The importance of reflective social work practice in a traumatised country like South Africa

ABSTRACT

South Africa is a particularly traumatised country that has been characterised and experienced excessive amounts of violence, discrimination and social division. Against this backdrop, South African social workers have a fundamental role to fulfil through their contributions to the healing of the country as they advocate for social justice, reconciliation and equality. Yet these contributions often come at a cost, working with traumatised clients and communities frequently results in social workers being exposed to emotionally intensive and disturbing experiences of their clients and communities. While there are numerous strategies to employ in order to ameliorate the effects of vicarious trauma, reflective social work practice is essential. This paper explores how reflective practice is a crucial approach to practice for social workers who are working with traumatised populations utilising a case vignette to illustrate this process. The role of social work educators and supervisors in this regard is also highlighted.

KEYWORDS:

• Reflective practice
• self-development
• social work education
• South Africa
• supervision
• vicarious trauma

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Francine Masson

Francine Masson is a social worker and senior lecturer in Social Work and Social Care at the University of Wolverhampton. She specialises in occupational social work and trauma informed social work practice. Her areas of research include employee health and wellness, trauma, substance abuse and social work education.

Tanya Graham

Tanya Graham is a community-based counselling psychologist and an Associate Professor in the School of Human and Community Development at the University of the Witwatersrand. She specialises in critical community psychology theory, pedagogy and practice. Her research focuses on intersections between processes of social exclusion, psychosocial issues and mental health.