The perceptions of social workers on Venda-speaking children’s engagement in play-based intervention

Abstract

The success of counselling depends in part on the engagement of the client during the counselling sessions and during the process of counselling. This is not different when conducting play-based intervention with children, which involves the use of play as an age-appropriate medium for communication and interaction with children. Gestalt play therapy allows children to express themselves and interact with the counsellor verbally and non-verbally with the use of play media. Due to the sensitivity to the unique characteristics of the child client, play therapy seems highly effective when implemented in different contexts. However, as the social work profession becomes more aware of cultural sensitivity, it also becomes essential to ensure that social workers who provide counselling to children are culturally competent. Culture is an essential dynamic of people’s lives and has an impact in every area of a person’s life, including how he or she engage in therapy. The goal of the study was to explore and describe the influence that their culture might have on Venda-speaking children’s engagement during play-based intervention. A qualitative research approach was followed to obtain the perceptions of social workers who belonged to the Venda culture and had experience of working with children. Applied research as type of research and the intrinsic case study research design was applicable to obtain a better understanding of the phenomenon being studied that could contribute to social work practice, specifically to the counselling of Venda-speaking children. The participants were selected by means of purposive sampling, based on specific sampling criteria as well as snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the use of an interview schedule to collect data from nine social workers, and the data were analysed by means of thematic analysis. The findings of the study showed that the Venda culture has specific characteristics which should be taken into account and respected when providing counselling to Venda-speaking children. The child-rearing norms and practices of the Venda culture may influence aspects such as the child’s communication and interaction with the counsellor as well as the play materials that would be appropriate. Therefore, their culture could influence Venda-speaking children’s engagement during play-based intervention which, in this study, focused on Gestalt play therapy. While the Venda traditions and norms are affected by acculturation, the beliefs, norms and practices of the Venda culture are still followed in some geographical areas, and even Venda people who adopted a modernised lifestyle, still maintain some elements of their culture. It is recommended that social workers who provide counselling to Venda-speaking children learn about the culture to become more culturally competent. However, the extent to which a family, and thus a child, follow the cultural prescriptions should be determined due to different levels of adherence to the Venda culture because of acculturation. The researcher further recommends that more extensive studies on African children’s engagement be conducted, including studies with greater sample sizes and studies with the children as the unit of analysis.