The perspectives of black caregivers on child therapy in Gauteng, South Africa

Abstract

The idea of utilising therapeutic services has gained more traction over the last few decades as society and caregivers are starting to realise the importance of the holistic well-being of children, especially their mental and emotional well-being. However, there are still discrepancies and inequalities when it comes to the number of Black caregivers making use of and allowing their children to go to child therapy. The onus of the research study was to explore and to describe the perspectives of Black caregivers on child therapy, specifically in the context of South Africa and find out what modern, contemporary perspectives from Black caregivers are. The aim of the study was to explore and describe the perspectives of Black caregivers on child therapy in Gauteng and the research approach used to guide the research was of a qualitative nature with interpretivism being the paradigm through which the research was based. An applied research type was utilised to provide recommendations to real world practice, with a case study design outlined for the research design, particularly the instrumental case study design. The study population comprised of 8 Black caregivers residing in Gauteng and who were /are caregivers to children under the age of 18 years. Purposive sampling was method used to find participants as they had to meet the inclusion criteria. Data was collected through the form of face-to-face interviews and data was collected until data saturation was reached at 8 interviews. The data analysis technique used for the study was reflexive thematic analysis using sematic, descriptive coding. Ethical considerations that were considered during the study were avoidance of harm, no compensation, anonymity and confidentiality, informed consent and voluntary participation, adherence to the SACCSP code of ethics and finally analysis and reporting accuracy including competency. Key findings were derived from the research question: “What are the perspectives of Black caregivers on child therapy in Gauteng, South Africa?” The research participants shared that they believe child therapy is important and an essential service that should be widely spread across communities and more awareness should be generated on the need for children across public institutions such as schools and clinics. Black caregivers main the idea that child therapy is reserved for White individuals and deem it weak for Black caregivers seek out this service. Contrastingly, they highlight the benefits of child therapy as way to empower and educate caregivers on the development of children and equip them with skills to aid their children in adverse times and acknowledge that they would make use of child therapy wholeheartedly Recommendations for the social work profession include provide educational workshops and creating awareness on accessible child therapy at public service institutions such as clinics, schools and health facilities in order to bridge the gap of Black caregivers not making use of these services. Recommendations for future, prospective research could extend the study to a broader scale, studying the perspectives of Black caregivers on child therapy provincially and making child therapy equitable and legislatively mandated for all children and their caregivers seeking these services.