Understanding the Experiences of Social Workers in Rendering Social Work Services to Divorced Persons: A South African Lens

The research literature extensively discusses the negative impact of divorce on an individual’s well-being, yet there remains a limited understanding of their psychological adaptation. Although some individuals may find relief, divorce and the subsequent adjustment process are challenging for most. Therefore, this paper explored social workers’ experiences in assisting divorced individuals to develop guidelines to enhance social work practice. The primary objective of this research study was to gain a comprehensive understanding of the social work services provided to divorced individuals. The study employed a qualitative research approach characterised by an explorative, descriptive, and contextual research design. The sample encompassed 10 social workers from diverse organisations in the Gauteng province, South Africa, selected through purposive and snowball sampling. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using Tesch’s eight-step framework. Guba’s model was employed for data verification. The findings illuminated that social workers provide generalist services, except for divorce cases, and concentrate on tending to children post-divorce. This includes addressing parental rights and responsibilities through mediation and formulating parenting plans. Although there are social workers who believe that the counselling services provided to divorced persons are helpful, most of them were not entirely satisfied and feel that they could do more by involving group work and community work methods of social work practice Subsequent to the findings, the study presented actionable recommendations that would inform social welfare policies and social work practice Keywords: Experiences, Divorce, Social Workers, Social Work Services