Suchergebnisse

The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has brought untold hardship across the globe. Developed nations have taken relatively commendable actions to quell its impact on livelihood and most have also included social workers in the frontline due to their expertise in working with vulnerable populations. Same cannot be said of developing nations particularly Nigeria who hurriedly copied the measures adopted by the developed nations without carefully considering her peculiarities. Given Nigeria's high poverty rate prior to and even higher during the pandemic as well as the few available resources, it is important that Nigerian social workers should be called upon as frontline workers with regards to the welfare of the vulnerable and the psychosocial well-being of infected persons and their families. Instead, Nigeria has totally ignored the importance of social workers and palliatives have been stolen by those tasked with distribution while the psychosocial well-being of affected persons has been left to fate.

AbstractResearch on the challenges child protection social workers (CPSWs) face has increased remarkably in developed nations with the goal of finding sustainable solutions. There is a significant number of vulnerable children in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA), yet little is documented and known about the role of CPSWs in supporting the children, and the challenges they face that must be addressed to ensure effective and efficient service delivery. The study presents findings from in‐depth interviews with 11 certified social workers recruited from five non‐governmental organizations in Lagos and Kano states, Nigeria. A realist thematic methodological analysis was performed on the data. Findings were organized and discussed around two major themes including child‐focused remedial work and challenges encountered. Providing essential remedial services such as food, clothing, shelter and counselling/therapeutic services emerged as the primary responsibilities of Nigerian child protection social workers (NCPSWs). Their work‐related challenges include frustration due to limited resources and resistant children, shortages of social workers and high caseloads, whereas systemic challenges include the non‐adoption and non‐implementation of the 2003 Child Rights Act (CRA), the lack of legal recognition for the profession and government support. Implications and recommendations are drawn for practice, policy, and research.

Research in Africa indicates an increasing number of children needing a secure and stable alternative family environment, yet the commonly used kinship care system is insufficient to meet this need requiring the support of non-kinship care. This study examined the socioeconomic and demographic drivers of willingness to foster non-kin children among mothers in Nigeria. Data from 779 mothers of children ages 2-10 were analyzed using Pearson correlation matrix and linear regression analysis to examine the associations among socioeconomic/demographic characteristics and willingness to foster. Attributes of the mothers such as region, neighborhood (rural or urban), education, occupation, and age are some determinants of willingness to foster, which also varies across children with special needs, diversity, and under six. Efforts to improve non-kinship foster care in Nigeria should consider mothers' socioeconomic and demographic attributes when seeking to attract foster parents. The findings of this study provide implications for research, social work practice, and education in Nigeria and Africa.