Journal of Social Development in Africa (1996), 11,2,3-4 
Editorial 
This issue of the Journal examines a variety of themes, from conceptual overviews 
of social work practice to issues of enviromental concern. Two articles (Rwomire 
& Raditlhokwa; Molefe) examine the contribution of social work to development 
within Africa, while another two (Osei-Hwedie; Darkoh) examine serious environmental 
concerns. Two further articles (Mupedziswa, et al; Love) consider issues 
related to 'target groups' of street children and criminal offenders in countryspecific 
studies. Finally Sacco examines an issue which is increasingly of concern 
to present-day social work practice - the issue of spirituality and values. 
Rwomire & Raditlhokwa state that the social work profession within Africa is 
in a state of crisis. They examine the traditional context of care for those in need, 
comparing this to the more contemporary social work delivery settings. Recognising 
that the profession was imported into Africa, they provide a critique which 
questions the relevance of the profession, both in terms of practice and education, 
within a developing world context. This observation of course is not new, and has 
been presented to readers of the Journal in other issues; however the unique 
contribution of this article is the radical model of social work proposed by the 
authors, based on practice in Botswana and elsewhere. The authors propose that 
social workers adopt innovative and creative roles, which will help transform a 
rather sluggish profession into one which has direct meaning to groups, organisations 
and communities within Africa. 
Molefe considers the inadequate situation of rural areas within South Africa, 
and the promise of the Reconstruction and Development Programme to transform 
an often deplorable standard of living into a more meaningful and beneficial 
situation for the marginalised rural population. However he points out that 
enthusiastic planners should not ignore the fundamental need for participation and 
involvement in this reconstruction exercise. The contribution of this article is in 
detailing factors that are vital to consider to ensure that participation does in fact 
take place - in particular the need for conscientisation as a strategy. In the latter part 
of the article Molefe enumerates a checklist of resources, agencies and various 
groups involved in development and lists various obstacles likely to be encountered 
by those involved in community development. Finally he summarises some 
of the basic pre-requisites necessary to enable rural development to succeed in the 
post-apartheid South Africa, which basically require a genuine "people-centred" 
approach. 
The article by Chris and Roy Love provides some of their observations on crime 
in Botswana. Although Botswana is often hailed as an oasis of peace and social 
development within a stormy continent, the authors set out to examine through 
court records, sentencing patterns and other data, whether this perception is 
correct. The evidence demonstrates, as would be expected, that the rapid growth 
of the Botswana economy has been accompanied by a parallel rise in criminal 
offences. However there other factors, which are highlighted by the authors - 
peculiar to Botswana, which also need to be taken into account - for example the 
social and cultural context of custom and law which defines what criminal 
behaviour is, and its consequences. The value of the article is its sophistication, 
where the authors stress that aproper understanding of criminal behaviour depends 
on a holistic understanding of a variety of contributory factors.
4 Editorial 
Sacco provides a very interesting account of the spiritual views of social work 
students in a South African university. The article is concerned with discovering 
the "personal resources" that students have in the context of the necessary 
"sustained development to reconciliation and development" that is required from 
them in the new South Africa. The author explores the idea of spirituality within 
an African context and its relations with social work, and then investigates 
students' attitudes and definitions of spirituality. This is an under-explored area 
and one that is a new to this Journal; the implications are that students' own 
experience of suffering and their own inner resources are essential material for 
social work educators to be aware of utilise, if the profession is to make a contributiuon 
to building peace and justice. 
Osei-Hwedie, in her article on the environment in the context of Zambia, 
provides a very informative and detailed account of the interrelationship between 
development and environment She describes how the demands of the Zambian 
economy, rapid urbanisation and population pressures have placed a serious strain 
on the environment. She points out that sustainable development requires the 
intervention of government to ensure that the environment is not seriously 
degraded by rampant exploitation of natural resources. Although Zambia has 
enacted a national environmental law, its efficacy has been compromised by 
various factors outlined by the author. The article emphasises that development 
must take into account environmental issues if it is to be considered genuine 
development 
Mupedziswa, et al, are concerned that the population of street chidren within the 
context of Zimbabwe may be at serious risk of HIV/AIDS infection, due to the 
likelihood that, asa group, due to their "elusive" and marginalised nature, they have 
been left out of AIDS awareness campaigns. In this context the authors propose an 
alternative model for disseminating information on HIV/AIDS, which they term 
a "street children peer education strategy." The basic steps of this strategy are 
outlined and discussed and the authors consider the logistical factors involved in 
implementing the approach. The article is of interest as a proposed model dealing 
with a vulnerable and little-known group. It is the intention of the authors to 
undertake this strategy in practice, and the Journal may at a future stage carry a 
follow-up article reflecting on their practical experience and evaluation of this 
approach. 
Darkoh examines the serious problem concerning environmental deterioration 
within Africa, in particular caused through desertification in the drier regions of the 
Continent He graphically illustrates the extent of this problem, which is caused 
primarily through human mismanagement of environmental resources through 
over-cultivation, increasing population, land degradation, poor irrigation practices, 
deforestation, sedentarisation of formerly nomadic peoples, settlement 
practices and other factors. The limited success achieved in reversing some of the 
worst effects of desertification points to the need for more radical approaches 
aimed at sustainable development. Enhancing the capacity of local communities 
in an effort to conserve the environment, together with more sensitive policies that 
do not generate poverty and desperation may help local communities to protect 
rather than simply exploit their environment