| dc.description.abstract | The social welfare policy context changed dramatically from apartheid to post-apartheid in
the South African transition to democracy. The new social developmental approach towards
professional social work service delivery did not decrease the demand for foster care and thus
the need for alternative child care placements continue to rise. Many children are still
removed from their primary caregivers at a very young age and stay in foster care until they
become adults. The goal of this research study was to explore , understand and describe the
perceptions and experiences of adults regarding their lived experiences as foster children
through the lens of Life Course Theory. Key objectives were to explore, understand and
describe the foster care and childhood perceptions and experiences of participants through
their journeys and transitions into adulthood; to explore, understand and describe how
professional social work services are delivered in the field of foster care in the Overstrand
Service Delivery Area and with these reflections, provide recommendations for
improvements in foster care support services. In conducting this study, a qualitative single
case design was implemented with the aim to contextualise the topic from a local, regional
and social work perspective. A purposive sample of nine adult participants (four adult women
and five adult men between the ages 25 and 35), across racial groups, i.e. young adults who
entered alternative foster care as children, were used for the study. Data was collected in
selected sub-areas of the Overstrand Municipal area, with a specific focus on the increasing
foster care caseloads of registered non-profit child protection organisations (NPOs),
particularly their satellite offices of Hermanus, Kleinmond, Gansbaai and the Stanford areas
which form part of the Overberg region in the Western Cape. Data collection techniques
consisted of document studies and semi-structured interviews, using a life-history approach
for each individual partcipant. Data analysis was guided by the eight-step thematic analytical
framework provided by Tesch.
Findings concluded that social workers with the necessary resources generally need to
respond in more appropriate ways to adequately prepare youth for the period of
‘transitioning’ out of foster care into independence and adulthood. The study documented
evidence of how clients view the foster-care supervision services that were rendered. The
study should thus guide and allow practitioner social workers to seriously review current
social policies and practices regarding foster care. During the life course of ‘identity seeking’
individuals the struggles and challenges as told by the adult participants in this contextual
study became better known and understood. As a practitioner and social work researcher, the
researcher was also able to identify with the current practice dilemmas faced by designated
child protection NPO organisations working under many constraints rendering foster-care
services at local community and family level on behalf of the state.
The research study should alert policy makers (including academic training instutitions), at
local state and organizational levels, as well as individual social work professionals, of their
constitutional, citizenship and ethical obligations to take cognisance, and great care of the
significance of case file records that become historical evidence of the work and services
rendered by professionals.
The researcher is registered with the South African Council of Social Service Professions and
is bound by the social work code of ethics which include research practice. Ethics
considerations that were key to this study, e.g. obtaining informed consent, protecting the
anonymity of the individual participants and participating organizations, and to ensure that
both records and documents, and their identity and status are kept confidential. | en_US |
