Journal of Social Development in africa (1993), 8,1,31-49 
Social Work Practice in Botswana: Principles 
and Relevance 
GLORIA JACQUES* 
ABSTRACT 
This article focuses on the need for supervision in social work agencies and 
examines some of the functional components of supervision. Secondly, the article 
also examines social work supervision in Botswana and it is observed that effective 
supervision is hampered by a variety of constraints which include heavy work 
loads and lack of facilities and qualified supervisors. While supervision is not 
unique to social work, it has however, special importance in social work because 
of the nature of the problems the profession addresses. This article therefore sees 
supervision as a useful mechanisam for safeguarding the rights of clients, social 
workers and social work agencies. 
Introduction 
The study of the supervision of direct service or frontline workers and students in 
social work agencies has been deemed sufficiently significant to warrant its 
inclusion in the final year programme for both diploma and degree students in the 
Social Work Department at the University of Botswana. The initial reaction of 
some students, directly related to their field experience prior to embarking on the 
diploma or degree course or to the fieldwork component of the university programme, 
is often scepticism as to the relevance of the subject matter to the "real 
world" of social work practice in Botswana. The contention that historical 
relevance and present-day practice constitute evaluative tools for acceptable principles 
and methodology, exists in some social circles in Botswana. The familiar is 
deemed to be correct, relevant, and worthy of development and that which is new 
is probably inappropriate, foreign, and destined for the scrapheap of irrelevance 
and decontextual flotsam. 
The dilemma here stands bold and strong, and balanced on a hairline of 
dichotomous argument and partisan rhetoric. Professional social workers must be 
wary of treading this flimsy path as a slip in either direction can spell disaster to 
•Lecturer, Department of Social Work, University of Botswana.
32 Gloria Jacques 
the unsuspecting and uninitiated. There are, in all aspects of social functioning, 
"two sides to every story" and those who are social workers and social educators 
must take cognisance of that most important fact 
Institutions of learning in developing countries are now generally acknowledging 
that there is local structure and process, in situ and in action, to which 
attention must be paid on cognitive and developmental grounds in the teaching/ 
learning arena. Also, the changing needs and dynamic nature of the community 
which gives life to social work must be assessed, studied, and considered. It must 
be realised that there are also concepts and principles, techniques and practices,as 
well as theoretical and applied bodies of knowledge from outside their area of 
operation and beyond their national,and even regional, boundaries. They may 
serve as developmental catalysts and academic yardsticks to determine the 
acceptability of what is in place, and to suggest developments which may embody 
aspects of the old and the new, the familiar and the unknown. 
This is not to say that all such imported material is relevant or even worthy 
of consideration by local academicians, professionals, and/or students but there is 
great danger in closing the mind to influences that might prove positive, simply 
because they emanate from sources abroad. 
As scholars and practitioners in the field of social work we have to keep our 
figurative doors open to everything that might have value to the growing profession. 
This is particularly true for countries where the history of social work is short 
and the foundations have been barely laid for the edifice of the future.There is also 
the important factor of goal orientation and the striving for a higher purpose and 
meaning as a constant spur to the professional's efforts. In the process there are 
aspects that must be discarded but even their irrelevance teaches us what we do not 
need and therefore points the way to what we do require for the enhancement of our 
professional systems. 
Comparative assessment indicates gaps, inconsistencies, and needs and 
provides ideas for the development of structures and techniques for addressing 
such issues. Principles and processes which have their roots in scientific institutions 
abroad rarely can be applied in pure form in countries such as Botswana. They 
have to be adapted (if indeed they are acceptable-at all) and honed to fit the local 
situation, taking into account the special needs and circumstances of the local 
society. 
Social Work Practice 
There are two main areas of social work practice, namely the direct and the indirect, 
and it is necessary to understand the relationship between the two in order to
Social Work Practice in Botswana 33 
appreciate the viability and codependence of each. 
Direct social work practice involves the worker with individuals, families, 
small groups, and communities in direct, active participation usually within the 
context of a human service organisation (Hoffmann, 1987). There is a growing 
number of social workers now in private practice but they are few in relation to the 
size or the profession generally. 
The goal of direct service intervention is to bring about positive change in 
the client's functioning and/or in environmental factors associated with human 
behaviour. The focus will differ according to the varying perspectives of casework, 
group work, family therapy, or community work but the overall goal is the 
same — to provide effective and efficient direct service to individuals and 
communities so that their quality of life might be enhanced. 
For effective direct social work practice to be implemented the social 
worker must, ideally, have completed a sound basic professional education and 
training programme; a body of knowledge must be documented on an ongoing 
basis so that others may learn from the social worker's experience and study; social 
work agencies must be properly administered so that clients are assured of high 
standards of service; and there must be continuous development of social workers' 
skills and knowledge. 
Thus the indirect or enabling focus of social work practice must be in place 
in organisational structures to support, enhance, and strengthen the direct functions 
— hence the need for social work education, social work research, social work 
management, and social work supervision (Hoffmann, 1967). 
The ultimate objective, of social work supervision then, is to provide 
effective and efficient social work services to clients. This is a long range goal 
which is facilitated by short term objectives formulated in terms of the tripartite 
functioning of supervision, namely administrative, educational, and supportive 
aspects of the process. 
The primary goal in administrative supervision is to ensure adherence to 
policies and procedures of the social work agency; the primary goal in educational 
supervision is to dispel ignorance and enhance skills; and the primary goal in supportive 
supervision is to improve morale and job satisfaction. This constitutes a 
functional definition of social work supervision (Kadushin, 1935). 
While acknowledging these principles, Middleman and Rhodes (1985) 
have grouped supervisory functions into three categories which they have labelled 
Integrative, Service Delivery, and Linkage. Within these three categories further 
subclassification embraces, respectively, humanising, managing tension, and 
catalysing; teaching, career socialising, and evaluating; and administering, advocating, 
and changing.
34 Gloria Jacques 
Of the integrative functions humanising is seen as encompassing the encouragement 
of self-acceptance and interpersonal.regard as well as openness in the 
provision of feedback to social workers. Managing tension embraces methods of 
dealing with interpersonal and organisational environment tension, while catalysing 
covers the fostering of interdependence and enhances morale. 
Of the service delivery functions teaching is seen to be connected with 
formal, spontaneous, and sharing activities, while career socialising is concerned 
with career development, making ethical choices, and enhancing commitments to 
social work values. Evaluating is considered as encompassing the assessment of 
supervisee, supervisor, and programme performance. 
Finally, Middleman and Rhodes define the linkage functions as: administering 
workload management and information processing; advocating,at an 
internal and external level; and changing, which they envisage as procedural as 
well as programme oriented. 
In order to consolidate and clarify the various definitions of social work 
supervision it mightbe said to be: the province of an administrative memberof staff 
in a social work agency who is given the authority to direct, enhance, co-ordinate, 
and evaluate the performance of social workers who are accountable to her. The 
supervisor thus performs administrative, educational/teaching, and supportive/ 
helping functions in positive interaction with the social worker, enhanced throughout 
by effective communication. The ultimate goal of this supervision is to deliver, 
both quantitatively and qualitatively, the highest possible standards of service to 
agency clients in accordance with the policies and procedures of the organisation. 
Supervisors indirectly affect the level of service offered through their impact on 
direct service supervisees. 
Thus the supervisor has a middle management role to play in the social 
work agency, responding to those above and below her in the organisational 
hierarchy. In so doing she is utilising her knowledge of administration to enhance 
client services, her knowledge of client needs and problems to help administration 
meet the needs, and her knowledge and skill in social work practice to improve 
agency functioning through teaching, stimulating, and thus facilitating the staff in 
the effective assumption of their responsibilities (Kadushin, 1985;Pettes, 1976). 
Need for Supervision in Social Work Agencies 
Supervision is not unique to social work but it has special importance in this field 
because of the nature of the work, the problems and issues with which it is 
concerned, the clients or recipients of its services, and the characteristics of the 
social workers themselves.
Social Work Practice in Botswana 35 
Accountability of social work agencies to the community which provides 
both resources and clientele makes supervision necessary. Just as the agency is accountable 
to the community, so the social worker, through the supervisor, is accountable 
to the agency. 
Social policies, implemented by welfare organisations, often originate at 
central or local government level or at least outside of the agency itself. Supervision 
is needed to address the interpretation of such policies by social workers. 
Examples in Botswana would be the Destitute Policy, the Day Care Centre Policy, 
the Children's Act and many others. 
Because of the confidentiality ethic in social work,much of what the caseworker,
in particular, does is not open to scrutiny. Thus poor practice and its results 
might not be obvious or observable. Also, many clients are involuntarily drawn 
into relationships with social work agencies, so they may be uncooperative, aggressive, 
and at odds with so called helping techniques. Thus the necessary protection 
of both clients and social workers makes regular review of worker activity 
important in this regard. 
Worker autonomy in social work agencies is never complete as the nature 
of the profession indicates that one person's opinion or decision will rarely, if ever, 
be appropriate in the realm of human service provision. Where communities are 
hesitant about granting autonomy (or even full recognition) to the profession 
agencies will likewise respond with varying degrees of autonomy granted to social 
workers who must then share decision making with an informed and experienced 
supervisor. The ambiguity of many of the social work profession's objectives and 
the lack of clarity with regard to outcomes contribute to the general lack of desire 
to give full recognition to the profession, as evidenced in Botswana where social 
work is not yet regarded as a fully fledged (or comprehended) profession by 
government or the community at large. 
The lack of professional associations of social workers in many countries, 
especially developing countries such as Botswana, creates a hiatus in relation to 
professional standards, integrity, and possible abuse of power by social workers 
and also protection of social workers from communities, clients, and demanding 
agencies. In the absence of such structures social work supervision can meet the 
needs of the profession and individuals in this area. 
The limited knowledge base associated universally with social work, 
(which is even more relevant in developing countries) as well as the small number 
of professional social workers relative to community needs almost anywhere in the 
world, (but again especially in countries such as Botswana) makes the need for 
supervisors who can "fill the gaps" even more imperative.
36 Gloria Jacques 
Problems and issues dealt with by social workers are often traumatic, 
difficult to address, long-term, and closely related to the worker's own emotional 
experience or that of high family or close friends and to this extent it is not easy to 
maintain an empathetic approach to the work. Also, the nature of the problems with 
which social workers in case and community work come into contact is such that 
solutions seem unrealisable and methods only appropriate for symptomatic treatment 
Such issues as poverty, street children, AIDS, crime,child abuse and others 
seem totally immune to the poor attempts of social workers at reducing their 
incidence or impact. The need to work through issues of this nature with supervisors 
is a factor that must be addressed. 
Social work is a profession dominated by women in most cases, irrespective 
of a country's level of development. This is also true of Botswana, although 
there is a significant, and surprising number of men in the social work field at the 
present time. Research has indicated that women tend to favour supervision in the 
workplace more than do men and, in the social work field, this would appear to be 
even more evident Also, the personality type of those who choose to make a career 
of social work is usually that of the idealist, the concerned, the sensitive and those 
who are aware of the plight of others. Such people would benefit from the 
supervisor who supports, facilitates, and encourages. In Botswana this factor has 
not always been applicable as many social workers came to the profession "through 
the back door" as it were or as a last resort when other fields of work or study were 
denied them on grounds of underqualification or through oversubscription of 
certain university faculty departments (Kadushin, 1985; Hoffmann, 1987). More 
scrupulous screening methods now seek to filter out those whose interests and 
commitment do not lie in the field of social work and who seek only a qualification. 
Functional Components of Supervision 
Although in this paper staff supervision has been emphasised, it must be indicated 
that the basic principles, knowledge, techniques, and challenges of supervision 
apply to the process in relation to both practitioner and student (the latter doing 
concurrent or block fieldwork in social work agencies) (Hoffmann, 1987; Pettes, 
1967). 
Supervisory practice is identified by three major areas of functioning 
which overlap to some extent, but which nevertheless all possess a primary focus 
which distinguishes them from the others.
Social Work Practice in Botswana 37 
Administrative Functions of Supervision 
As a middle level manager the supervisor operates through the generic management 
processes of planning, organising, directing, decision making, and controlling, 
where she is constantly involved in multifarious tasks and situations. 
Administrative tasks include many that are basic to management/?^ se but 
which adopt a particular significance in the area of supervision. 
Staff recruitment and selection is, ideally, the province of the supervisor 
as her median position in the organisation gives her access to information about 
community needs, through the social workers for whom she is responsible, 
knowledge of the components of frontline jobs and their specific requirements, and 
the attention of higher, policy-making/ influencing management levels. Drawing 
up of job descriptions/ specifications,interviewing prospective employees, and 
making recommendations for hiring are tasks well suited to the position and 
knowledge of the social work supervisor. 
Induction of the new worker is also an area where the supervisor's 
expertise is required, as she knows the necessary components of the post, including 
significant people in both agency and community to whom the new employee 
should be introduced. Hierarchical structures, stratification, accountability, andresponsibility 
(in terms of superiority and subordination) are important for the new 
worker to understand. 
Work planning and assignment, that is, decisions on long and short range 
goals for her unit and the workers to whom functions will be allocated, utilises the 
knowledge of the supervisor in relation to community needs, agency capabilities 
and supervisee strengths and weaknesses. Ensuring that a variety of tasks and 
corresponding challenge (in just the right degree) is present is also important and 
the supervisor must marry these with the appropriate amount of autonomy for each 
supervisee. Competent social workers may differ in their desire and ability to make 
independent decisions and, of course, the issue of accountability is also significant 
in this regard. 
Thus, the supervisor's leadership styles will vary according to the needs of 
the agency, the supervisee, the community, and the particular task or function 
which the worker is performing at a particular time. The worker's performance 
curve will generally move in the direction of greater autonomy and less need for 
didactic supervision as his period of service lengthens, but there will always be 
such times and tasks that will require greater or lesser amounts of supervisory intervention.
Coordination of work is a significant administrative task of the supervisor 
to ensure smooth workflow for effective and efficient service delivery and
38 Gloria Jacques 
therefore attainment of agency goals and objectives. Such coordination can be 
practised on various levels: organisation of the supervisee's tasks so that they occur 
in logical order (as far as possible) and constitute a rational and productive process 
(this also involves the supervisor in coordinating the supervisee's needs with 
agency resources) coordination of the work of each team or unit member with all 
the others; and coordination of the group for whom she is responsible with others 
in the agency and in the community at large. The supervisor also legitimises worker 
decisions on behalf of individual clients or the community as a whole and in so 
doing coordinates worker performance with agency preparedness. 
A significant administrative task is ongoing monitoring and informal 
assessment of worker performance and agency or sectional programmes. She 
should also be responsible for regular, periodic, formal, structured evaluation of 
supervisees for the purpose of justifying (at an official level) administrative 
processes of promotion, transfer, dismissal, incrementation, and, in the case of student 
supervision, trading. 
The supervisor as administrator also acts as an intermediary between 
client/community and social worker/student (where demands are too great) and 
between supervisee and agency (to protect the latter from supervisee deviance). 
Thus her role in conflict situations, as negotiator or arbiter, is very important for 
all players in the social work arena. 
In the same vein the supervisor has to take the initiative in the process of 
positive change which must take place in the agency and the community being, as 
they are, dynamic entities, responsive to the altering needs of human beings and the 
groups in which they live and function. Her strategic position, in close contact with 
direct service workers, enables the supervisor to be aware of the changing needs 
of individuals and community groups and to advocate for accommodation of such 
changes, either within her own agency or elsewhere in the community (Kadushin, 
1985). 
All these tasks have to be performed with specific emphasis being placed 
on effective communication. All organisations, whether bureaucratic or democratic 
by nature, mechanistic or organic in design} highly stratified or simplistic in 
structure, must have formal channels .of communication in place so that information 
exchange is positive, productive, and acknowledged. 
Feedback is an important factor in the communication system. Supervisors 
have the unique responsibility for translating and interpreting policies, procedures, 
rules, regulations, proposed changes and other administrative matters to direct 
service workers and likewise conveying the ideas, recommendations, queries, and 
reaction of the workers to upper management On the basis of the effectiveness of 
her communication skills will often rest the success or failure of agency efforts in
Social Work Practice in Botswana 39 
the field of service provision. There will be both formal and written, oral, and visual 
communication within organisations. The supervisor will participate in meetings 
with superiors, in meetings, both individual and group, with her supervisees, and 
in general staff meetings. She will also meet, in lateral communication, with other 
supervisors in the same agency or in different agencies or community groups. The 
supervisor must also be aware of and utilise informal channels of communication 
and she must acknowledge their relationship with formal channels, as well as and 
take responsibility for seeing that appropriate matters are transferred from one to 
the other (Pettes, 1967). 
Authority and power, as administrative facilitators, can be forces for 
constructive supervisory practice or for negative impact supervision. Authority is 
the sanctioned use of power (Kadushin, 1985), and to this extent can be used by the 
supervisor, sometimes inadvertently, to subordinate the needs or wishes of the 
supervisee. However, judiciously applied, it provides structure, sanction, and 
support for the social worker or student in the execution of their duties. 
The various types of organisational power identified by French and Raven 
(1982) highlight the possible dichotomy of focus and suggest conceivable problematic 
situations for both supervisor and supervisee. Coercive and reward power 
indicate that the supervisor has the ability to punish or commend workers. Imitative 
behaviour and role modelling are related to this power base and can be a force for 
both good and ill. Expert power is sourced from the perception of the supervisee 
that the supervisor has specific knowledge and skills that he (the supervisee) does 
not possess while legitimate or positional power encompasses the organisational 
blessing which is bestowed on supervisory status and which controls, to a large 
extent, the supervisory relationship (Reitz, 1958). It is understandable that both 
supervisors and supervisees sometimes have misgivings about the nature of their 
relationship in terms of superiority and subordination and also that the expectations 
of both are often not clearly defined. Thus both participants in the supervisory 
process sometimes resort to game-playing, or the utilisation of techniques to either 
increase or decrease the power disparity in order to cope more effectively with the 
situation (Hawthorne, 1975; Kadushin, 1985). One of the prerequisites for supervisors 
is that they understand authority and use it appropriately (Scherz, 1958). 
Educational Functions of Supervision 
Educational supervision aims to expand and refine the social worker's knowledge 
and skill and to appropriately adjust his values as expressed in attitudes (Hoffmann, 
1987). It is focused on the specific needs of an individual worker performing 
specific tasks within the parameters of a particular job notchedin theorganisational
40 Gloria Jacques 
structure of the agency. 
Educational supervision promotes autonomy for the worker and thus 
decreases the need for in-depth administrative supervision. It seeks to enhance the 
professionalism of the social worker. 
Although the principles of student and worker educational supervision are 
similar there is an extra dimension of university based objectives and expectations 
in the case of the organisationally placed student (Hoffmann, 1987). 
Learning in social work practice involves three major aspects. Firstly, 
factual knowledge has to be transmitted facts about issues such as human 
behaviour, agency rules and regulations, and the functioning of other agencies. 
Secondly, attitudes may need to be learned or modified. This involves emotions 
and often affects factual learning. Thirdly, ways of working must be taught. The 
social worker must be able to apply what theory she is learning into practice. 
These three aspects of educational supervision - intellectual learning, 
emotional learning, and learning by doing - are implemented simultaneously in the 
process of supervision (Pettes, 1967) As Austin (1952) expressed it: "Learning is 
made usable, largely through the support of a positive supervisory relationship 
which leads the worker to new insights about people, including himself (quoted 
by Munson, 1975 in Munson, 1979). 
As educational supervision is individualised, unlike other methods of 
human resource development and staff training, every social worker gets the 
opportunity to be taught what he needs to know as well as what he wants to know 
in the way that he wishes to learn. Thus, theorists agree that the supervisor should 
draw up an individualised educational diagnosis for each worker in her team or 
unit, identifying what he already knows well and the direction for development in 
line with his role as an adult learner in the organisation. Austin (1981), Munson 
(1983), and Kadushin (1985) have each suggested criteria for the diagnosis. 
Hoffmann (1987) has coordinated their contributions thus: Data should include 
information obtained from the worker's personal background where this directly 
influences job performance, academic performance, achievement potential, performance 
in previous jobs, level of motivation, attitudes towards and use of 
supervision, ability to utilise autonomy, personal preferences and interests, adaptability, 
ability to sustain professional relationships, and internalisation of knowledge, 
skills, and values. 
The educational diagnosis should be constantly revisited, reviewed, and 
modified in order to ensure that it is relevant to the changing learning needs and 
level of development of the social worker. 
Educational objectives should be formulated on the basis of the educational 
diagnosis. These objectives help channel educational supervision towards its
Social Work Practice in Botswana 41 
specific purpose. They also provide a focus for evaluation of worker performance. 
Each objective should specify the learning needed to overcome the deficiencies 
identified in the diagnosis, whether in the field of knowledge, skills, or attitudes 
(Kadushin, 1985; Hoffmann, 1987). 
Perlman (1947) (as quoted by Kadushin, 1985) identified what she called 
the "Four Ps"— people, place, process, and problem — when considering the 
content of educational supervision; that is, areas to be addressed when imparting 
knowledge to the social worker if he is to be fully informed about his field of 
operation. To these Kadushin added a fifth "P"—personnel, in the person of the 
worker offering the service. The formula,therefore, concerns the client (people), 
individual, family, group, or community, coming or referred to a social work 
agency (place) for help (process) with social dysfunctioning (problem) by a social 
worker (personnel). 
The supervisor must, therefore, ensure that the social worker acquires 
knowledge, skills, and appropriate attitudes in relation to the target population; the 
policies, procedures, and objectives of the agency and its practice; data gathering, 
assessment or diagnosis, and treatment in relation to the specific service offered by 
the agency; the nature and causes of social dysfunction and its impact on 
community groups; and an understanding of himself as a professional in relation 
to the other aspects of the situation. 
Thus, the five Ps, together with the components of education — knowledge, 
skills, and attitudes — identify the educational needs of the organisation in 
relation to the learning process relevant for each worker (Kadushin, 1985; 
Hoffmann, 1987). 
The supervisee should be involved in drawing up the diagnosis and in its 
constant modification;he should play an active role in formulating educational 
objectives; and he should have considerable input in selecting the content to be 
taught. In this way he should be much more committed to the learning process and 
therefore benefit to a greater extent which will, in turn, ensure the advantage, to the 
agency ,of educational supervision. Supervisors should bear this in mind, together 
with other principles of teaching/learning, including the need for high motivation 
levels of learners, the meaningful presentation of material, the accompaniment of 
positive satisfaction, the opportunity to concentrate on learning without distraction, 
and the uniqueness of each worker/student learner (Knowles, 1960; Bruner, 
1571; Austin, 1981; Kadushin, 1985, as quoted by Hoffmann, 1987 ). 
Methods of implementation of social work supervision, both administrative 
and educational, vary from the individual, one-on-one, tutorial conference 
through tandem supervision (where two workers with similar experience supervise 
each other with the supervisor acting as monitor), to peer group supervision (where
42 Gloria Jacques 
group members supervise each other with the supervisor having only a nominal 
role), and group supervision (where the supervisor is in control but obviously 
wields less power and authority than in the individual conference situation as each 
worker's degree of autonomy diminishes the influence of the supervisor) (Butler 
and Elliott, 1985 as quoted by Hoffmann, 1967). 
The ideal situation is usually perceived by agencies in more developed 
countries as being a weekly, individual conference as well as a weekly group 
conference. The logistics of this in developing countries such as Botswana are, as 
shall be discussed later in this paper, sometimes complicated and difficult to 
manage. Group supervision, by its very nature, is not personalised to the needs of 
each individual social worker and so should, ideally, be used as an adjunct to the 
individual conference. Characteristics of these conferences are that they are 
regularly scheduled and the venue is private and free from distractions. Both super 
visor and supervisee prepare for the session by planning the agenda, both individually 
and cooperatively, and through the social worker providing documentation in 
advance for the supervisor so that the latter may acquaint herself with (and possibly 
prepare material for) issues which require clarification or discussion. Thus the 
supervisor keeps abreast of the social worker's workload and process and is able, 
herself, to place items on the agenda with which the social worker may not realise 
she needs assistance. Thus the supervisor engages the social worker in a critical 
analysis, which is both systematic and explicit, of work performed and planned 
(Kadushin, 1985; Hoffmann, 1987). 
Feedback in the context of educational and administrative supervision is 
most necessary as it helps to correct deviance before inappropriate or incorrect 
practice becomes ingrained. It should be descriptive (rather than judgemental), 
specific, constructive, positive, and interactive through the participants sharing 
ideas and exploring alternatives together. 
Evaluation is related to both administrative and educational supervision 
with specific reference to the latter. It should be an ongoing process on an informal 
level culminating in regular formal assessments carried outbiannually or annually. 
Effectiveness, which is imperative for the dynamic social work organisation, 
involves accountability for quality and quantity in the realm of service 
delivery. This is assured by setting job-specific standards and reviewing and 
adjusting them periodically; measuring the impact of services on clients and the 
community; and measuring quality and quantity of worker performance and 
outcomes. The supervisor should be involved in all these processes. 
Thus, evaluating, as a supervisory function, focuses on developing and 
instituting ways to assess practice performance, worker impact, and service 
outcome. Frequently used methods in practice literature include rating scales,
Social Work Practice in Botswana 43 
essay comments, critical incidents, checklists, and results oriented formats (Middleman 
and Rhodes, 1985). 
Rating scales specify ranges of performance qualities and characteristics 
which are related to responsibilities and expectations associated with the job. The 
essay format is based on written statements in answer to questions relating to 
employee strengths and weaknesses. The critical incident format involves systematic 
recording of specific examples of good or poor performance as they occur. 
Checklisting involves the supervisor selecting statements from a list drawn up for 
the position concerned that appropriately reflect the social worker's performance. 
The results-oriented approach is related to measuring performance against previously 
established quantifiable standards or objectives which are, ideally, agreed 
upon by both supervisor and supervisee. The Management By Objectives model 
is designed around this evaluative technique. 
Evaluation, to be comprehensive, should embrace not only that of social 
workers by supervisors but also evaluation of supervisors by social workers and 
programme evaluation by both supervisors and social workers involved in the implementation 
of such programmes. Programme evaluation is beyond the immediate 
scope of a paper on supervision but suffice it to say that it is characterised by 
the following features: 
1. It is a process of making reasonable judgments about programme effectiveness, 
efficiency, effort, and adequacy. 
2. It is based on systematic data collection and analysis. 
3. It is designed for use in programme management, external accountability, and 
future planning. 
4. It focuses, particularly, on accessibility, acceptability, awareness, availability, 
comprehensiveness, integration, and cost of services. (Atkisson and Broskow 
ski, 1978 as quoted by Lewis and Lewis, 1983). 
Supportive Functions of Supervision 
This component undergirds the processes of administrative and educational supervision. 
Pettes (1971) refers to it as "helping" while Kadushin 1985) and Munson 
(1983) view it as a resource to help workers deal with job related tensions which 
may impair the effectiveness of their service delivery. 
The aim of supportive supervision, according to Kadushin, is to reduce 
anxiety, allay guilt, increase self esteem, enhance the capacity of the social worker 
to adapt to the demands or the job, and to free psychological energy which can be 
channelled into effective job performance. This may be achieved through preventing 
the development of stress, reducing the impact of factors causing stress,
44 Gloria Jacques 
temporarily or permanently removing the worker from stressful areas, and/or 
helping him to adjust to and manage stress. 
Kadushin identifies possible sources of job related stress as arising from 
administrative or educational supervision, the supervisor, supervisee relationship; 
the client; the organisation; community attitudes towards social work; and the 
personality of the social worker. Austin (1981) adds that there is stress outside the 
organisation itself which must be taken into account by the supervisor (Hoffmann, 
1987). 
These factors should be examined more closely: 
Administrative supervision, embracing, as it does, control through procedural and 
policy statements of the agency, may induce tension through promoting conflict 
between service and bureaucratic expectations and orientations. Education presupposes 
change and change induces anxiety which is connected with admission of 
ignorance, acceptance of limitations, lack of autonomy, and general worker 
vulnerability. 
The relationship between supervisor and supervisee embraces the potential 
for conflict and tension, imbued, as it is, with aspects of power and authority 
and all the complexities which can stem from such influences. Client systems are 
often complex and traumatic and can affect social workers emotionally and psychologically 
to the detriment of their service delivery .Organisational factors, 
especially those present in a bureaucratic context, can be frustrating and inhibiting 
to social workers. Communities often perceive social workers as interfering rather 
than intervening and they often simply do not appreciate the nature of the need for 
the practice which may have a considerable impact on social workers who are 
attempting to offer high quality service to such communities. This ignorance is 
particularly observable in developing countries such as Botswana but the view of 
social work as a less than benign profession is expressed also in first world countries. 
Sources of stress outside the organisation can be located on the personal 
life of the worker and these include interpersonal relationships, formal study job 
mobility, financial problems, cultural conflicts and many others. Such factors 
might be particularly valid in developing countries where social systems still wield 
considerable influence over individual functioning and norms and values are 
changing in differential degrees within groups and between individuals and 
groups.
Social Work Practice in Botswana 45 
Some Thoughts on Student Supervision 
Student supervision is a very important part of supervisory practice. Staff and 
student supervision are, in many respects, identical, but there are significant differences 
in function, focus, and the demands made on the supervisor. 
Both supervisor and student have roles within the agency' s administrative 
structure but they also have other functions and responsibilities. The student is 
enrolled in a programme for professional education; the supervisor is one of his 
teachers and thus has a dual responsibility to agency and educational establishment 
(Pettes, 1967). 
The goal of student supervision is to enable the student to develop his 
knowledge and skill as a professional person. In the field the student is helped to 
apply theory in a practical manner. However, all theoretical teaching is not 
confined to the classroom and all practical teaching is not the domain of the field. 
Thus lecturers constantly make reference to application of theory and field 
supervisors regularly introduce theoretical knowledge to the student in relation to 
his work. 
The student supervisor's chief function is teaching the elements of professional 
practice. The staff supervisor's teaching function is related to the specific job 
being performed by the supervisee. As student supervisor she utilises the job (the 
student's functioning within the agency) as a base for teaching and developing the 
knowledge and skills required generally for professional practice. The teaching, 
then, must be geared to goals beyond the immediate functioning of the student 
within the agency but learning must be demonstrated by successful functioning 
within the agency. The teaching has also to take into account the total educational 
experience of the student (Pettes, 1967). 
As the supervisor has to protect the client she must ensure that agency 
policies and procedures are adhered to by the student and she also has to ensure that 
the student is psychologically free to make full use of all the knowledge and skills 
he possesses. Thus she is involved in all three traditional functions of supervision 
in her work with the student. 
As was seen in the context of referentpower in relation to staff supervision, 
the student supervisor provides a professional model which influences the student's 
sense of professional identity. The supervisor is teacher, guide, enabler, and 
mentor, and she is the professional social worker the student sees in action more 
than any other. The supervisor does not provide the only model but hers is the major 
role in the student's field experience (Pettes, 1967).
46 Gloria Jacques 
Social Work Supervision in Developing Countries: The Botswana Experience 
Although supervision, in one form or another, is in place in the administrative 
structures of human service organisations in Botswana, thequality and dimensions 
of its practice fall far short of the theory outlined in this paper. 
The main thrust in developing, improving, and refining supervisory 
practice to meet the needs of social work in Botswana lies in the adaptation of the 
theory to suit local conditions and the incorporation of such theoretical adjustment 
into supervisory practice. 
Problems Associated with Social Work Supervision in Botswana 
The unique nature of social work in Botswana and the corresponding relationship 
between the practice and the society it serves render internationally traditional 
supervisory methods necessary, yet inappropriatein terms of sociological fit. Social 
work is a relatively new field of practice in Botswana, supporting, enhancing, 
and sometimes replacing the role of the extended family in society. 
As economic structures move from subsistence to cash base the customary 
structures are increasingly unable to provide the services which rendered 
assistance, strength, and support to those who needed it in the past Thus the role 
of social work is becoming more and more significant in terms of preventive and 
curative practice with regard to individuals, groups and communities. 
A significant target group which needs to be educated about supervision 
as a distinct social work practice method in Botswana comprises top management 
of human service organisations. Informed top management will better understand 
the need for supervision and the nature of the middle management status occupied 
by the supervisor. This will enable them to plan and build organisational structure 
more affectively and also to utilise the supervisory service with more relevance and 
with greater effect The necessity for educating a supervisor for the job will also 
be more readily acknowledged and this would encourage the provision of specialised 
training at both university and in-service levels. Increased knowledge and 
understanding by the employer will go some way towards modifying organisational 
features which at present obstruct the development and refinement of 
supervisory practices. 
Provision should be made for promotion along a vertical and horizontal 
route so that good direct service workers can have increased status and remuneration 
without having to be appointed as untrained, unwilling, and sometimes 
ineffective supervisors. Likewise, those with specific aptitudes and training in the 
supervisory field can be installed in appropriate positions.
Social Work Practice in Botswana 47 
In addition, some organisations have no specific criteria for promotion to 
supervisory posts beyond years of services or more availability of staff. Criteria 
for promotion should, ideally, be knowledge and competence, based on formal assessment 
of worker performance. Unless the promoted worker is appropriately 
supported, prepared, and equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes 
required for the new job there will be a tendency to utilise direct social work 
methods in the supervisory field instead of implementing relevant theory pertaining 
to supervision per se. 
De Bruyn (1985) (quoted by Hoffmann, 1987) states that promotion to 
supervisor should imply a new occupation with its own role expectations and work 
procedures, not simply a new status. Learning needs and the need for support 
should be acknowledged and the employer should shoulder the responsibility for 
meeting these needs. The attitude of top management to supervision is critical, 
especially in developing countries, such as Botswana, where those in decisionmaking 
positions do not always possess a background of social work knowledge, 
skills, or training. If these administrators could appreciate that the ultimate 
objective of supervision is effective service delivery to consumers the process 
would be, to some extent, facilitated through the provision of physical space and 
ensuring that supervisors have time to carry out regular supervisory sessions. This 
is infrequently the norm in Botswana where supervisors, due to heavy workloads 
and consumer demands, are obliged to render direct service to a degree which 
precludes quality supervision. The problem is further compounded by lack of 
qualified social workers, lack of qualified supervisors, and lack of qualified and 
specifically trained supervisors. 
Also the geographical distribution of social workers and their own heavy 
workloads (often covering several villages in the rural and remote areas) makes 
regular visiting and adequate attention by supervisors untenable. Lack of resources 
and facilities such as appropriate transport further hampers the efforts of those 
supervisors who appreciate the importance of regular contact with supervisees. 
The limited knowledge base of the profession generally, is exacerbated by 
lack of precedent in many instances and also by uniqueness of needs and 
environmental conditions. Also, prescription and variation in culture, custom, 
tradition, values, and norms further identify the need for supervision as a support 
mechanism, particularly for inexperienced workers in the field. 
Without a professional association for social workers (which has been 
under discussion for several years) the need for supervision, to protect the rights 
and interests of social workers, clients, and agencies is even more acute. Ethical 
practice and professional standards will not be adequately ensured without the
48 Gloria Jacques 
establishment of such a body and the implementation of more in-depth methods of 
supervision. 
Of course, many of these factors are concomitants of levels of development, 
educational standards.value systems, societal norms social evolution, regional 
attitudes, and other en vironmental,psychological, and developmental realities 
which can neither be altered overnight nor eliminated to suit the emerging 
configurations of modern social planners. Both governmental and nongovernmental 
organisations in Botswana suffer from the malaise of inadequate professional 
supervision but the rigidity of bureaucracy of state structures, lack of resources, 
and lack of local, qualified personnel renders the task of governmental agencies 
a difficult one to accomplish effectively and with due attention to the needs of the 
social workers. 
Though many of the changes can only be expedited in an evolutionary 
manner, steps must be taken to ensure that, as far as possible and as soon as is 
expedient, the necessary developments are considered, discussed, and implemented 
in order for the profession to be insulated from often deserved attack and 
moulded into one that truly addresses the needs of the society it serves. 
The field of student supervision has been addressed by the Social Work 
Department at the University of Botswana and a comprehensive manual, supervisory 
visits by field liaison personnel from the university, regular seminars for 
field supervisors, and planned future improvements in university provision of 
fieldwork input, have already transformed the efficacy of the fieldwork programme 
for students. 
The staff supervisor who is able to perform her job in the best possible way 
is in an ideal position, at middle management level, to act as an intermediary in the 
hierarchical structure of the social work organisation. She can guide and assist top 
management in decision making and not simply act as a conduit for information up 
and down the organisational ladder (Hoffmann, 1987). Initiative and creativity are 
called for as well as professional commitment to the social work profession and to 
supervision as an essential method by which social work can meet challenges faced 
by this relatively new field of practice in Botswana. 
Aspects of supervision which have been addressed in this paper relate to 
its ideal application in a developed, structured setting. Obviously, all this material 
cannot be utilised in the Third World without careful scrutiny, informed assessment, 
selection of appropriate components, and staged implementation over, possibly, 
an extended period of time. 
However, it should be borne in mind that, individual differences, cultural 
dynamics, and value systems notwithstanding, the needs of humankind are 
basically similar throughout the world. The principles of social work and the ethics
Social Work Practice in Botswana 49 
implicit in its professional practice constitute fundamental ingredients of a universal 
movement towards effective and efficient service to individuals, groups, and 
communities. 
A dearth of qualified professional social workers and a particularly limited 
knowledge base in comparison with other older professions, necessitate the use of 
effective supervision in order to enhance the social worker's performance and improve 
his level of attainment anywhere in the world. Botswana is no exception. 
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