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SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE…1 Running head: SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE… Social Work Practice in Institutional Childcare System: The Case of Governmental Childcare Institutions in Addis Ababa By: Rahel Assefa Advisor: Debebe Ero (PhD) A Thesis Submitted to School of Social Work College of Social Sciences Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters of Social Work Addis Ababa University Graduate School of Social Work Addis Ababa, Ethiopia June, 2017 SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE…2 Addis Ababa University School of Graduate Studies Program This is to certify that the thesis presented by Rahel Assefa entitled: Social Work Practice in Institutional Childcare System: The Case of Governmental Childcare Institutions in Addis Ababa and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Social Work compiles with the regulation of the University and meets the accepted standards with respects to originality and quality. Signed by Examining Committee Examiner(Internal)………………………..Signature……………Date…………….. Examiner(External)………………………..Signature……………Date……………. Advisor……………………… Signature………………………Date…………….. Chair of Department or Graduate Program Coordinator SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE…3 Acknowledgment First of all I would like to thank Almighty God and saint Marry for helping me throughout the process of conducting this study. Then my sincere gratitude and appreciation goes to my advisor Dr. Debebe Ero. For giving me critical comments, for his friendly approach, guidance and support in doing this study. I am also fully thankful for all participants of this study who works in the three Addis Ababa governmental childcare institutions. Specifically my sincere gratitude goes to social workers and managers of the institutions who in this case participated as key informants. They were willing to participate and toprovide information on the issues of social work practice in the governmental childcare institutions without hesitation. Especially the social worker participants,even if they were in the process of leaving the institutions,this does not hold them back to participate in the study, so thank you. My very special thanks go to my family for providing me love and moral support. This has helped me to be strong and to carry out the study fearlessly. I thank myfather, mymother and my brother, I love you all.Last but not least, I also extend my gratitude for my friends and class mates for their support and encouragement towards the success of this work. SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE…4 Abstract Social work is a practice based profession that requires the professionals to be equipped with knowledge, skills, values and ethics of working with others. Social work in institutional childcare is one area of social work practice. Social workers in institutional childcare system work with OVC, by giving different services to meet OVC needs. The purpose of the study was exploring social work practice in governmental childcare institutions of Addis Ababa.Cross sectional, exploratory and case study qualitative research method was used. Out of non-probability sampling, purposive sampling was used to select seven participants of the study, which included “social workers” supervisors or managers of the governmental childcare institutions and the “social workers” of the governmental childcare institutions. Primary and secondary data were collected through in-depth interview, key informant interview, observation and document review. The finding of this study shows that “social workers” play a major role in family tracing, care giving, assessment, facilitating different services for OVC, advocacy, system development and research. The study indicated that there is a lack of understanding about,what professional social work practice is about. There is lack of practicing social work knowledge related to social work theory, skill, ethics and value. Social workers use the knowledge from their practice experience with OVC. Plus, communication,assessment and collaboration skills are used by social workers, when they are working with OVC. Giving love, confidentiality, consent and not abusing children are the values and ethics that guide social workers practice. Challenges of social work practice were also identified as lack of; coordination, time, material and motivation to practice social work. On the other hand, two major prospects of “social workers” were identified and they are having open place to work with OVC andgettingtraining opportunities. Key words: social work, governmental childcare institution, orphan and vulnerable children SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE…5 Table of Contents Page Acknowledgment ............................................................................................................................ 3 Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 5 Acronyms and Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... 11 List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ 12 Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................................................ 13 1.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 13 1.2. Statement of the problem ................................................................................................... 15 1.3. Research Objectives ........................................................................................................... 19 1.3.1. General Objective ........................................................................................................ 19 1.3.2. Specific Objectives ...................................................................................................... 19 1.4. Research Questions ............................................................................................................ 20 1.4.1. General Research Question ......................................................................................... 20 1.4.2.Specific Research Questions ........................................................................................ 20 SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE…6 1.5.Scope of the Study............................................................................................................... 20 1.6.Significance of the Study .................................................................................................... 21 1.7. Rationale............................................................................................................................. 21 1.8. Definition of Terms ............................................................................................................ 23 CHAPTER TWO: LITRATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 25 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 25 2.2. History of Social Work Involvement in OVC Care: The Global Picture........................... 25 2.3. OVC Care Services ............................................................................................................ 29 2.4. Role of Social Workers ...................................................................................................... 34 2.5. Social Work Knowledge .................................................................................................... 36 2.6. Social Work Skill ............................................................................................................... 38 2.7. Ethics and Values of Social Work...................................................................................... 42 2.8. Challenges of Social Workers ............................................................................................ 44 2.9. Prospects of Social Work Practice ..................................................................................... 48 2.10. Professional Social Work Practice ................................................................................... 50 2.11. Summary and Relevance of the Literature for the Study ................................................. 51 SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE…7 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODS ........................................................................... 53 3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 53 3.2. Research Design ................................................................................................................. 53 3.3. Study Area .......................................................................................................................... 55 3.4. Participants of the Study .................................................................................................... 56 3.5. Inclusion Criteria ................................................................................................................ 56 3.6. Sampling Technique ..........................................................................................................