Social justice implications for educational psychologists working with orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jace Pillay
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Educational Psychology ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Orphans And Vulnerable Children ◽  
Educational Psychologists ◽  
Educational Challenges ◽  
The Social

The aim of this article is to discuss the social justice implications for educational psychologists working with orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) who comprise 3.7 million of the population in South Africa. The author begins with a global conceptualisation of social justice and then discusses the nature of social justice in South Africa. This is followed by an exploration of social justice within the discipline of educational psychology and how it would apply to the contexts of OVC, especially taking their psychosocial and educational challenges into consideration. These challenges allude to the point that educational psychologists have to be active agents of social justice who advocate for better learning and development opportunities for OVC to succeed in life. Thus, the social justice implications for educational psychologists working with OVC are discussed. In concluding, the author points out the global value of this article noting that OVC and educational psychologists are prevalent across the globe.

Social protection for orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe: The case for cash transfers

2010 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mildred T. Mushunje ◽  
Muriel Mafico
Keyword(s):  
Social Protection ◽  
Psychosocial Support ◽  
Cash Transfers ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Orphans And Vulnerable Children ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Attractive Option

The unprecedented number of orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe has created an urgent need to create innovative ways to provide for the social protection of these children. Innovative packages consisting of educational, food and psychosocial support are being implemented by non-governmental organizations. However, as the orphan crisis continues to deepen, more needs to be done and, learning from the experiences of other countries, the option of cash transfers for social protection for orphans and vulnerable children offers an attractive option for Zimbabwe. This article explores the possibility of using cash transfers for the support of orphans and vulnerable children and highlights the challenges and strengths of this approach.

scholarly journals Race, class and violent crime in South Africa: Dispelling the ‘Huntley thesis’

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin Silber ◽  
Nathan Geffen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Social ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
New Community ◽  
Basic Infrastructure

Brandon Huntley was granted asylum in Canada earlier this year based on the argument that whites are disproportionately affected by crime in South Africa. The decision was generally condemned, but it did receive support from various groups and individuals including Afriforum, the Freedom Front and James Myburgh (editor of Politicsweb). In this article we show the flaws in Huntley's argument by presenting evidence from several sources that demonstrate that black and poor people are disproportionately the victims of violent crime in South Africa. We are concerned that painting whites as the primary victims of South Africa's social ills is unproductive, ungenerous and potentially hampers the appropriate distribution of resources to alleviate crime. Furthermore, in order to move the debate on crime in South Africa into a more productive direction, we also describe the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) – a relatively new community based organisation that aims to mobilise communities around improving safety and security for all in South Africa, regardless of race or income. Campaigning for novel pragmatic and coordinated community and government responses to the broader lack of safety and security in the country, the SJC focuses on the introduction and development of basic infrastructure and services as a means of reducing crime.

International perspectives on social justice: Introduction to the special issue

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Sally L. Grapin ◽  
David Shriberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
School Psychology ◽  
Educational Psychology ◽  
Practice Research ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Global Perspectives ◽  
International Perspectives ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Training ◽  
International Social

The concept of social justice has become increasingly prominent in school psychology practice, research, and training. While the literature in this area has burgeoned over the last decade, relatively less scholarship has synthesized global perspectives on social justice. This article provides a brief introduction to the special issue, International Perspectives on Social Justice. In particular, we describe contributions of each of the issue’s four articles to the social justice literature in school and educational psychology as well as identify prominent themes. Finally, we describe potential directions for advancing an international social justice agenda in school psychology.

‘This word volunteer is killing us’: Making sense of volunteering in social welfare provision for orphans and vulnerable children in rural Zimbabwe

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 1126-1140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathrine Madziva ◽  
Martha Chinouya
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Individual Choice ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Value System ◽  
Orphans And Vulnerable Children ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
The Social ◽  
Community Initiative ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Normative Value

This qualitative study explored how volunteers delivering social welfare to orphans and vulnerable children through a community initiative supported by donors made sense of volunteering during a period of hyperinflation in Zimbabwe. Findings confirm that volunteering in Africa is influenced by a normative value system embedded in Ubuntu. Volunteering emerged as contradictory given the contextual prevalence of the social obligation discourse rather than individual choice as embedded in the European sense of voluntarism. Volunteering masked the cost of participation, thereby potentially making poverty worse for the poor in a context without a formal welfare system.

Moral and Instrumental Rationales for Affirmative Action in Five National Contexts

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele S. Moses
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
News Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
State Legislation ◽  
The Social

The author’s primary aims are to clarify the differing rationales for affirmative action that have emerged in five nations—France, India, South Africa, the United States, and Brazil—and to make the case for the most compelling rationales, whether instrumentally or morally based. She examines the different social contexts surrounding the establishment and public discussion of each nation’s policy. Next, she examines four justifications for affirmative action in these nations: remediation, economics, diversity, and social justice. She offers philosophical analysis of the justifications for affirmative action in each country and synthesizes federal and state legislation, court decisions, news media sources, and research-based scholarship. She argues that the social justice rationale ought to be invoked more centrally, underscoring affirmative action’s role in fostering a democratic society.

scholarly journals Challenges faced by households in caring for orphans and vulnerable children

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Hiv Prevalence ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Socioeconomic Impacts ◽  
Orphans And Vulnerable Children ◽  
Aids Epidemic ◽  
Nelson Mandela ◽  
To Come ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Hiv Aids

South Africa has seen a rapid increase in HIV prevalence among the general population over the past ten years, from less than 1 percent in 1990 to 20 percent in 2001. As the HIV/AIDS epidemic increases, so do the number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). In 2002, an estimated five million people were living with HIV/AIDS. Because of the average 10-year period between infection and death, even if HIV prevalence declined rapidly, South Africa would still experience an increasing orphan burden for many years to come. By 2010, 16 percent of all children in South Africa will be orphans with more than 70 percent due to AIDS. The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund initiated the Goelama Project, which uses a community mobilization strategy to catalyze action by local organizations and government bodies to prevent HIV infection and mitigate the socioeconomic impacts of the disease, particularly as they affect OVC. This brief highlights key findings from a study of 29,000 members of nearly 5,000 households in eight study sites to identify ways that government and communities can strengthen the socioeconomic capacity of households to care for and support OVC.

scholarly journals Interface of Law and Medicine in Clinical Legal Education: Success story of the Women’s Law Clinic in improving the health of women and ensuring women’s access to Justice in Nigeria

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevwe Omoragbon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Success Story ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The Social

<p>Specialist law clinics now operate both in the developed and developing world. The historical background of these specialist law clinics can be traced to the United States. They also abound in South Africa, Europe and are fast emerging in several African countries. It is however outside the scope of this paper to describe the wide variety of specialist law clinic models that exist in other countries.</p><p><br />At present in Nigeria, there are seven Nigerian Universities with law clinics. These law clinics in enhancing the social justice frontier have developed projects addressing specific problems; making them specialists in service delivery, but the Women’s Law Clinic, is the only gender specialist law clinic.</p>

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