African Journal of Social Work

Writing a research grant proposal is a challenge. The biggest challenge relates to writing a grant without understanding the audience. There are two audiences one needs to have in mind when planning to write a grant. The first audience is the agency to which you plan to submit the grant application and the second audience is your own institution. You need to ensure that whatever research idea you plan to put forward not only fits the funding agency's research priorities but also that it aligns with your organisation’s research priorities. If you fail to articulate your grant application within these two parameters, then you know that it may not necessarily be competitive. Hence, you need to look back and try to understand whether you are aware of the funding agency's mission, research agenda, and guidelines, especially grant submission rules and inclusion and exclusion criteria. You do not want to waste your time putting a grant proposal and then realise at the last minute that you are not going to be eligible. In this paper I outline some of the tips to help you make your grant writing journey a rewarding exercise. HOW TO REFERENCE USING ASWDNET STYLE Renzaho, A. M. N. (2024). Research grant writing tips and advice. African Journal of Social Work, 14(3), 108-119`. Grant writing workshop presentation delivered on 22 March 2022, organised by the African Social Work Development Network, East Africa Social Work Regional Centre and Association of Schools of Social Work in Africa. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v14i3.1 Visit journal website: https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net

Andre Renzaho

Research grant writing tips and advice

研究资助申请的技巧与建议

And so, today, we're going to be looking at promoting mental well-being and resilience among older adults and their caregivers. We're going to address, you know, seven basic issues. We're going to try to define the concepts. We'll try to look at key issues about older adults and their caregivers. People will go, why caregiving? Why am I bringing in caregiving? Because that is what we know in Africa. It is what we do. That is how we take care of older adults. We give care. Then we'll also try to answer the question, why address mental well-being and resilience at this time? Why? Then we'll look at the problems. What are the problems that now impact on older adults that can bring about mental health issues? Then after that, we're going to look at the common mental health issues older adults have. How do we talk about them? Then we'll look at the strategies. We cannot just talk about challenges, barriers. What can we do? Because today you find that we can no longer call on government or call on people. We need to start doing something ourselves. Then we will conclude that is basically what we are, the business we have today. And so, we're going to start with defining some of the key terms. And we're going to look at older adults in this presentation, at persons who are 65 years and above. Persons who are 65 years and above in this presentation, we're going to regard as older adults. Then who are caregivers? Caregivers are individuals who provide paid or unpaid or informal care to older adults. Not all caregivers are paid. Many of them today are paid to provide care to older adults, while some are family members. So, these are the people we are going to talk about, the caregivers. Then when we talk about mental well-being, what do we mean by mental well-being? By mental well-being, we mean a combination of emotions, of all those issues that could make an older adult not to function very well or could make the caregiver not to function very well, not to have life satisfaction. That is what we mean. Issues that can affect their relationship, that can affect how they function in their day-to-day living. That's what we are going to mean whenever we talk about mental well-being in this presentation, just note that that is what we are talking about. Then we look at resilience. Here we're going to see resilience as the process or the outcome by which older adults and their caregivers successfully adapt to challenging life experiences. HOW TO REFERENCE USING ASWDNET STYLE Okoye U. O. (2024). Promoting mental well-being and resilience among older adults and their caregivers in Africa: Challenges and the way forward. Presentation during Wazee Day (Older Persons Day), 6 October 2023. African Journal of Social Work, 14(2), 140-148. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v14i3.5 Visit journal website: https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net

Uzoma Odera Okoye

Promoting mental well-being and resilience among older adults and their caregivers in Africa: Challenges and the way forward

促进非洲老年人和其照护者的精神健康与韧性：挑战与前进之路

The Tree of Life is a four-part process which involves drawing trees and then there is a second part of the methodology which is about the Forest of Life. So, Tree of Life begins with inviting people to draw their tree. And each part of the tree represents something specific about their lives, their roots, where they come from, their history, their heritage, their ancestry, the ground where they live, who they live with, what they like to do when they’re at home, favourite places, favourite songs or dances. The trunk – the skills and their knowledges, the things they’re good at, the things that people tell them they’re good at. The leaves of their tree – most important people in their lives, people who care for them and support them. And then the branches – your hopes, your dreams for both the near and the distant future. And then the fruits are the gifts that you’ve received and that you’ve been given. And so, people are invited to come up with a tree and then they are supported to tell stories around these aspects of their lives by somebody who has been trained, who knows how to help them to thicken their stories, because we want people to stand firmly in the second stories of their lives and the alternative stories – the stories about your hopes, your dreams, your skills, the people that are important to you, your aspirations in your life. HOW TO REFERENCE USING ASWDNET STYLE Ncube-Mlilo N. (2024). Tree of Life Model and other Africa-centred interventions. African Journal of Social Work, 14(3), 149-154. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v14i3.6 Visit journal website: https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net

Ncazelo Ncube Mlilo

Tree of Life Model and other Africa-centred interventions

生命之树模型与其他以非洲为中心的干预措施

Basically, we're trying to promote the interest of social work education in the African region. And really, this should be a decolonized African-centred education, as well as to provide, of course, opportunities for consultation, exchange of ideas, resources, and faculty and student exchanges. But we often don't have the funding for this because we also don't have enough membership. We'd also like to be a body for channelling resources to social work education institutions in the region. And a lot of this gets done through our alliance with IASSW, which I'll talk to about just now, because we're also concerned not just with inter-regional and regional, but also international cooperation in social work education. ASSWA is linked to the International Association of Schools of Social Work. And I'm talking about IASSW because our role as Africans in IASSW becomes very important. If we don't have membership and we don't have enough representation and action from African educators, our role gets minimised in IASSW. But IASSW offers a lot of opportunities and resources for Africa to do more inter-regional cooperation and work. So, just quickly, the vision of IA is to promote excellence in social work education, research and scholarship across the globe in pursuit of a more just and equitable world. Now, I sit on this board and my question is often, justice for who? An equitable world for who? Human rights for who? Because they were very quick to act on the Ukrainian situation, but maybe not as quick to react to other issues in the world, for example, Palestine and other issues in Africa. I'm not going to go through their mission. You can find this on their website. And so, you know, I guess what I'm trying to talk about is why do we need to be active in these organisations? You know, both ASWNET, ASSWA, IFSW, why is it important for us? And as I said earlier, since the time of ASWEA in the 1960s and even the conference held by the esteemed Nkrumah, scholars have been talking about decolonisation and Africanisation. HOW TO REFERENCE USING ASWDNET STYLE Rasool S. (2024). Human, social &amp; economic capital development in Africa. Presentation made during Africa Day Indaba 2022. African Journal of Social Work, 14(3), 155-157. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v14i3.7 Visit journal website: https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net

Shahana Rasool

Human, social &amp; economic capital development in Africa

非洲的人力、社会与经济资本发展

My remarks focus essentially on the theme of social work education in Africa. I observe that social work education per se has two prongs – classroom instruction and field practicum. I then indicate that the paper is interested in the practicum component of social work education. It notes that in the context of Africa, there has been a clarion call for relevance in social work on the continent. To this end, terms like Ubuntu and indigenisation, have emerged in the context of the discourse on the quest for relevance of social work on the continent - concepts which are consistent with a developmental social work model. My argument is in order to successfully promote the development approach in social work, change has to begin in the education component. The challenge though is that some institutions of education and training in social work, have purported to be promoting the developmental social work education approach, when in fact, the practicum component of their education and training programmes is not consistent with the developmental approach. Apparently, some social work educators are not very clear in terms of what the developmental approach entails, while others are curtailed by institution culture and policies. I then argue that in order to produce a cadre who is well versed in the developmental social work approach, the fieldwork practicum component has to be consistent with the key tenets of the developmental approach. Six models of the developmental social work approach to fieldwork placements are presented as examples of the kind of field placements that would go with the developmental approach. Advantages of the developmental type of placements are briefly explored. HOW TO REFERENCE USING ASWDNET STYLE Mupedziswa R. (2024). Africa Day Indaba 2022 – Innovative Fieldwork Education in Africa. presentation made during Africa Day Indaba 2022. African Journal of Social Work, 14(3), 126-132. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v14i3.3 Visit journal website: https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net

Rodreck Mupedziswa

Innovative fieldwork education in Africa

非洲创新实地教育

HOW TO REFERENCE THIS REVIEW USING ASWDNET STYLEMugumbate, R. (2024). A review of book titled The Social Work, Social Welfare, and Social Development in Nigeria: A PostcolonialPerspective by Mel Gray, Solomon Amadasun (2023). African Journal of Social Work, 14(3), 233-234.https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v14i4.7 Visit journal website: https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net

Rugare Mugumbate

A review of book titled The Social Work, Social Welfare, and Social Development in Nigeria: A Postcolonial Perspective by Mel Gray, Solomon Amadasun (2023)

《尼日利亚社会工作、社会福利与社会发展：后殖民视角》（2023年）一书评述——作者：梅尔·格雷、所罗门·阿马达松

The psychosocial determinants and processes that influence and underscore teenagers’ risk taking and antisocial behaviours and the role peer influence plays as a contributive factor are well documented. Behaviourists, social-psychologists, and other scholars have posited competing perspectives on the subject and agreed that peer influence, often negative, occurs in natural settings among teenagers. None of these studies have properly synthesized the results of available literature in the subject area. This study synthesizes and interprets peer influence and how it occurs and leads to behaviour challenges for teenagers in Africa. A behavioural framework is proposed. The framework (first of its kind) took into consideration behavioural variables that potentially account for the onset and continuation of peer influence. Literature over the past 25 years until March 31, 2022, were searched. The search included studies of teenagers 10 to 19 years of age. Thirty-one out of 49 independent studies were selected. Eleven of the studies were exclude because the majority of their participants were children, less than 10 years of age. The twenty remaining relevant independent studies are this review’s sample. The article focuses mainly on teenagers in Africa but draws a few studies from other countries. It concluded that given that prevention of peer contact, communication and subsequent influences are impossible, the challenge becomes one of promoting the social-structural predictors of positive peer influences while impeding the social-structural predictors of negative peer influences. HOW TO REFERENCE USING ASWDNET STYLE Gershon, O. K. (2024). A review of peer influence and teenagers’ antisocial behaviours in Africa. African Journal of Social Work, 14(4), 194-206. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v14i4.3 Visit journal website: https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net

Osei K Gershon

A review of peer influence and teenagers’ antisocial behaviours in Africa

非洲青少年反社会行为与同伴影响的综述

Harmful societal practices, like child marriage and rape, are widely prevalent in Ethiopia. The reasons for society's rules are fluid and depend on the socio-cultural orientation of the people. The research aimed to understand the factors that influence early marriage and rape and investigate challenges and legal concerns in the county's gender-based violence laws. The study used a descriptive-qualitative approach with multiple cases. As a method of data collection coupled with a guide, twelve in-depth interviews with local elders, nine key informant interviews with victim women, girls, and parents, and three focus group discussions (one in each district) with law practitioners, harmful practice prevention team members, and gender-based violence officers from the women and children's offices were employed. The study found that high unemployment, distant school placement, cultural norms and values, and economic and social insecurity are the determinants of early marriage and rape. The study recognized challenges in crime investigation, legal and law enforcement issues, corruption, insufficient administration, and information gaps. Moreover, the study recommends creating adequate target-based awareness and capacity building for stakeholders, empowering women and their families, wisely utilizing religious leaders and the elderly, amending the country’s gender-based violence law, and punishing criminals. HOW TO REFERENCE USING ASWDNET STYLE Yosef, G. &amp; Workneh, A. (2024). Factors associated with harmful practices of rape and early marriage, legal issues, and challenges in some selected districts in the South Gondar Zone, Amhara region in Ethiopia. African Journal of Social Work, 14(4), 185-193. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v14i4.2 Visit journal website: https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net

Gebremikeal Yosef

Alemnew Workneh

Factors associated with harmful practices of rape and early marriage, legal issues, and challenges in some selected districts in the South Gondar Zone, Amhara region in Ethiopia

埃塞俄比亚阿姆哈拉地区南贡达尔区部分选定地区与强奸和早婚有害做法、法律问题及挑战相关的因素

Maternal primary caregivers of children living with cerebral palsy (CP) bear a significant burden that has the potential to impact their mental health. There is a paucity of research on the mental health of maternal caregivers of children with CP in rural areas of Southern Africa, highlighting the need for further exploration in this area. Specifically, there is a need to explore the multifaceted factors that influence the mental health of maternal primary caregivers of children with CP living in rural, low-income areas. The paper aimed to identify the various factors that influence the mental health of maternal primary caregivers of children living with CP who reside in rural, low-income areas of Southern Africa. Additionally, the paper sought to enhance the understanding of healthcare practitioners and stakeholders engaged in the care and support of these maternal primary caregivers and their children living with CP, therefore increasing awareness of this issue. This is a theoretical paper discussing the existing literature on the mental health of maternal caregivers of children living with CP in Southern Africa. The review was conducted by searching for published and grey literature in Google Scholar, PubMed, and EBSCOhost. The mental health of such caregivers is influenced by several factors, including the economic situation, physical demands, environmental conditions, insufficient information, experiences of stigma and marginalisation, interpersonal relationships, and emotional challenges. The social-ecological model is used to make sense of these factors in the mental health of maternal primary caregivers of children living with CP. HOW TO REFERENCE USING ASWDNET STYLE Ngokwana, R. &amp; Clare, H. (2024). The mental health of maternal caregivers of children with cerebral palsy in rural, low-income parts of Southern Africa. African Journal of Social Work, 14(4), 217-224. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v14i4.5 Visit journal website: https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net

Rachamose Ngokwana

Harvey Clare

The mental health of maternal caregivers of children with cerebral palsy in rural, low-income parts of Southern Africa

南非南部农村低收入地区脑瘫儿童母亲照顾者的心理健康状况

Despite efforts made to promote gender equality in all spheres of life, women, especially young girls below the age of 18 years from marginalised African communities continue to face a plethora of challenges such as harmful practises and negative gender stereotypes which hinder them from realising their full potential. Included in these harmful practises is the abhorrent act of child sexual exploitation in the name of child marriages. There are several initiatives by different actors to end child marriages and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Africa Trust (SAT), Zimbabwe is one Civil Society Organisation (CSO) that has made significant strides in contributing towards ending child sexual exploitation. The organisation works to empower adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) to define their needs and undertakes various forms of advocacy including awareness raising and direct advocacy with key decision-makers. Interventions contribute to reducing self-stigma that disempowers adolescents and young people from realising their full potential. This article discusses an intervention that SAT has spearheaded in a bid to contribute to the end of child sexual exploitation and the role social workers can play to work with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) such as SAT in ending child marriages. How to reference using ASWNet style: Mushunje, M., Ismail-Mauto, H. &amp; Mazhambe R. (2024). Ending child marriages through young people’s movement building: the case of community champions in Mutasa District, Zimbabwe. African Journal of Social Work, 14(4), 207-216. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v14i4.4 Visit journal website: https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net

Publication Information	Publisher: National Association of Social Workers Zimbabwe，Publishing cycle: ，Journal Type: journal，Open Access Journals: No
Basic data	Year of publication: 2018，Proportion of original research papers: ，Self Citation Rate:， Gold OA Rate:

African Journal of Social Work

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