RESUMO
As a subsystem of society, the profession of social work reflects the conflicting value systems at play in the broader social context. In South Africa a spectrum of social work associations have in the past and continue in the present to mirror the different value positions evident in wider South African society. The present period of social transition has stimulated debate among South African social workers concerning this divergence and subsequent lack of unity within the profession. However, such debate has failed to pay adequate attention to the effect on professional unity of the interplay among historical and sociopolitical forces, different value dimensions, and the broader social context. This article highlights this interrelationship and the complexities of forging professional unity among social workers in South Africa.
Assuntos
Comparação Transcultural , Relações Raciais , Valores Sociais , Serviço Social , Ética Profissional , Humanos , Problemas Sociais/prevenção & controle , Problemas Sociais/psicologia , África do SulRESUMO
A study of 197 women referred for termination of pregnancy on psychiatric grounds was undertaken from February 1974 to May 1975 at a specially established clinic in the Department of Psychiatry, Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town. The personal, social and specifically psychiatric information collected from this study, which included both women who were refused and those granted termination on psychiatric grounds, was analysed. We gained enough data to focus on the psychosocial and 'hard' psychiatric data, to statistically compare the two groups, and to isolate variables which appeared to have influenced decision-making. Eighty per cent of the women were followed up for 12 - 18 months.
Assuntos
Aborto Terapêutico/psicologia , Aborto Legal , Adolescente , Adulto , Negro ou Afro-Americano , População Negra , Feminino , Seguimentos , Humanos , Unidade Hospitalar de Psiquiatria , África do Sul , Estatística como Assunto , População BrancaRESUMO
Over the past few decades, attitudes towards therapeutic abortion have gradually changed in many countries from denial and punishment to acceptance. The debate on this emotionally laden subject still continues. In this article, we review some of the recent literature covering therapeutic abortion on psychiatric grounds, including studies of women granted termination as well as those refused. Other related areas, such as the long-term effect on children born after the refusal of termination and the relevance of this to preventative psychiatry, are also considered.
