Social Workers’ and Homeless People’s Understanding of Ways to Redress Homelessness

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2708-9355/9997

Keywords:

social worker, homeless people, homelessness, marginalisation, collaboration

Abstract

Homeless people are arguably the most marginalised and vulnerable of communities. The marginalisation of homeless people not only occurs in economic and social terms, but also with respect to participation in the process of service delivery and decisions that affect them. Consequently, some researchers have identified the disjuncture between services offered to homeless people and their needs. In this article, using a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive approach, we explore the understanding of social workers and homeless people in redressing homelessness. We used face-to-face semi-structured interviews to generate data. The data were analysed thematically. The findings indicate that social workers’ and homeless people’s accounts of understanding and redressing homelessness are contradictory. Conversely, collaboration between social workers and homeless people could create an informed understanding of homelessness and the opportunity for the two parties to learn from each other.

Author Biographies

Phuti Nathaniel Kgadima, University of South Africa

Currently employed as a Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Work(UNISA)

Timson Mahlangu, Department of Health

The author is the social worker at the Department of Health, Gauteng Province 

Mr

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Published

2022-08-25

How to Cite

Kgadima, Phuti Nathaniel, and Timson Mahlangu. 2022. “Social Workers’ and Homeless People’s Understanding of Ways to Redress Homelessness”. Southern African Journal of Social Work and Social Development 34 (2):18 pages. https://doi.org/10.25159/2708-9355/9997.

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