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The social work profession has become critical in assisting victims of violent crime at social service agencies in South Africa. Social workers have been spearheading efforts to help trauma victims at the expense of their mental health. For Black South African social workers, the mental burden of working with victim collides with historical trauma to create new ways of experiencing mental health challenges. The study aimed to explore the experiences of social workers working with victims of violent crime at select social service agencies in Johannesburg. The study was qualitative in nature and a case study design was used. Data was collected using in-depth interviews. The researchers used purposive sampling and data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Results from the study showed that Black South African social workers working in the field of violent crime face challenges such as prolonged sadness, emotional exhaustion and vicarious trauma. All these psychological problems are amplified by the fact that social workers in South Africa work under strenuous conditions. This increases the impact of psychological problems on social workers. Therefore, this paper argues that when the psychological effects of working with victims of violent crime, intersect with historical trauma, it produces unique ways of experiencing trauma for Black South African social workers. This study has strong implications for research about the health and wellbeing of social work practitioners working with trauma victims. The study exposes the need to prioritize the wellbeing of social workers especially those working in contexts with a traumatic past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With an official HIV infection rate of 18.5%, approximately one in five South Africans are HIV positive. Despite this prevalence, stigma and discrimination associated with being HIV positive is widespread. HIV-related stigma emanates from the fact that HIV is associated with risky behaviors such as drug use, sexual promiscuity, homosexuality and transactional sex. Participants were recruited through announcements in classrooms and during community meetings. Participants were selected if they knew someone who was discriminated against HIV as a result of being affected by HIV. The status of the participants was irrelevant. Seven focus group sessions were conducted with 62 participants. The results show that stigma is seen as a result of lack of HIV knowledge, with participants from rural areas showing more knowledge regarding HIV transmission and care as compared to urban participants. Most participants agreed that disclosure leads to more voluntary HIV testing, obtaining treatment and preventing further transmission of HIV. The results of this study provide indications that stigma can be mitigated by increasing knowledge of HIV prevention, targeted information campaigns in urban areas, and encouraging discussion about stigma and discrimination against the disease. Programmes should apply the Theory of Planned Behavior for the development of such interventions, take culture, creed, and other social affiliation into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child well-being is particularly relevant to South African social workers given the country's high rates of violence, poverty, inequality, unemployment, HIV/AIDS, and poor schooling outcomes. Guided by a social constructivist theoretical lens, and located within an interpretive qualitative research design, the aim of the study was to determine whether children's drawings and teacher interviews can differentiate qualitatively between children with positive well-being and those with compromised well-being. Children aged 6–8 years whose parents/caregivers were recipients of Child Support Grants (CSGs) were asked to draw a picture of themselves and their families and teachers were asked about the children's functioning. Findings from triangulation of drawings and interviews suggested that while a firm diagnosis of emotional, behavioral, or cognitive disorder could not be reached, it was possible to differentiate between children with positive well-being and those whose well-being appeared to be compromised by developmental delay, learning difficulties, emotional problems, behavioral problems, and/or social issues. It is therefore recommended that social workers make greater use of children's drawings and educator interviews as assessment tools. However, one should not rely solely on children's drawings, but should rather combine drawings with child and educator interviews. Findings also highlight the need for South African social workers to develop indicators that are culturally and ecologically applicable to African children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]