Reflective Supervision: Guidelines for Promoting Resilience Amongst Designated Social Workers

Abstract

The importance of child protection as well as the designated social workers (DSWs) assigned to them, and the jeopardy they face, is well recognised. Although there is a call to enhance DSW resilience, little is known about their resilience, and there are no guidelines to equip South African DSW supervisors to promote supervisee resilience. This article proposes resilience-enhancing guidelines for South African DSWs within reflective supervision. These suggested guidelines are based on empirical research findings pertaining to (a) a systematic meta-synthesis of DSW risk and resilience; (b) indicators of South African DSW resilience; and (c) the lived experiences of 15 resilient South African DSWs.

No strangers to adversity: Resilience-promoting practices among South African women child protection social workers

“…Although the reported resilience practices are not new, participants’ reliance on themselves and their social ecologies foregrounds that the resilience of South African CPSWs is system dependent. To support CPSW resilience, it is imperative that researchers search for exemplars of more equally weighted and ethical resilience-supporting partnerships and harness such insights (perhaps by means of resilience-enhancing guidelines – see Truter and Fouché, 2015) to promote CPSW resilience. A possible way forward is for a study such as this current one to be replicated in different cultures and contexts across the globe, to further explore and refine understandings of CPSW resilience.…”

A Critical Review of Resilience Theory and Its Relevance for Social Work

“…An exhaustive search for peer-reviewed journal articles with 'resilience' (or 'resilient' or 'resiliency') in the title or abstract, written by South African social workers over the two years from 2015 to 2016, turned up 12 publications, with three authors appearing more than once: Fouché, Truter and Van Breda (Dolbin-Macnab, Jarrott, Moore, O'hora, De Chavonnes Vrugt & Erasmus., 2016;Dykes, 2016;Goliath & Pretorius, 2016;Kasiram & Beattie, 2015;Raniga & Mthembu, 2016;Roman, Serena Ann, Charl & Xin-Cheng, 2016;Soji, Pretorius & Bak, 2015;Truter & Fouché, 2015;Truter, Fouché & Theron, 2016;Van Breda, 2015b;Van Breda, 2016c;Van Breda, 2016a). This suggests a small but growing interest in resilience research among social workers in South Africa, with topics including families, adolescents, youth-headed households, care-leavers, student and qualified social workers, aging caregivers, organisations, drug abuse, HIV and poverty.…”

Resilience of Social Auxiliary Workers: Defined by Strengths and Coping Abilities

“…The level of resilience of individuals is one contributing factor that helps them to thrive in adverse circumstances (Allan, McKenna & Dominey, 2013;Bunce et al, 2019;Kinman & Grant, 2011;Mansfield, Beltman & Price, 2014). Resilience has been found to benefit social workers as it acts as a protective factor that promotes their wellbeing and enhances their ability to manage stress (Kinman & Grant, 2017;Truter & Fouché, 2015;Truter, Fouché & Theron, 2017a). In the context of this study resilience is also seen as a protective factor that promotes the wellbeing of social auxiliary workers.…”

“…In the context of this study resilience is also seen as a protective factor that promotes the wellbeing of social auxiliary workers. Although there is significant research on the resilience of social workers (Allan et al, 2013;Bunce et al, 2019;Dykes, 2016;Huang & Lin, 2013;Kinman & Grant, 2017;Mansfield et al, 2014;Truter & Fouché, 2015;Truter et al, 2017a;Whitney, 2017;Wosnitza, Peixoto, Beltman & Mansfield, 2018), there is not much knowledge about the resilience of social auxiliary workers. Research that has been done on social auxiliary workers focuses on them as an occupational group (de Kock, 1999), the supervision of the social auxiliary worker (Goliath, 2018), social auxiliary worker training programmes (Matanda, 2016), and the role of the social auxiliary worker in addressing the needs of children living with HIV/AIDS (Zibengwa, 2016).…”