Improving the lives of Ghanaian children: complementing the global agenda with a structural social work approach

Abstract

Manful SE, Manful E. Improving the lives of Ghanaian children: complementing the global agenda with a structural social work approach Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 115–123 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. In principle, Ghana's commitment to the global agenda for improving the welfare of children cannot be disputed. Globalisation has advanced changes in the country's institutional landscape with the introduction of economic reforms and administrative institutional frameworks to improve the welfare of children, amongst others. This article discusses the impacts of two global agendas, the Structural Adjustment Program and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It argues that the economic reforms and the legal framework to ensure the welfare of children have not achieved their envisaged goals, because the global initiatives focused on institutional changes, neglecting social factors that cause inequalities. Consequently, these factors have contributed to the inability of adequate service provision for children. To alleviate the problem, this article suggests that a structural social work approach be adopted in Ghana as a complementary strategy to improve the welfare of children.

Conceptualisation of child neglect: A Ghanaian practice narrative

“…Dubowitz (2013) argued that putting the blame for child neglect on the government widens the source of support needed to prevent issues of neglect, rather than blaming parents alone, which can limit the source of support for children. Rightly so, as the onus is put on all states that have ratified the CRC to protect children from abuse and neglect (Manful and Manful, 2010). These notwithstanding, the definitions provided from different continents points to the argument that child neglect is socially constructed (Horwath, 2007; Lonne, 2015).…”

Ghanaian BSW Students' Perceptions of Poverty and Social Welfare Policies in Ghana

“…If social work students practice according to a socio-environmental view, it may lead to an understanding of poverty that is inclusive of both individual and structural factors, as well as inclusive of macro-oriented interventions-social planning and policy, community and organization development, and social and political advocacy. This would be a departure from the approach emphasizing the remediation and rehabilitation of women, homeless children, and persons with a mental illness, physical disability, or both, the approach which has dominated social work practice and education in Ghana (Blavo & Apt, 1997;Kreitzer, 2004;Kreitzer et al, 2009;Manful & Manful, 2010). Through this approach, social work students may develop further insight into the challenges impacting impoverished individuals, the existing structural inequalities impacting impoverished groups and populations, and the policy process at the district, local, regional, and national levels of government in Ghana.…”

From walls to homes: Child care reform and deinstitutionalisation in Ghana

“…Ghana could address this situation by training community members as para-social workers. Manful and Manful (2010) suggested that social workers, working in cooperation with comparable community-based organisations and NGOs, could train other child care workers on how to 'identify the various factors that cause children's vulnerability' (p. 121). These para-social workers could then undertake regular visits to monitor and offer support to OVCs in kinship care.…”