'People here are their own gods': the migration of South African social workers to England
Abstract
The migration of social workers has become an established trend internationally. Existing research largely ignored the impact of culture on this migration. The study presented here focused on the experiences of social workers who were trained in South Africa and migrated to England. South African-trained social workers had to adjust to significant cultural differences, ranging from the place of religion, the characteristics of the family and parenting, forms of interpersonal communication and what is considered polite and impolite behaviour. Whilst these issues have a wide societal impact, they also shape the daily reality of practising social workers. Implications for practice are discussed, and pre-migration education about the host country’s structures, a systemic induction process, mentorship and supervision with an emphasis on culture, is recommended.Citation
Hakak Y, Onokah S, Shishane K (2022) ''People here are their own gods': the migration of South African social workers to England', British Journal of Social Work, 53 (4), pp.2019-2037.Publisher
Oxford University PressJournal
British Journal of Social WorkAdditional Links
https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/article/53/4/2019/6825421Type
ArticleLanguage
enISSN
0045-3102EISSN
1468-263xae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1093/bjsw/bcac199
Scopus Count
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