Children's uncontrollable behaviour : A qualitative study of how social workers in Heidedal, South Africa works with the issue

Abstract: The preconditions for social work changes rapidly in South Africa and the country  is characterized by pervasive inequality with extremes of wealth and poverty.  Access to employment is difficult in rural areas and this leads to large-scale unemployment and poverty in the country. One area with these problems  is the community Heidedal in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Uncontrollable behaviour with children is also a big and increasing issue in the community. The aim of this thesis is to investigate what the term uncontrollable behaviour implicates and how social workers within Heidedal work towards children’s uncontrollable behaviour in the community. This through our chosen theoretical framework, the theory of individual- and community empowerment. The study was carried out through an microethnographic approach, based on semi-structured interviews with social workers coming from four different organisations in Heidedal, together with observations in the area. The focus of the analysis was on separating the material into themes that answer the research aim by using influences from a qualitative content analysis. Uncontrollable behaviour was therefore investigated through specific themes connected to the theory. The findings presented five overlooking themes: Uncontrollable behaviour, Influencing factors on uncontrollable behaviour, Main methods, Main approaches and Work environment. The main findings within this study reveals that uncontrollable behaviour can devolve upon several different things and therefore the social workers in Heidedal are dealing with the issue with many different methods and approaches which will be revealed and discussed in this thesis. From the findings the term “uncontrollable” will furthermore be discussed and questioned. In conclusion the result showed upon the importance of a combination of the two types of empowerment addressed in this thesis; personal empowerment and community empowerment as an alternative way to deal with the issue with uncontrollable behaviour regarding children. This to reach a long term solution, in relation to environmental and socio-economical vulnerable areas that these children operate in.