Journal of Social Work in Developing Societies

Perceptions of death and preparations for afterlife among older adults

Olusegun M Temilola — 2024-06-12

This paper explores death and afterlife beliefs on human existence, focusing on the human awareness of mortality and the role of religion in providing explanations for the afterlife. It delves into the perceptions of death and preparations for the afterlife among older adults in the Kosofe local government area of Lagos State, Nigeria. Emphasis on the involvement of social workers in supporting them through this existential process was brought to the fore. The study aims to understand the interplay of cultural, religious, and social factors that shape the perspectives of older adults regarding death and their preparations for the afterlife. It also seeks to identify the challenges encountered by them. This paper is anchored on the strength of Kübler-Ross's stages of grief theory. The qualitative research approach employed in this study provides a nuanced understanding of the participants' experiences. Findings show that adherence to religious doctrines is a key preparatory strategy for the afterlife. The study contributes to a deeper comprehension of how beliefs about death and the afterlife shape the experiences of older adults, offering insights for social work practice in supporting them through this life transition.

Social Work Community Practice from a Government Discourse Perspective

Pierre C. Bimenyimana — 2024-06-12

During the COVID-19 pandemic, countries were in emergencies to contain the envisioned danger. Rwanda was no exception. Among strategies adopted by the country to control the pandemic were community interventions by youth volunteers. Using social movement and self-determination theories, the paper investigated the policy perspective of the motives for the voluntary engagement of these youths in controlling the pandemic so that these motives could be documented for future emergencies. A qualitative approach was adopted to explore what motivated these youths by analysing government discourses, where data were collected from six government policy documents. The content analysis was done after grouping the data into two categories and subcategories using MAXQDA 22, a qualitative data analysis software, for data mapping and visualization. The results indicate that youth volunteers have been mainly motivated by institutional-level motives, whereby government leadership mobilisation and coordination had a high occurrence, and under the individual-level motives category, civic-mindedness behaviour occurred high. The paper argues that conducive policies are a key motivation for social work community practices. Social workers should advocate for conducive policies to increase the productivity of voluntary activities. Another study involving talking to youth volunteers may complement the current findings.

Understanding Emerging Schools of Social Work in Tanzania through the Ubuntu Perspective

Meinrad H. Lembuka — 2024-06-12

The article presents a comprehensive assessment of the emerging social work schools in Tanzania through the Ubuntu perspective. Ubuntu formed the basis of educational pedagogy in pre-colonial Tanzania but colonial rule imported Western social work approaches in the 1940s to replace it. The challenges include fragmented training with an influence of inherited colonial structure, outdated curricula, training materials that do not replicate African ecology and cultural values, indigenization of training, and lack of indigenous inputs even as graduates do not fit into the global market. Despite the challenges, emerging social work training schools have rendered several opportunities including social work research and consultancy, the emergence of indigenization of social work, abundance of social work indigenous elites and literature, TESWEP transformed into ASSWOT that advocated and participated in social welfare policies review that contain more African requirements. The paper recommends that key stakeholders should develop a comprehensive social work policy and related legislation to control the quality of training and practice for realization of Ubuntu goals. Also, Ujamaa competence should be restored in the training package while TASWO, and ASSWOT should address the gap between educators and practitioners while speeding up the indigenization of social work education with Ubuntu values.

Exploring the lived experiences of gender-based violence survivors among female sex -workers in Rivers State, Nigeria.

Dennis O. Akpona — 2024-06-12

Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a global challenge, with women and young girls being the major victims. Female sex workers are also adversely affected. However, there is limited evidence about the lived experiences and coping strategies of Female Sex Workers (FSW) in Rivers State, Nigeria. Hence, this study was guided by objectives that focused on determining: the effect of GBV on FSW in Rivers State and coping strategies adopted by Gender-based violence survivors to manage the challenges associated with it. Data were collected from 12 female sex workers using semi-structured interviews and were analyzed thematically using the NVivo12 software. Findings showed that enforcement agents, intimate partners, relatives, friends, clients, and recruiters were perpetrators of gender-based violence. The participants identified their lack of agency, poverty, lack of alternative means of livelihood, and desire to protect their parents as drivers of gender-based violence. The participants admitted having experienced physical and mental health challenges. The participants adopted several coping mechanisms: substance abuse, religion, self-defence, and relocation. The researchers concluded that increased awareness about available services, unbiased service provision, designated human rights officers, and prosecution of perpetrators would encourage disclosure and boost access and uptake of services.

Support Systems for Children with Disability in Alternative Care System in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria

Anthony Nwanze — 2024-06-12

Nigeria maintains residential homes as a form of alternative care for children with disability (CWD) despite its reversal in developed nations. This cross-sectional study profiled the nature of care for CWDs in alternative residential homes (ARHs) in Ibadan, Nigeria. The study administered 131 copies of a standardized questionnaire to CWDs, while eight interviews were conducted among staff of residential homes and regulatory bodies. The male (54.2%) population dominated the homes. Satisfaction in healthcare services (61%) and in quality of feeding (73%) were reported, while 32% CWDs expressed willingness to leave the residential homes for reasons of inadequate support structures. There was no significant relationship between respondents’ duration of stay and the likelihood of recommending residential homes as the best model for supporting CWD (P<0.05). Residential homes provided in-group solidarity and basic survival needs for CWDs, but lacked formal mechanisms for reporting and responding to abuses. Social workers can play a pivotal role in public sensitization to challenge the placing of CWDs in deficient ARHs and can also be at the forefront of advocating for social welfare programmes for parents of CWDs to enable the children to grow within their natural family settings.

Perceived inadequate welfare of healthcare professionals in Nigeria and its influence on service delivery and patients’ safety

Nneka F. Nwafor — 2024-06-12

This qualitative study examines the perceived inadequate welfare of healthcare professionals in Nigeria and its influence on service delivery and patient wellbeing, focusing on Enugu State. Three research questions were formulated to guide the study. Data were collected from 12 respondents through oral interviews. The health professionals and patients of three government-owned hospitals in Nsukka LGA formed the study population, where 12 respondents were sampled using purposive and availability sampling techniques. The collected data were analysed thematically. According to the analysis, the welfare of healthcare workers in Nigeria is inadequate. This has a far-reaching impact on the quality of healthcare service delivery and patient’s well-being. The study strongly advocates the need for governmental intervention and collaboration among healthcare professionals to improve working conditions. This study also accentuates the role of social workers in advocating for better healthcare systems and patient safety.