Professional social work in Zimbabwe: Past, present and the future

Mabvurira, Mwalimu Vincent and Fahrudin, Adi and Mtetwa, Edmos (2021) Professional social work in Zimbabwe: Past, present and the future. Zimbabwe Association of Social Workers, Harare Zimbabwe. ISBN 978-1-77925-782-6

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Abstract

Preface Copious manuscripts attest to the incompatibility of certain western social work approaches with certain African contexts. For over two decades, several scholars have been actively advocating for the indigenisation of social work in Africa (Osei-Hwedie, 1993; Walton & Abo, 1988). Nonetheless, proponents of indigenisation are often criticised for castigating western social work methods without offering any realistic remedies. Social work in many African countries has its genesis in the colonial period. In most cases, the colonial administrators deployed social work methods that were used in their parent countries. The same applied to social work teaching methods and materials where the early educators transplanted literature from the developed countries and used it for teaching in developing countries. This trend continues to this day. Notwithstanding the political independence of many African nations, the literature used in social work training remains overly Eurocentric. The situation is prevalent in countries like Zimbabwe where western hegemony is very much alive in social work literature, four decades after the country gained its independence from Britain. Consequently, knowledge hegemony/imperialism remains the order in most social work training institutions in the country. Though there is acknowledgement of literature generated by Zimbabwean academics and researchers, justice has not been done around basic social work textbooks for use by learners at undergraduate levels. African renaissance hinges on the need to emancipate social work education from western imperialism through social work indigenisation. The indigenisation process should begin in the lecture room where students are taught using locally generated materials. It is high time social work researchers and academics in Zimbabwe move out of the hives and generate local knowledge for use in local social work teaching and training. African thought and world views have for long been neglected in social work training and practice in Zimbabwe. This book therefore provides a platform for social work researchers and academics to develop a locally produced textbook that introduces students to the social work profession. There is overwhelming consensus that social work in Africa is slightly different from social work in non-African contexts. The context of the family, for example, is both vertical and horizontal in an African context while it is generally horizontal in Western societies. Confidentiality in Africa may slightly mean something different from confidentiality in Europe. The word relative in the traditional African context may confuse a western trained social worker as distant relatives from the extended family matter compared to some non-African contexts where only immediate family members do matter. This book, authored by academics of Zimbabwean ancestry, introduces students to several key issues in the study of social work

Item Type:	Book
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
Depositing User:	Prof Dr Adi Fahrudin
Date Deposited:	27 Feb 2021 22:53
Last Modified:	27 Feb 2021 22:53
URI:	http://repository.umj.ac.id/id/eprint/3222

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