Analysing the Challenges Faced in Practice by Social Workers during the Covid-19 Pandemic in South Africa

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many socio-economic activities and destabilised the lives of many individuals wherein professionals such as social workers were expected to help mitigate these challenges in South Africa. It is from this background that this study sought to analyse the practice of Social Workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. This study adopted the non-empirical research method wherein existing literature was reviewed. The researcher reviewed and analysed documents on the practice of social workers during the COVID-19 pandemic from search engines such as EBSCOhost, google scholar and ProQuest. The inductive Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) was used to analyse the collected data. The findings of the study show that social workers faced challenges in managing their private and work lives. It was also found that psychological difficulties, anxiety, and trauma-related issues were experienced. The implementation of western knowledge in an African context was also revealed as a challenge. Lack of recognition and resources are some of the challenges that also confronted social workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Conclusions and recommendations are also provided in this study.