munyaradzi Muchacha

chapter 10|12 pages

Social work practice with older people: perspectives from East Africa

ByHelmut Spitzer, Zena M. Mabeyo

chapter 11|11 pages

Social work engagement in the community-based care of older people in Namibia

ByJanetta Ananias, Leigh-Ann Salonika Namdis Black, and Herman Strydom

chapter 12|12 pages

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) in Uganda: a role for social work?

ByCharlotte Persson

chapter 13|13 pages

The role of social workers in the social management of epilepsy in Africa

ByJacob Mugumbate, Harmiena Riphagen, Rosemary Gathara

chapter 16|12 pages

Providing a Lifeline for female survivors of human trafficking in Ghana

ByDavid Okech, Alexis Danikuu

part |2 pages

Part 3 Developmental social work in emerging areas of practice

chapter 20|15 pages

Social protection and social work in Uganda

ByPaul Bukuluki, Ronard Mukuye, John-Bosco Mubiru

chapter 22|11 pages

Violence against children in Malawi and social work

ByBrendan Ross, Karen Smith Rotabi, Nankali Maksud

chapter 23|12 pages

Vyama in Kenya: an Afrocentric strengths-based approach to community development

ByGidraph G. Wairire, John Muiruri

chapter 24|11 pages

Community development in South Africa: collective action for social change

ByLambert Engelbrecht, Mornay Pretorius

chapter 30|11 pages

Addressing gender inequality among girls and women: role of social work in the Girl Power Programme in Zambia

ByMichelo Chilwalo, Joseph Mumba Zulu, Lazarus Mwale