Journal of Social Development in Africa (1993),8,1,19-30 
The Challenge of Social Work in 
Africa:Starting the Indigenisation 
Process 
KWAKU OSEI - HWEDIE* 
ABSTRACT 
This article puts a case for the indigenisation of social work in Africa. The need for 
indeginisation is based upon the realisation that social work in Africa has failed to 
respond appropriately to the major social problems confronting the region. The 
social work profession is heavily influenced by Western theory and no meaningful 
attempts have been made to ensure that the profession fits into the social, economic 
and practical environment in which it operates. The article therefore emphasises 
the need for the social work profession to redefine itself and assume a new 
character. It is suggested that social work should adopt a development approach 
which in essence requires social workers to play a variety of roles within the 
framework of social development In order to fulfil this function, to a reorientation 
in the training of social workers is necessary including a reappraisal of the 
knowledge, values and skills necessary for meaningful and appropriate social work 
intervention. 
Introduction 
The manner in which the processes of social development and change are 
conceptualised shape the social policies and programmes of a country (UN, 1987). 
To a greater extent, policies and programmes are also affected by the choices a society 
makes in any given social and physical environment. It has been stressed that 
African countries are beset with a "crisis of inadequacy" due to the fact that 
development is influenced by colonial experience, and Western theories of modernization 
and economic growth. These factors have again led to the lack of fit 
between traditional social norms and Western processes of social welfare, resulting 
in qualitative changes without social justice - social equity. For example, this 
is demonstrated by imbalances in the provision of social services - education, 
health, recreation, etc between urban and rural areas (UN 1987). 
•Professor, Dcpt of Social Work, University of Botswana.
20 Kwaku Osei-HwedU 
Since the 1970's the African socio-economic crisis, as underlined by the 
drought and famine of 1980 - 85; the current drought in Southern Africa; war, 
famine and extensive mass dislocation in Somalia; general high rate of urbanisation; 
infant mortality, high population growth; illiteracy; unemployment; lack of 
essential services; increasingpovertyofthe masses, etc has worsened (UN, 1987). 
The Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), together with the associated 
privatisation being undertaken by a number of countries such as Ghana, 
Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, have not provided any answers to the problem. 
If anything at all, the immediate impact has been a worsening of the situation for 
many social groups in the short term (Osei-Hwedie, 1992; Osei-Hwedie et al, 
1992). 
With deepening socio-economic crises, many African countries have 
failed to meet the needs of their populations, especially within the current context 
of socialprovision. African strategicplanning, demonstrated, for example, through 
the LagosPlan of Action and the UNProgrammeof Action for EconomicRecovery 
and Development 1986 -1990, have emphasised strategies "that focus attention on 
the major social issues, the development of human resources and the needs of 
special population groups, particularly women and youth" (UN 1987: 3). 
It is within this context that the current and future role of social provision 
must be examined and projected. The fact that social work objectives and 
principles support Africa's objectives for social development is not in question. 
For example, the Lagos Plan of Action, asserts that: 
A primary objective of socio-economic development is the improvement 
of life for the entire population of a nation. The attainment of this objective 
requires full participation of all segments of thepopulation in gainful 
and productive employment and provision of all essential services for 
enrichment of life of the community (UN, 1987: 3). 
Despite this seemingly perfect alliance between the strategic plans and the 
objectives of social work practice, these strategies are beset with implementation 
problems and thus little progress has been made. The UN (1987) has recommended 
that for progress to be made, policy must target the mass of the population who 
reside in rural areas; reorganise and strengthen the urban informal sector, rebuild 
and refocus the capacities of social institutions, policies and programmes; and 
capture the historical, socio-political and economic experience and realities as well 
as the cultural heritage of Africans. It is believed that social work has a central role 
to play in this (Osei-Hwediel991), but in order to be effective, it has to shed its 
foreign character andperhaps redefine its central focus, knowledge and value bases 
(Mupedziswa, 1992; Taback, 1991; Midgley, 1990,1981; Khinduka, 1971). 
Following this tradition of questioning the process and trying to refocus
The Challenge of Social Work in Africa 21 
social work practice in Africa, this paper explores some of the basic but fundamental 
issues which the social work profession must resolve in order to be responsive 
and more relevant to African socio-economic development The question that 
underlies this discussion is: what are some of the requirements of what Midgley 
(1981) refers to as the "principle of indigenisation", or "appropriateness"? 
Mupedziswa (1992) argues that social work practice must capture issues 
and problems which traditionally have been conceptualised as being outside the 
domain of social work. Thus he implores the social work profession to be imaginative 
and flexible in order to be relevant and ready for the year 2000 and beyond. 
Thus the social work agenda should capture problems related to unemployment, 
refugees, AIDS, Ecology and Structural Adjustment Programmes. To be able to 
handle these and other problems, social workers must have the necessary skills 
through proper education which also prepares practitioners to anticipate and 
respond effectively to future problems and demands (Ankrah, 1987; Mupedziswa, 
1992). Along the same lines, Osei-Hwedie (1990) has pointed to the need for social 
work to adopt a developmental approach as its basis of practice, and that by the 
nature of the profession social workers must play multiple roles in the social 
development process. Again writers such as Midgley (1990) point to the development 
of strategies and services which rely on local community expertise and 
resources as opposed to services based on institutionalisation and public assistance. 
Basis of Practice and Training 
The need to clarify the basis of social work practice in Africa is an urgent one. 
Bernstein (1991) asks a question with respect to social work in South Africa which 
is pertinent for the rest of Africa. 
One may well ask whether the emphasis in training is a response to the 
needs of the field or whether the service offered in the field is the result of the 
training given (Bernstein, 1991:224). 
Amajorindictmentagainst African social workpractice is the gap between 
theory, Western theory and practice in response to local needs. It appears the gap 
exists and widens because of the strong social science base. This social science 
knowledge base is on the whole, borrowed from a context different from that of 
Africa. If the social science knowledge base has to be relevant, then social workers 
have to begin to reassemble what is known about their own environment and take 
that which will drive their practice effectively. 
However, there is another side to the issue. There is an increasing concern 
about the social science base of the practice in Africa. For example, in the ongoing
22 Kwaku Osei - Hwedie 
discussion on the curricula of the department of social work at the University of 
Botswana, the issue of the basis of social work training has been central. 
It has been argued that the rightful basis of social work training must be 
knowledge from practice. That is, experience and data from the field and practitioners 
should form the knowledge base out of which theory and related elements of 
social science knowledge for further and improved practice must emanate. 
The core of the matter is that wherever one starts from, the outcome should 
reflect local inputs and processes. At the same time the issue is not simply to get 
rid, en masse, of whatever we have learnt from outside. Because of the interconnectedness 
of world systems, the African historical fact of a long tradition with 
Western countries, and the fact that Western intellectual activities and insights still 
dominate over others and will continue to for some time to come. 
The point is that in order to do what is appropriate and develop the 
necessary skills, outlook, philosophies, theories, etc we must start from within, 
determine what our problems and requirements are, what resources and skills are 
available to us and what processes and procedures we can borrow from others. In 
this case, from local practice will develop the knowledge and skills necessary for 
improved practice and sustainability of the practice. 
Another aspect of the basis of practice and training is the question of 
defining social work in the African context, and conceptualising an appropriate 
mission which captures the indigenous world view. The ecosystems theory is seen 
as providing the integrative framework which places the person in the environment 
However, according to Bernstein (1991) this framework has to be operationalised 
appropriately to capture the aims or objectives of practice. Thus the peopleenvironment 
relationship must be defined or conceptualised as a response to the 
psychological, spiritual, economic, social and political contexts. It is only in this 
respect that social work may be seen as holistic, comprehensive and effective. 
Thus a major task facing the profession is a definition of the field that will 
be consistent with the African world view, assuming, of course, that the African 
social environment and organisation are different from those of the West, and that 
problem dynamics induce different responses. 
Social work has been defined in several ways by various writers. Morales 
(1977) sees it in terms of alleviating distress, ameliorating suffering, poverty, 
injustice and social problems. Pincus and Minahan (1973) conceptualise the 
dominant of social work as that of resolving discrepancies between needs and 
limited resources, while Hepworth and Larson focus on sorting out interpersonal 
dysfunctions. Fink (1978) also sees social work as engaging problems of society 
and finding solutions to them. Compton (1980) points out that changing definitions 
also change the focus of social work and what practitioners are supposed to know
The Challenge of Social Work in Africa 23 
and do. 
The question that needs to be posed here, therefore, is, does social work in 
Africa need a definition different from what was bestowed upon it by its borrowed 
past? The contention is that social work must be assigned meaning and purpose 
which then will give direction to the practice. Writers such as Yimam (1976), 
Mwansa (1992), and Osei-Hwedie (1990) contend that social work mustbedefined 
in the context of social development and social development concerns, such as: 
the relationship of man to man, man to his social environment, his ability to identify 
and solve social problems, and his interest to participate in the efforts of the 
government to integrate social service priorities with other development goals and 
priorities (Yimam, 1976: 31). 
Defined in the context of social development, social work should be able 
to help people take radical measures in improving their quality of life. Within the 
same context, social work training and related practice will be consistent with, and 
responsive to environmental, cultural and ideological variability of a people. Again 
this will help to refocus the profession to be in line with strategies of economic, 
social and cultural development (Yimam, 1976). 
Mwansa (1992) argues that social work must be defined to depart from 
its current liberal character and to adopt a more pragmatic, radical approach to 
enable it to give meaning to social development Social workers in Africa, Mwansa 
(1992: 6) contends, "cannot continue to operate as if no social change is taking 
place". 
Increasing social work effectiveness in Africa means perfecting the 
professional expertise, and establishing greater legitimacy and societal acceptability. 
The struggle to define social work and charter its course also involves the issue 
of control. It is a struggle about who controls and defines the profession and 
therefore assigns it socio-economic status. By necessity, whoever defines the field 
must also set the agenda. However, according to Opoku (1976) African social 
workers face a dilemma in that they are not part of the process of defining their 
being, in addition to lack of guidelines and adequate resources; and that future professionals 
will be even less fortunate and more confused due to the increasing 
complexity of situations. A major problem is that the social work agenda is set by 
other people, especially politicians and that to a larger extent, social work training 
is dictated by the nature of employment, in almost all cases, as offered by 
governments and non-governmental organisations. Once again indigenisation of 
the field must resolve the question of who sets the agenda, and remove the content 
of practice from the political to the professional arena.
24 Kwaku Osei - Hwtdie 
Domain and Expertise of Social Work 
Rosenfeld (1983) contends that the social work profession can be enhanced by 
clarity about its domain and the required expertise to address it. In this way it will 
also become more comprehensible and provide a framework for organising the 
wealth of social work experience. It will also enhance writing and research in social 
work and provide the basis for commonly held knowledge. 
Rosenfeld (1983) further asserts that the domain should be based on 
empirical data reflecting what the professionals actually do and have done or what 
they ought to have done. Also, social work expertise must be a factor of the domain, 
and basically it must be derived from it In order to determine the domain of social 
work, three aspects of the profession must be considered. These are: 
1. its location within the social structure, 
2. its objectives, and 
3. the nature of its societal sanction (Rosenfeld, 1983:186). 
Based on these, the domain is conceptualised to be wide; to involve 
complex administration; and to have a territory that includes unforseen needs, the 
wide range of people in need, and the various systems to cater for the needs 
(Rosenfeld, 1983). The delineated domain can contribute effectively to the search 
for a distinctive character for African social work. 
Knowledge and Practice Philosophy 
In the words of Leiby (1985), one may ask: what major assumptions about 
personality and social life have the social work professional in Africa developed 
through their practice? Where does the rationale for practice arise from? The lack 
of clear answers to these questions does not help any indigenisation process. 
According to Fisher (1984), knowledge must be developed and evaluated 
systematically for it to be most valuable. The methods used must also be as 
objective as possible. It must also be replicable and it must use guidelines that are 
clear for evaluation. This is the way in which knowledge can be communicated 
effectively. In this sense practice can also be empirically based, ie grounded in 
research and supported by the idea that the practice can be validated and supported 
by techniques and methods that have been found to be effective whenever 
applicable. Thediscussion of the nature of indigenous social workknowledgemust 
begin with the understanding of the cultures which socialize people to view their
The Challenge of Social Work in Africa 25 
existence and related factors in a particular way. The major question to be asked 
is: What are the dominant culturally communicated views about human existence 
in aparticular world? The awareness of the knowledge contained in the dimensions 
of human life is a necessary and important part of social work practice (Imre 1984). 
Practitioners, at times, must deviate from conventional patterns of thought, of 
knowledge and of doing things in order to make sense. It has been emphasized that: 
When one moves toward clarification of the bases for deciding what is 
good and necessary in professional conduct, one is also moving towards an 
expansion of one's understanding about the nature of the relevant knowledge 
- of what can be known and how it is known (Imre, 1984:43). 
Social work practice throughout the world has undergone several changes. 
There have been discussions on how the profession can adapt to new demands, the 
shifts in practice base, and evolving new perceptions. Some of the shifts in practice 
base emerge as a result of new demands, and new perspectives or insights into both 
current and old issues (Fabricant, 1985). If the social worker in Africa must be a 
repository of knowledge, skill and judgement, and maintain control over the 
profession, she should endeavour to understand the entire human being, the 
community and the environment; and out of this develop a range of skills. Thus the 
collection of pertinent data should be a primary responsibility of all social workers. 
It is only in this way that they can develop the required range of practice skills. 
Fabricant (1985) maintains that in the early development of the social 
work profession in Europe and North America, the social worker had both data 
collection and diagnostic skills and was expected to intervene with the necessary 
expertise. 
Social workers in Africa must revisit this basic process of the practice in 
order to develop their own cumulative knowledge, and in the process, refine their 
practice skills. Like their counterparts elsewhere, social workers in Africa are 
increasingly coming under pressure to provide more services in an environment of 
dwindling resources. They should be in a position to use available resources 
prudently and based on a firm conviction of the effectiveness of the process being 
utilised.
So far the ground work for indigenisation of African social work appears 
to be a distant dream. This is despite the fact that as far back as 1973, twenty years 
now, African social work educators argued that research and survey should be 
encouraged and expanded in order to create a distinctively African form of social 
work (Yimam 1976). So far, experiments and research testing particular methods 
and intervention procedures are yet to appear in any significant way.
26 Kwaku Osei-Hwedie 
Values 
Values are said to lie at the core of social work practice and hence remain of much 
concern to the profession (Minahan and Pincus, 1977; Perlman, 1976; Siporin, 
1975; and Judah, 1979). In this regard a clarification of this foundation is crucial 
if social work is to live up to its potential (Drawer, 1991). It is important, definitely 
essential, to examine the values that drive or must drive the practice in African 
countries. Drawer (1991), discussing South Africa, argues: 
However, to have meaning such an exercise should not only explore the 
apparent demands inherent in the profession's value base but should 
also explore the seeming inability to date of social workers to take action 
on these demands (Drawer, 1991:272). 
If values are seen as what is good and desirable, cherished beliefs and 
emotionally invested preferences (Drawer, 1991), then it follows that such a 
definition should be from the perspective of both the user and provider of social 
work services. It is only in this context that the person - environment relationship 
makes sense and allows the necessary elements of thephysical, spiritual and human 
to be captured in the course of giving and utilising a service. 
According to Perlman (1976) the essence of value is that it governs and 
guides action. Thus a value legitimises action in the sense that it transforms from 
an idea into some direction of practice. It again follows that if foreign values predominate, 
then the practice derived therefrom will be of little or no relevance to the 
people to whom those values are alien. Given the force of power of value as a basis 
of action, the professional values based upon which the practice is built must also 
be derived from the general societal value base upon which people's general social 
realities are constructed. 
In a rapidly changing environment, social work must be sensitive and 
adaptable to emerging values. 
However, this argument must not be seen to negate the fact that there are 
multiple, complex and contradictory values given the many social systems that one 
encounters in any African country. However, since social work is a subsystem of 
society, it must be flexible enough to'capture the vatae consensus or what Tembo 
(1990) calls "collective consciousness" of a society in a given context. According 
to Louw (1991) values and ethics serve the purpose of spelling out the ideals being 
pursued in the social work profession and require of us to be vigilant in our attempt 
to actualise them in practice and in training. Hence, without a clear vision of what 
the underlying values, consistent with local needs are, there cannot develop professional 
aims and procedures sympathetic to the masses of people. Thus, according 
to Franklin (1986) the social work profession must ensure a "fit" between
The Challenge of Social Work in Africa 27 
beliefs and actions in the interaction process with clients. 
Values suggest and determine how societies organise their relationships 
and institutions. In this regard, social work practice, according to De Hoyos et al 
(1986), must adopt a socio-cultural approach which focuses on behaviour within 
a societal institutional setting. This approach sees individuals as producers and 
consumers, people who participate in societal affairs, and produce and use the 
technological knowledge of society. 
Despite the central role assigned to values, Hutton wonders whether values 
are overdone in social work. She emphasises that though values shape direction, 
it is often the unconscious value that takes over. Thus she prefers the word stance 
to values (after Donald Schon, 1973) in that stance encompases values, expectations, 
assumptions attitudes and beliefs. Still the major issue remains that we must 
understand our own and other stances; identify those which are universal and those 
which are specific and outline their implications for social work education and 
practice. 
Conclusion 
It is quite obvious that it is time social work in Africa found itself. However, in the 
search for its character, lessons learnt in the overall development of the profession 
cannot be ignored. In fact there are enough questions and issues in the practice as 
developed in the West to guide the search for social work identity in an African 
context. This paper, on the whole, has focused on issues pertinent to the indigenisation 
process. The emphasis has been on the fact that African problems must be 
solved in ways familiar to both the social work professional and the community 
members. 
The discussion has also pointed to the need for a flexible and creative 
service delivery system which is more than a scaled down or a reorganised Western 
model. In order to achieve this, however, the profession must endeavour to develop 
its own major assumptions about personality and social life; locate the basis of the 
profession and its rationale; develop a process which enables refined knowledge 
and skills to emerge out of practice; define social work and its mission to capture 
the African world view; clarify the domain and expertise of social work; and 
identify the knowledge, philosophy and value bases of the profession. 
Though these appear to be difficult tasks, they are necessary for social 
work in Africa to come of age and establish its identity, consistent with the 
developmental role it is called upon to play. Dealing with these issues is one 
of the first and pertinent tasks in the indigenisation process. It is a task that African
28 Kwaku Osei-HwedU 
social work professionals cannot ignore any further for the mission, methods, and 
scope of social work as they stand now are being, challenged. 
Footnote 
1. Discussion with Prof. Miriam Hutton, Head of Department of Social Work, 
University of Botswana, Gaborone. 
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