‘Influencing…it is our role, it is our duty’: How social workers unintentionally reinforce conservative ideas on the family

Abstract

abstract This article explores South African social workers' notions of family. Seven social workers based in Johannesburg were interviewed in a qualitative study and their understanding of families, motherhood and fatherhood was explored. This exercise revealed that how social workers understand families rests largely on their personal value system and experience. Consequently, social workers understand families in quite conventional ways. Motherhood is active, concerned with the day-to-day care for children, their long-term nurturing and development. Fatherhood, on the other hand, is conceptualised passively: fathers are protectors, providers and are not seen to be a resource for the physical and emotional care of children despite a vague perception that they should be. Thus, social workers' understanding of the family rests deeply on socially constructed gender stereotypes with regard to parenthood rather than on a coherent professional vision. This illustrates the resistance to change of conventional ...

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