2.5 Research and literature on social work supervision
2.5.2 Supervision of social work field practice education in South Africa
44 communication and interaction between the universities and the agency and increased placement time.
According to Brown & Bourne (1996) several reasons prompted the writing of a book dedicated to social work supervision. The central aim of their book was to demonstrate that there exists knowledge and skill that is specific to the role of supervisor which includes the supervisor’s acknowledgement of being ill equipped to carry out the important task of supervision and the overall dissatisfaction with supervision standards. The importance of supervision in the maintenance of high morale and quality service delivery and the rapidly changing context of social work and social welfare services, the need to establish a clear value base for supervision and affirmation of the centrality of the relationship between supervisor and supervisee.
There is evidence from a range of research studies of the dissatisfaction with supervision from both supervisors and supervisees. These studies conducted by Stevenson et al. (1978);
Satyamurti (1981); NALGO (1989) and Kadushin (1992), as cited by Brown & Bourne (1996), serves to reinforce the inadequate preparation for the skilled task of supervision. According to Brown & Bourne (1996) , the overall standard and quality of supervision can be raised through increasing its priority within agency policies, identifying the relevant knowledge, skills and values required, creating the space for the necessary training to be undertaken and ensuring that regular supervision is undertaken with all staff irrespective of their role in the organization. The process must consider the supervisees tasks, needs and stage of professional development.
Descriptions from a number of countries indicate a range of commonalities and differences in terms of models of welfare and current practices of supervision. The extensive literature on supervision spanning several decades clearly emphasizes the development of and the importance of the field instructor role in the professional education of students.
45 Public Welfare in 1937 supported by the provision of social work training at nine universities within South Africa (Muller (1995) as cited in Bradley, et al. (2010)). The dynamics of the profession were fast developing and in 1965 the national Welfare Act made provision for the registration of social workers. This eventually resulted in the introduction of the Social and Associated Workers Act 110 of 1978. Currently, four year undergraduate and post graduate degrees are offered at all South African Universities with some universities offering specialized postgraduate courses in social work supervision. (Bradley, et al. 2010)
According to Engelbrecht (2006), as cited in Bradley, et al. (2010), the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994 transformed social welfare services and supervision resulting in the introduction of The White Paper for Social Welfare in 1997 and the establishment of the South African Council for Social Service Professions in 1998. For various economic, social and political reasons a “brain drain” of social workers from the country resulted in a significant shortage of social workers and supervisors Engelbrecht (2006). In 2003, the Department of Social Development declared social work a scarce skill and responded to this through the introduction of the extended retention strategy and by offering scholarships to students to study social work. This was an admission that there was a decline in the productivity and quality of social work services, due to high case loads, work related stress and lack of structured supervision. The Department (2006a:20), as cited in Bradley, et al. (2010), also referred to “poor quality supervisors, who themselves also lack capacity to conduct professional supervision.”
According to Botha (2002), as cited in Bradley, et al. (2010), research in supervision in South Africa is not comprehensive. Findings by Engelbrecht (2008) into current practices of supervision at NGOs, suggest the following:
“Supervisors are normally women with a professional social work qualification, aged 30 years and over, with at least five years’ experience in front line work and registered with the SACSSP.
She lacks formal training in supervision, but has undergone in-service training as a supervisor.”
Despite being considered to be in a middle management position, due to the high turnover and staff shortage, the supervisor also carries a statutory load and oversees the orientation of new workers, and other management tasks, often having insufficient time to attend to her task of
46 supervision. This is exacerbated in rural areas where the supervisees are stationed a distance away resulting in supervision being telephonic and informal.
Supervision focuses on the monitoring of the worker’s activities and guidance on case crises.
Whilst greater needs of the supervisee are evident in relation to dealing with trauma and debriefing, the supervisor does not have the capacity in terms of her time constraints to address these issues and experiences burnout herself. In addition, supervisors do not receive structured supervision for their role, and depend on informal support from colleagues.
According to Engelbrecht (2006), it is essential that support to students in the south African context is facilitated in a culturally friendly manner, by supervisors who should view the student in his/her cultural context in order to offer successful support through supervision. This implies that students must be allowed to manage their blockages and stressors according to their own values, principles and expectations. If this is not supported by supervisors who may have a culturally unfriendly disposition, the student is often labelled as being uncooperative, unmotivated, hostile, unresponsive and resistant to change. “The application of culturally friendly support to social work students is beyond the acquiring of a method but is rather a particular disposition and attitude that must be lived, through the display of a sincere and warm attitude, a conciliatory attitude, an understanding attitude, an eager-to-learn attitude, a realistic attitude, and an emphatic attitude” (Engelbrecht, 2006).
“The South African context necessitates that supervisors are equipped to accommodate a culturally diverse student population” (Engelbrecht, 2006). It is quite possible that the supervisor, student and service user are from different cultural backgrounds. The supervisor adopting a culturally friendly disposition will form the foundation of support provided to the student social worker. This will enhance the student’s learning experience ensuring that the service user receives the best possible service. It is imperative that cultural friendliness form the foundation of the support function of supervision of social work students in South Africa since providing successful supervision in South Africa is not possible without it (Engelbrecht, 2006).
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